CHAZAQ Event with R' Dovid Orlofsky on the "Power of Kindness/Chesed"

[Music] if the our coer meals and wheels program which is known as project kind can't be sustained and can't exist people will be left without any food or have to eat non kosher food but again our kosher Meals on Wheels program known as project is one of the Hallmarks of thead that the que Jewish Community Council does one of the things that the que jewi that came out of the que Jewish Community Council Office years and years ago which um which is less known is um anybody know the nowadays if there's a Jewish holiday if there's actually any holiday all the ins side of the street parking is is suspended and that all came about through the initiative of somebody at the queen jewi Comm Council one yff was walking to sh here in Forest Hills and um and saw that all the Jewish cars had tickets on it and said hey that's not fair that's wrong um people can't move our cars because it's the holiday so we brought it to the city brought it to the officials and um alternate side of the street parking was suspended for the Jewish holiday now it's suspended for everybody's holidays just because of somebody at the queen Jewish Community Council um initiative you know we're the Jewish voice of Queens but you can't be the Jewish voice of Queens without Li Torah and T Torah and that's what we're partnering here with babri and Kaz tonight today was a je uh Global Jewish Day of of of learning a day when people from all walks of life all parts of all levels of Judaism were were able to learn so people there were there were lectures there were shum in in different languages in Russian in Hebrew and for the more advanced and for the less Advanced and tonight we have the privilege of of Hosting RAB RAB dski who will give us and give us give give us um for the upcoming week and again once again um Queen Jewish Min council is proud to be to partner with in this particular event thank you very much enjoy thank you RAB David ke let's give King another round of applause all the amazing work before we begin the event we do want to mention that tonight's event is dedicated we have B we have am we also want to thank the family for dedicating The Refreshments tonight in loving memory of for future sponsorship and events please come let us know a memory for the of a loved one I will be more than happy to organize such an event uh once again we do want to thank the queen Jewish Community Council the community center I want to just give a shout out to two amazing guys sitting in the audience my good friend and M for initiating tonight's event and AI May of alsoi thank you very much after the lecture I'll announce upcoming kazak events without further Ado let's give a nice loud Round of Applause to Rabbi D rovski [Applause] [Music] I'm W thank you very much I am not CBA if you didn't realize by now you're in the wrong room he's downstairs I'm d rovski uh I am to the best of my knowledge a lvac I don't it's really not fair I'm a piler i i i my family comes from wara um have insisted that if I came from around War I'm definitely a g but uh thank you very much but uh not that I know I I do know I'm a PID I know this because when uh I had my um was going to have my heart operation so um the doctor came to meet with my wife and children and myself and he said Wednesday morning we're going to prep him and we're going to wheel him in early in the morning the surgery should take about 5 hours and he'll be in intensive care unconscious for about two days so he should wake up sometime on Friday morning so my wife and my kids started discussing who's going to stay in the hospital and I said did you hear the man I'm going to be unconscious what are you standing here for you're not going to be allowed in the room anyway go home come back on Friday tell me you stood by the door crying I'll have no idea okay so the surgeon who is not who is not from he looks at me and he goes a i know they still had those you know and then I realized yeah my father would have said the same thing so would my grandfather they were always like n whatever you know that's how they made us back in Poland you know it was uh it was a different approach you know um we my father used U onion for caras and uh I I went to Day School I came back and I said no dad you're supposed to use parsley he says my father used onion we're using onion I don't know what you're talking about I found you years later in the he says for car should use onion and there are some people use par but I don't know what they're thinking cuz nobody would eat parsley yeah so one for my dad and then my father used to eat chunks of horseradish he would just take a chunk of horseradish and that's what he ate for M yeah is it so I came home and I said dad you you're not allowed to do that you have to use romae lettuce cuz you can't eat horseradish and he's sitting there chewing it up going oh yeah said yeah only if you grind it up and you get 1.1 fluid ounces and he just sitting there chomping away at it you know I told this story over to a friend of mine who was also a p and he says my you know how when people make the kosas they grind the koses and they eat a piece of Apple along with it my my grandfather used to do that with the morrow you know what I mean he grinding the HSE radish and eating it along evidently in Poland it was a snack food so uh so they made him tough back there but anyway so uh so I am a p but evidently I to the best right now is I'm not Kish so uh you know for those of you who are looking for the reab he is downstairs um up here we're doing something else I'm not sure what that might be but whatever it is I'm so glad that you came to be a part of it and I especially want to thank kazak uh for having me again this is uh probably as I've mentioned before in the years that I started becoming a world famous speaker which I am by the way and I have to tell people cuz a lot of people don't know how famous I am it's an occupational hazard you know when you're so famous and people don't know it it's you know it's a one of the W best cup secrets you know I must have told the story already but it doesn't matter because a lot of people here are in my each group and you don't remember what I say either so but uh when they reach a certain age and you keep meeting new people and sometimes they're family members but um when I uh uh I was on a plane and this little kid kept coming over to me and taking my stuff and after he would take it and eat it or ruin it then his parents would say oh don't bother the man very nice anyway so he kept I had nothing left to give him except my boarding pass you know so he takes the boarding pass you know and sucks on it whatever it is you know and the parents say oh don't take his boy he goes orski goes are you the speaker I said yeah he say and you right so yeah I was theist for the ham you yeah he goes and you make tapes says yeah I goes wow you you I I always wanted to come and and see you cuz I know you live in sarudin and I said no I don't and his wife said that's orwick and goes oh you speak also that's already pretty good you know Rabbi wine was once uh at the airport this woman came over to him and said you know I admire you so much I listen to all of your tapes and I read all your books it's it's so wonderful to hear you he says thank you is Mrs Fran traveling with you and in classic R wine fashion he goes no but when I see her I'll give her your [Laughter] regards any man um what are we talking about today I'll tell you what I want to talk about today because um I I've said it over before and I said it over in other organizations and in other places because uh uh for those of you who were not there at the event yeah um Yaniv who started kazak and runs kazak and raises the money for kazak and keeps this going Etc said once when we were here he says I sat down and I said how are we going to bring Messiah I I want to bring mhia and people started laughing I never forget he looks around he goes I'm not kidding you know and every was like whoa this guy's for real you know and I decided I would start an organization to try to reach out to people who otherwise wouldn't be reached out to in order to be able to bring the Messiah and that was my goal and he started this entire organization and everything that goes with it that goes along with it and I I just thought wow that means that every one of us has the ability on some level to look at the world and say how am I going to bring mashia how am I going to bring the world to its T and I I made a deep impression on me you know because uh you know I really I try very hard but uh not not as much as VI you know and you want you really want to try to do something important in this world so it reminds me of a story that took place in uh um shortly after September 11th as we all know in the Twin Powers went down and I went to see R Bulman at out and uh he didn't have a lot of time left he died a few months later and it was right after the the attacks of 9/11 and everybody of course were stunned and I went to him and I said Reby what is this and he looks at me and he says David this is go this is the end don't you realize that so I said so what am I supposed to do by the way I had gone to R Shapiro also and he said the same thing to anybody who would listen he had an operation today if everyone could say m you should have but he said the same thing and you know so I said toan I said so what do we do and he said the kazal tell us there are only two things that can protect us during this time and and he looked at me and he said but in thisa it's reversed and is even more important than so that made a profound impression on me and I certainly have tried at least in my own life to do it and so the topic you know I I've reached the point where you know you trust me enough and you know I said what to talk about whatever you want you know so uh that's how they advertise it I I just was a Scotland residents in in a local synagogue and uh he said uh introduced each each talk he says and now rowski will give the talk entitled from 5:30 to 6:30 he didn't even bother getting titles from me you know rby tats uh someone told me that they were going to hire him to come and speak I said could you send us titles he said sure and he sent a list of 20 titles and a brilliant title so he says what do these mean he says whatever you want I'm going to talk about anything you know that I want it doesn't really make a difference what you write for a title just find some titles that sound like you enjoyer and put them down going took whatever I want you know you have to be careful with titles sometimes you know sometimes titles my wife always loves that one you know when someone puts up a title shita and chabas is there a connection do you really think the guy's going to get there and say nope thanks for coming they got to be careful with dinos you know I had the last slot on shuis night it was like 4:00 in the morning you know and I was falling asleep and everybody in the room was falling asleep you in that place where you're in between two worlds you know and and you're still talking and you're not really sure there's not a direct connection between your brain and your mouth at that point I just remember I said you know I said and and it serves I don't even know what I was talking about and it serves as a prism of clarity and people were nodding and I go that doesn't mean anything what are you nodding for a prism of clarity you know that woke everybody up and the next year the he entitled my talk prism of clarity but more or less said it all you know so uh so he he trusts me at this point talk about whatever I want and uh I decided that based on the current situation because we are in difficult times yeah as we all know when we when we read the news we're in difficult times and I will tell you the following which is not a positive idea but important to know it was not this past Asser it was the year before Andi was talking about you know which is really the worst day in Jewish history according to many people worse than Tish if Tish comes up on chabas we push it off but if a comes out on chabas you would fast it doesn't in our calendar it comes out on a Friday and normally you wouldn't fast on a Friday either but on you'd fast on a Friday and even if it came on shabas he would fast that's how serious serus is and uh and somehow the the context of the discussion was a h discussion but what he said was and that ofis this is the beginning and we're just going to have sorus now until mashia and as each thing would happen and there were just take a look in those past two years and all the things that happened when people would go to ask he'd say I told you that we're we're just in fsus now until the end which means means that it is time for us to batten down the hatches and get to work to be able to get through this extremely difficult time how do we do it and that's why what vman told me when the Twin Towers went down and to in that order so I want to speak a little bit abouted in order to be able to try to put it into a perspective now there's an interesting um Paradox perhaps yeah quote that the individual in Jewish history who is most noted for is of course abrah ainu the person of ABR ainu is also noted for another incredible accomplishment namely he introduced monism yeah is there a connection nope anyway [Laughter] there probably is a connection right the same individual who brings into the world is also the person of right and when we say the person of we mean a person of such outstanding that it's almost uh Beyond understanding right um he had a BR at 99 you know we don't appreciate this for the most part I don't know if anybody here has has to have gone through this uh a fellow came to my door once collecting and I tell people come to your door to collect I don't know if you have this in America and uh you have different people who come and collect this fellow is a m and what he does is he finds people in Israel who don't have a bris M usually it's from the former Soviet Union it's interesting that over shabas I met somebody who used to work with the refusenik and and he said to me he says they knew what we were doing you know and they didn't care about so much about Fillin or about mat they they turned the Blind Eye he says but the one thing they they were is bris they did not want bris M I'd been speaking about Kaneka and how the Greeks outlawed brisma you know and he said they were very strict about brisma so they're Jews who make alah and they don't have a bris and so he uh um you know he collects money because you when you're of a certain age you someone doesn't hold you on your lap you understand you need an operating room and you need a doctor and you need you know a crew there it's about $5,000 for each bris you know um because he says obviously the KOA doesn't cover it because it's not a seen as a medical thing right so um so it's a major thing he convinces people to do it so he's not going to ask them to pay so he does the actual ma he does the actual cutting but everything else has to be paid for so um uh so I I was moved by that you know it's an interesting thing you know when it comes to sta um where should you give your stuer money it was a guy who was a fundraiser for panovich and he was working in this particular balus for a long time until the person reached the point that you know he had a good enough relation with him that he asked him he says you know I have some love large amount of money that I want to give where do you think I should give it so you you live for that moment right you know anyway so he says well let's go to Israel and ask R was the head of punov Yesa so they get on a plane buys them two first class tickets they go to Israel you know they get into ra R had this tiny little house you know very simple way of living and he comes in and he he says re he says the man wants to ask a question question he says I have a large sum of money where should I give it R says any place you want the like Reby can I talk to you for a minute because there are some people you know and and when you look at the priorities so some people will give to Yas and some people will give to outreach and some people are going to build mcos and some people are going to give money to people who who can't buy food and you know and which of these is a priority they're all priorities we have have so many needs that need to be taken care of and some will speak to others I don't know why this idea of this guy seeking out people to get them a bris Meer spoke to me in a in a very powerful way um and uh and so I um I gave him money you know and he would come from time to time and I gave him money I was I was happy to give him money because I it was a cause that really spoke to me so one time he says to me do you want to be a Sonic and one of the person said sure I'm trying to figure out how to do this exactly you know so I come down to the medical center and I I scrub up I put on Scrubs you know and uh you know you got to put on gloves and you got to put on a hat you know old mask you know cuz it's surgery you know and you hold the person's head I held the head for a 16-year-old boy who was getting a brisy lip eight people got brism that morning the oldest was a 76y old man and uh after they all had their bris him you know he goes out and he actually on the way he asked me if I'd go to the caterer and pick up the food you know there's a caterer who donates the food so and he makes a little suda and he's a so of course he made a Raa and these people all just had a br so of course it was a very slow Rita nobody was doing any fancy moves out there so uh so he uh you know something to watch you know so the Kaz tell us as difficult as that experience is and I have to tell you the amazing thing to me is this 16-year-old boy he had a smile on his face so did this 76y old man they were so happy to be able to finally have a bris amazing I don't know what my attitude would have been under those circumstances but uh you know this to me was so inspiring so anyway um so Abraham is 99 years old when he has a Bru and it's three days after that which the kazal tell us is the most painful time the older you are and 3 days afterwards is very difficult yeah so K didn't want to bother him so he made it supernaturally hot and nonetheless abam drags himself to the door of the tent hoping against hope that there might be some guests coming by and uh you know kach feels bad so he sends three disguised as Arabs yeah and these Arabs who as the Kaz tell us worship the dirt on their feet that's that's the quality of individual we're dealing with so he runs over and bows down to them and says please my masters honor me by coming into my home Abraham was the greatest Theologian of his generation the rambam says he had a Yeshiva before he even came to Israel with tens of thousands of sees he was a war hero he defeated the the four world powers he was fabulously wealthy he was uh you know a contemporary of Kings who invited him in for discussions and and he's bowing down to these people saying please please come into my home and then he Shacks three whole cows yeah so that everyone would get the tip of the tongue the tongue would be the fastest thing to prepare and evidently the tip of the tongue is the best place I assume cuz it has the most taste buds so it's the tastiest I don't know I always get uncomfortable eating tongue cuz I always feel like it's tasting me back so I i' I've never I've never really been able to eat tongue you know there certain things you know for me that's the same thing as lamb you know lamb smells like an animal you know a cow doesn't smell like anything I don't know what it is you know but uh it's a it's a different kind of experience but anyway so um he Shacks three whole cows brings each one of them tip of the tongue yeah and and brings them water to wash their feet you know and provides for them and serves them and it's beautiful right in the of him providing food for 40 years his descendant miraculously got M from the heavens in the of him providing them for shade for 40 years in the desert we had the clouds protecting us in the scour of him bringing him water for 40 years we had a well that rolled along with us yeah this is this is the the power of this right and this is the story we all know the story right the medish gives a little twist on the story yeah at the end of these meals that Abraham used to give freely in his a a at the end he would pull out the benches and were like whoa what's this you know say well now we're going to bench so he says oh I'm not I'm not going to bench I I don't believe in God he goes oh well then I assume you must be a customer well let's work out your bill three tongues with mustard excellent choice I had to of course Sheck three whole cows to get that you know um plus you have to figure in transportation to the desert you know and maintenance service charge security you know and I of course you had an appetizer of Cs and we excellent choice and here's your bill like I'm not going to pay this cuz you mean you're a thief says no I'm a guest that's if you're a guest a guest says thank you so well thank you thank you Mr goes wait a second what are you thanking me for where do you think I get the food from you know you think I I produced the fruit it came from the tree goes I will thank the tree thank you Mr tree says one second where' the tree come from the ground all right thank you Mr ground say one second where' the ground come from yeah the Earth came from this Big Blob of gases all right thank you big blob of gases and where did that come from again it's interesting that I I heard R burkowitz when he quoted this medish he says you see two things from this Mish one is you don't take advantage of people who are in need yeah you don't wait till people are hungry you know and then to be able to to get them you know the church has done that throughout history you know where if a Jew will agree to convert you know then they'd pay them money and sometimes Jews were in such desperate Straits they felt they had no choice you know this couple went to the Christians and converted because they felt they had no choice you know the next morning the guy gets up and he starts putting on his feeling and his wife says what are you doing with Christians he goes oh go Shake upup anyway so uh you know it's a it's a difficult thing you know so you don't take advantage of people first you feed them then you give them yeah and then you can talk about religion says the second thing is you ask them questions you challenge them you get them to ask this by the way is a uniquely Jewish phenomena yeah I was teaching in ASA Torah on the fellowships and this girl people were telling their different stories this girl said that she was with a fundamentalist Christian group and she kept asking questions until the minister said to her sister the Lord wants you to cut off your head and come to you with his heart so she says at that point I I started looking into Judaism and no Rabbi ever said that to me it was the exact opposite experience I'd ask a question I go ah ask better you ask like this like this and like this and this yeah well I I I really don't Ah that's good according to Rama what about the Rivage you're gonna have to say like this like this and this and then are you do this this because I really don't care that much and then like this like this oh but now that brings us to to forget about it you know I mean I'm suffering from information overload you know um um user Usha Wade who was a Baptist minister he said he started having questions on Christianity and he went to the one of the hups in the church and he said I used to have those questions says what did you do I prayed until they went away so he says come let's pray pray you know so okay they go away he says yeah says at that point I started looking at the Jud says no Rabbi whenever I came to ask him a question never said to me no ask questions if the ask questions you see Abraham engaged people in an intellectual discussion ask questions but the ultimate goal of the was to bring them to an understanding of God so what does that mean it's a trick it's a trick you know people tell you the the greatest kir of tool is a chalant you know you invite people over you give them food you know and then they uh you know they they see how beautiful Judaism is because all we do is eat yeah that's the uh that's the thing I was talking to audience once and I said you know we have food that we associate with almost every holiday you know I said Shu and they go cheesecake I say PES they say mat I say rash they say apple and honey I say they say h i say Kan they say L I say Tish they say the egg with the ashes I said we even have a food that associated with a fast day you understand everything everything comes down to food you know when it comes to juice so so on the one hand there's the idea of being able to give the food uh I had a uh I had a family came over our house um from Dallas Texas and um and nice nice couple you know not not particularly observant you know and uh they come back 6 months later and they're like from and I was like wow what happened he goes well it was because of the sh was at your house I said wow I have to pay attention next shabas say maybe I'll become religious too you know like you know say you know I said what was it so he tell us over the shabas and the amazing thing is that that he tells he tells the story over anybody will listen you know says they kept feeding us every time you turn around they're eating again they're eating again you know it's a different perspective somebody was trying to explain this to me I don't really get it they say you know it's only Jews who use the dining room every week you know non-jews the dining room is like for Thanksgiving you know what I mean and then they take out the China from the china cabinet you know what I mean he says what we do on a Friday night that's once a year that's Thanksgiving you know people don't who don't experience that idea you know so okay so one is the idea of of being able to give the food but it's more than that Abraham was a monotheist so that you appreciate this I had a student in uh or who was a sociology major and he says when they were studying religion they said all religions are copycats and you can watch the development of religion from North America to Central America to South America and how they developed along the way and the entire world was polytheistic North America South America Europe Asia Africa Australia the Polynesian Islands everybody was polytheistic and comes along Abraham with this idea that there's one God that was so revolutionary it came from no place and his Professor who was secular teaching a secular class in a secular University said there is no monotheist today who did not get it from Abraham CU whether you're a Christian or Muslim whatever they all trace it back to Abraham who figured this out on his own there is one God and said Abraham if there's one God so why do he create the world Now understand the difference when we say this right here oh Israel the Lord Is Our God the Lord is one first of all who sticks an o in the middle of a sentence I've never figured that out oh Israel what are we Irish anyway oh Israel yeah the laws that God the LA is one what does that mean because you know there's one God as opposed to 10 50 20 I said okay we're the year 2015 and I got to remind you not to worship idols you know because you might see a totem pole and decide to bow down to it so it's a good thing oh no that's not what a means right Rashi says it should have said the first day of creation instead it says why because there was nothing but God God was alone in the universe means there's nothing else the best word in English for is infinity God is everything yeah every God is everything which is basically what we're saying is here Israel the Lord our God is one there's only one God he has everything if that's the case and that's what I figured out why' he create world so people say well he was lonely he can't be lonely he's infinite he's not missing anything it was an experiment it can't be an experiment he's all knowing he already knows the answer yeah what's the purpose why would he make the world whatever reason he made the world could not have been for him cuz he's not missing anything he created the world for us and when Abraham figured that out he realized that the world was an act of said a total act of kindness and therefore he was going to introduce God to the world through and by doing he was able to show people what God is and therefore whenever the Jewish people are able to introduce this to the world it's not just that they see W These are nice people they see through it that it's God thought guy's traveling uh he to the from guy is traveling up to the mountains he's on uh Route 17 and he sees a car by the side of the road a guy with a yamama car and the car is stopped he pulls over another car pulls over says the guy what's the problem because I have flat tire I don't know how to change it he goes we'll help you out so they find the spear they Crank It Up you know they change the ti you know when they're all done they come over to the guy and they see he's wearing a cross says why you wearing a cross he goes cuz I'm Christian said why you wearing y he says what on your head he goes I don't know when I first started driving my mother gave this to me she said keep it in the glove compartment if you ever break down put it on people will stop and help you she obviously didn't think the choss would get anybody to come and help her they knew if he put on a yam then people were going to come and stop and help you and between me and you even if it wasn't that people would stop and help him you know it was a fir guy he sees a limousine he got a flat tire you know and the driver standing outside he says what's the problem he goes I got a flat I don't I don't fix cars I called the AAA says they'll take him an hour come on I'll teach you how to fix a flat this has got to be a moment where an orthodox Jew is teaching a limo driver how to fix a flat you know they find the spare he jacks it up he shows them what to do take off the the Bol and you know he puts it on he fixes it when he's all done you know gets ready to go and the when window goes down and uh the fellow says uh that was so nice of you I want to give you something he says sir I'm an orthodox Jew this is called a that's what we do we do kindness you know and thank you for the opportunity so the guy says You're an orthodox Jew he says let me send your wife flowers for shabas knew something now I can be a sadic on my account but not for my wife you understand you know so he says Fine gives him his address that Friday a bouquet comes but ridiculous like like one of those fancy wedding bouquet you know really over the top and there's a little card inside it says thank you for your kindness Donald Trump PS I paid off your mortgage wow the next day Jews were looking for limousines people are actually giving them flat tires you know now that wasn't the reason he did it he didn't do it to to to get that you know it is an iide benefit you know he did the Because by doing a we bring into the world people see us and we're able to make a transformation in the world by doing and it's something that's so simple you know there are a lot of things that are not within our control there's a lot of things that we can't do I I used to say this when I was a kid you know there's there's certain you know incredibly inspiring stories that I can't possibly even relate to they have these people come and speak before shashana you know because I was you know uh you know into Buddhism I was traveling the world I fell off of a mountain you know uh I should have died I broke every bone of my body you know and uh you know I went blind I lost the amputated my arms and legs you know and then I had nothing to do except think about Judaism and and I suddenly realized that this was real true you know and I grew back my arms and legs and I could see again I went up to Yeshiva and today I'm a Riva you know what am I supposed to do with a story like that what do you what do you expect people to do you know it's so out of what we can expect you know and this guy was inspired and he started a hospital and the claen bger rebba survived the Holocaust he built he built you know in Nat he built a hospital he built schools he built institutions you know most of us are are not going to be that you know that forthright most most of us are going to have moments in our lives where we're going to make decisions whether or not we're going to touch somebody's life I spoke at a I was the long on director of ncsy for 9 years I spoke last night in a at an event and and I I told the story you know about um this girl who came from an anti-religious home she just came to a chabat home cuz her friends were come and a girl advisor said to her I like your hair I've tried this with boys it doesn't work quite the same way so so girl I like your hair this is evidently very important to women it's a billion dollar industry you know what I mean so I like your hair and from that she suddenly opened up they started having discussions she came to her house for shabas today she's married to a r you know and and it turned around from nothing other than the fact that somebody was willing to say something nice I spoke this morning in ycq and land has been told me that he made a sh with another advisor from ncsy you know a guy by name is Steve Diamond and he says and at the he says a kid comes over to him and says you know you changed my life he says I did he says yeah you evidently trying to explain to me the kind of I was a kid you I know anything and and you sat next to me during D and you say say this as if God was really standing right in front of you just imagine that he says and from that point onwards every time I DAV I think of what you said to me and I think of you know uh I think of you and I and I think of it all over again just a nice word you know how you can just say a nice word wrote a book it's a small word after all and he gives in the introduction a story that happened with him yeah it was a Mikvah somewhere aroundi AR packed packed you know um women don't necessarily understand this because when women go to the Mikvah you know they get a private room and they get a this you know that by men it's a communal event you know so uh it was tremendously crowded somebody gave the expression it was Bumper to Bumper you know I mean pack yeah and in Israel everybody the minute is that people go on as you know I was here at mix America I see everybody wears robes you know but there it's it's everyone just you know goes as they are yeah and um and this one guy is's wearing a bathro it was very unusual yeah but okay it was very busy it's nobody really has time and he takes off his robe and gets into the water and he's getting up he has his robe and he drops it and the whole place so silent because he had an extremely obscene tattoo on his chest it was obviously a about Chua and he had this incredibly obscene you know that's all he would say I have I know people ask me afterwards what was it exactly I really don't know I have no more information let your imagination run wild I don't know but it was enough to silence the entire Mika now can you imagine how this guy feels and this old man shuffles over to him and he says I also have a tattoo and he says you went through your Holocaust and I went through my Holocaust and thank God we both made it we should have a good year and everybody just went back to what they were doing and he put on his robe and he was able to leave and it was one moment where a person saw somebody who is in trouble and you make a decision right um I was walking into my building and a neighbor says to me David that's how you know he's Israelite yeah alasi call what call Americans call me D you know but Israelis call me David David says when I see your smile it gives me a reason to live I thought that was a little over the top you know I saw my smile never gave me a reason to live you know so I thought it was pretty funny I me it to a neighbor and he says oh I guess you don't know I said what because he tried to kill himself yesterday he dowed himself with gasoline they got there as he was about to like the match when he tells you he sees a smiling face and it gives him a reason to live he means it I was in a Yesa once where they were doing a fundraising video and they said we try to get a lot of smiling faces because when people see smiling faces they want to give more money they're more generous cuz it makes you happy you know it yourself you see people walk around they look miserable you know and you're like oh good morning what's good about it you know okay you know and you see somebody smiles and gives you a good morning you know it changes your day it changes your day you know said your face is Ain your face is a public therapy you know when people see you you have to decide am I going to make the effort to make the world the better place by doing nothing else than giving someone a smile that could change their whole day an amazing concept but it's something that you know a person has to be conscious of it doesn't come easy Shapiro and as I mentioned before so he um I didn't know him before he his daughter died he had a daughter who um was either a teenager in her 20s and she died she had an illness he moved to America to get her treatment he he was davening he was they say after she died a part of him died and and he was never the same so um he came back to bury her and as he's coming back from the gravite he's broken literally broken he's bent over and he's broken and and uh and he's about to get in the car and he sees somebody standing off to the side and he picks himself up and he puts on a smile and he walks over to this young man and he talks to him for a minute and then he turns back and the tears begin to flow and he gets into the car so the people who were with him couldn't believe it they said Reby what was that he says he's a and he's getting married tonight and I didn't want him to think that I wasn't happy for him so I can focus on the fact that I'm in pain or I can focus on the fact that there's somebody here who needs a smile and needs a kind word you know I had a bad day I had a bad Dayo had 10 tests what was the last test according to Mo the sh him the last test was the where he had to take his own son up and sacrifice him except for says you know what the last test was the last test was buying the Kev for s from Ephraim that's the last test that's the hardest test says of desla yes because after you survived the aada you almost lost your son and you come home so relieved and you find your wife dead and now I have to buy a grave for her and I'm dealing with this liar Eon who's trying to cheat me yeah and instead of losing it and saying how dare you treat me this way you know I am he maintains himself that's the hardest thing because throughout life we're going to have opportunities to share a kind word to give a smile to give a hello and we think it doesn't make a difference it doesn't make a difference I say something I don't say something it's a kindness that we can do easily and there's so many easy that come around I was in America with my son he was 12 years old coming from Israel we got separated Park and uh he went up to people went up to the strangers and said can I borrow your cell phone to call my father they were like no they were like they were like a guest you know so he's got to steal my phone run away some kid you know you see the kid weing yam he doesn't he doesn't look no anyway but uh he does have a y you know what I'm saying and finally he went into a store and the woman said well give me the number and I'll call and you know what I mean you know so he says I don't understand in Israel you go over to anybody you say can I borrow your cell phone of course of course I said that's because you're taking for granted I'm I'm going in a week to Spain uh every Thanksgiving I I go to uh Europe with nbo's tours and uh we've been to Greece we've been to Italy we've been to Prague going to Spain and um it's a it's it's a fascinating experience for me because that would never go anywhere but uh they they hire me to go on this tour and I said why I'm not Pon I'm not doing a wine I'm not a historian you know what do you want me for you know he said no we have people to do that he says but if people see you're picture on the air they know they're going to have a good time and I said that I can do you know so I you know like I I I never agreed to do crack out I'm not doing Holocaust sites and stuff like that you know not sitting on some bus for eight hours you know so we stay in a very very fancy hotel and and he flies in a chef from at show and they make all the food fresh you know and we have plot lots of time for shopping you know and that's my idea of like a really spiritually uplifting tour to York you know so but it gives me an Insight in into areas in the world where I never otherwise would go you know um so it was interesting thing Daniel Baron who comes along he's the actual historian and he knows everything and he does the research and he does all the work and I just stand and smile but um so he asked me aasha which was a very interesting thing you know when we were in Italy there were Beggars and the Beggars are on their knees with their heads bowed and their hands extended like this for hours and it's just an amazing thing and he says to me why do they do that I said that's cuz you're a Jew do you know how beggar in Israel do it no no it's St St St what do you think I'm a poor snook and I I'm a quality poor guy yeah I it's a different thing I was giving away old clothes you know and I I brought it from one gach to the other they wouldn't take it they said I can't give this to somebody to wear you know they pick up a jacket they say look at this I can't ask someone to wear this I said good that's my jacket I just took it off to carry in the boxes you know what what I was wearing wasn't good enough for a poor guy but uh you know I said I said that's your idea of staka why because you're a Jew and a Jew they understand staka is a Mitzvah and it's a and it's part of our national identity the gar says how do you know who's a Jew who's descended from Ab and Jakob and how do you know who came along out of Egypt with the a of R he says Jews have three qualities by they they exper shame they get they get embarrassed you know what they call Jewish guilt you know what I mean they feel bad they feel bad they have a conscience they have a certain Mercy I was talking with somebody who works in a cur organization with kids who go off there he says me it's easier to bring back a boy than a girl he says because to make it on the street when you're a boy you have to be able to take a razor and slice up somebody's face there's an Italian kid Puerto Rican kid you know you know uh these kids they can do it a Jew can't do that they just can't do it it's just not in them you know it was uh Jackie Mason one said he says a Jew doesn't make a good mugger can't go up to somebody and say give me all your money they say how much you got let's work something out but there's a there's a natural you know kind and they they're they're kind they're charitable people I don't remember the exact event um but uh there was some sort of uh attack and some it was either a police officer a soldier I don't remember what had done some tremendous Act of bravery and saved lives and so all around the country they got together to raise money for the family and I think all around the country together they raised like $5,000 for his family that same week a guy is sitting on an L flight next to the Israeli guy with his son and he says to him so why you going to America he says my son is critically ill he needs an operation they don't have it in Israel I have to get in America he says do you have insurance he says no and the insurance in Israel won't cover it he says well how much is the operation he says $1,000 he says what are you going to do he says I don't know but I got to save my son's life when I get to America I'll contact organizations I'll see what I can do I I just don't know the guy said excuse me he walks up the plane and across and back down to the back of the plane and across it comes back to the guy with $100,000 you understand a Jew he's a story this guy is going to die what are you going to do I would sit back you know how how could it be how could it be that's the that's the national character of the Jewish people and uh I remember when I spoke here last time an organization that asks Jews to donate kidneys to people who spoke and the fellow said that the Jewish Community has the highest rate of kidney donation of any community in America you know by by far and large you know because uh that's where we are now that's where we are in history and what we have to do we have to ask ourselves we have to say is what can I do to bring a into the World by introducing the and and everybody has opportunities for everybody sometimes they're so small you don't even appreciate them so I mentioned already giving a smile and giving a hello you know that's fine um uh sometimes people you know buy a box of tissues in a public place where they don't have tissues you know they don't always not every place provides you with tissues put in M I knew a guy who used to go and buy milk for the coffee and just write on the M that there should be there should be milk people should have something you know there there are so many opportunities that we have within the course of a day you know to make sure that people are able to get the things that they need and like I say it's not big dramatic things it's little things I've told the story in the past but it's uh it's one that's so close to my heart I I'll maybe give an introduction to it I told this story over and I tell more than once but this woman calls me up and she says I have an organization in B I'd like you to come and speak I said sure So she says um I I want to tell you why it's important for me that you come and speak this entire organization exists only in because I heard you tell this story and uh I decided to start an organization I'll tell you about that in the minute I'll tell you about the story this woman comes over to me after I spoke once and this idea how we can do little and make a change in the world and she says to me you know what I want to change the world I knew this woman she had a lot going on she was a bunch of little kids I said listen invest in your family invest in your kids that's the greatest you could do let's never do at the expense of our family she says no it won't come at the expense of my family but I want to do something that I know was going to change the world I said okay you know uh what's what skills do you have uh none really what's your degree in I don't have a degree well is there anything you do that special she says I bake I said okay let's talk tomorrow about how we're going to bake the world into a better place I really didn't know what to tell her so she calls me the next day and she says I figured it out it's a school for special children and my neighborhood and I make really great cupcakes and I want to make them cupcakes once a month beautiful she calls me after she says oh the said you don't know what you did these are kids who don't hear very well don't see very well don't move very well the one thing that works for all them is their sense of taste you made 50 Children whose lives are very hard very sweet thank you I see mons later I said I said but you bake cupcakes why do you need a website you know I don't think you can email them maybe maybe if there's a 3D printer on the other side or something you know what do you need the website she says because people started calling from other schools when they heard what I was doing and they said could you make a homemade treat for my kids too and I said listen I can't make a hundreds of cupcakes but I've got friends who also bake and so you know we'll call this woman call that woman and she started putting it together and she says this way I'm coordinating all the women with all the schools so that if anybody is missing I can fill in the I can fill in the lack and when I hung up the phone I was so moved because that's what I'm talking about it's an ordinary people who say I want to make the world a better place I don't have any special powers I don't have a lot of money something small that I can do so this woman calls me from Bama she says I heard you tell this story and I said yeah I could do something too and I realized that there were colors who were getting married who didn't have money and there are organizations that would give them money to help them make the wedding he says but you know they need pots and pants they need dish towels they need uh you know linen and no one's buying this for them so what did she do she raised money and she got a warehouse and she either bored or got people to donate everything that a c would need to outfit a house and when they find a callor they check out to make sure that it's legit she comes in to the to the the warehouse and goes shopping she buys her pots doesn't pay anything for it she gets her pots she gets her Linens she gets her towels she gets you know everything that you need to set up a house and she said and I only started this organization because of what you said so when I went down to the speak I said I would like to take credit for this entire organization cuz I did the only thing I know how to do which is talk but when when you have a and I want you to know by the way you know it's kind of ironic you know one of the greatest cads you can do listen the person says I don't even know how to talk you don't have to talk you don't to listen you know you know how how people are dying to have somebody to talk to you know and everybody's busy everybody's busy and if I take out time just to sit and speak to somebody my wife was on the phone with somebody for hours you know and I was like how do you do this you you got a bunch of little kids you got thing it's a that I can do easily you know I can listen to somebody I can give somebody an ear you know we're at the end of time this is what kki tells us this is what better people than me say we're in a position when cly Isel is in sarus and as a woman told told me at 911 the only things that's going to carry us through Yia is Torah and only we have to reverse the order it are little things it's little things that make a difference unless you think that it's so small I want to I want to leave you with an unbelievable idea from the out of slatka life is rain if you don't have any rain you're in serious trouble Southern California had a drought you know they were they were in bad shape they place in the world where they have droughts forget about it there's no food in Israel there was a time they were going to try to figure out put in a pipeline from Turkey you know bring in iceberg something to get water they built dation plants they didn't have rain for a bunch of years forget about it it's a terrible thing so when we say G and this is a where we're not just asking for rain we're asking for life itself so needless to say we're going to pull out all the heavy guns says the AL so we say remember how y fought with the Mal we say remember how Abraham you know ran around when he was sick to do those for the remember how was willing to give up his life and we go down that remember yamu the greatest moments of Jewish history and then we say remember how Yakov rolled The Rock off the well this week's par in order to be able to give water to the Sheep as the alter I understand you know these are the greatest moments of Jewish history says that he was so strong that for him to remove The Rock was like taking a cork off a bottle unscrewing a bottle cap he says and who was he doing it for for his uncle's sheap who he was about to come and mooch off of because he didn't have any money or anything he was just going to come and live with his uncle and who is he doing it for ra who already saw he was going to marry and have children with and he immediately loved her he was doing it for a woman he loves for an uncle that he's going to be sponging off of and it was such a small thing and we're turning around 3700 years later and asking God to grant us life itself says the altar now I hope you appreciate a because when somebody says you know could you pass me the milk could you give me that soda and you you say sure yeah thousands of years from now your descendants can ask for life itself in the of that that's the power of a every little kindness that you do has Cosmic consequences and maybe that's the idea that we should really end with we see a world where acts of Cruelty take place how is that possible it's only because we made the world into a cruel place if you pollute the water in the air don't don't complain that it's hard for you to drink water or breathe cuz you messed it up if we make the world into a cruel place don't be surprised at the little cruelties of life and every time you do a you change the world into a nice place you change the world into a place of and we're lucky cuz Rashi tells us that every good thing we do is worth $500 times a bad thing that we do you know so every little and like I say it could be nothing more than a smile or a hello it could be it could be nothing more than a than a little consideration listening to somebody who wants to talk to you you know helping somebody out and it applies to our own family it applies to rich people and poor people it's not like anybody you can do a for and every time you do you make the world into a better place you make the world into a place where can come into the world and the world can be a place where people feel wow there's love this's kindness this is a good place and that's the protection that will take us through the difficult thank you very much [Applause] [Music]