CHAZAQ's Torah Talks #157 Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht - The Current Situation in Israel: Achdut

all my life I was been learning and I thought I was going to go and and then he told me what are you doing for what are you doing for the Jewish people I said what do you mean Revy we're learning Torah we're teaching Torah he said you're doing that for yourself wow you're not doing that for the Jewish people like what do you mean what he's like because 90% of the Jewish people are not listening they're not hearing your Torah so you're not doing it for for the Jewish people you're not doing it for Hashem and that hit me I remember that show it to the our Jewish people but to try to repackage the beauty and relevance of our Jewish Heritage and how do we make it relevant and presentable to 90% of the Jewish people who are not coming to air Torah when you say Shir in the neighborhood they're not coming so how do you bring it to [Music] them and welcome to Torah talks kak's Tuesday night program with special guest we have with us a big a big honor all the way from eres from the Holy Land RAB gold big honor big honor all ours and uh wow I got to tell you I reach out to the rabbi he's like I'm in America I'm like oh my God thank you Hashem very excited to have the rabbi on Torah talks and uh we're gonna be speaking about current events but before we get to to that if we could get a little bit of background about yourself the great work you're involved with first of all what an honor to be here in K Studios you guys are doing amazing amazing things spreading Torah all across the world using we want to do more we want to do Morey amen amen be spread all across the world saying to Abbi the great work amen thank you so much so so so you were born in yeah so so my background I was born in Israel I didn't speak a word of English until I was like eight really I moved here when I was seven and a half um I'm uh eighth generation Yushi my kids are already ninth Generation Um I was you know my family is is a few Generations in sh area but when I was uh seven and a half my parents moved to to New York my father's R Yesa University that's why we moved there supposed to be for two years it ended up being for much more so I became half American and uh and yeah so I grew up here but then right after I got married I moved back to arel uh um I was learning in the mirror but then we we started a nice uh under the leadership of the Weinberg and he he you know all my life I was been learning and I thought I was going to go to and and then I remember this he he told me what are you doing for Amel what are you doing for the Jewish people I said what do you mean Revy we're learning toorah we're teaching Torah he said you're doing that for yourself wow you're not doing that for for the Jewish people like what do you mean what he's like because 90% of the Jewish people are not listening they're not hearing your Torah so you're not doing it for for the Jewish people you're not doing it for Hashem and that hit me I remember that wow that's very very very and then he's like try to take all of that Torah and show it to the entire Jewish people and and those conversations you know it took it wasn't one conversation it was many conversations but those conversations in a certain way I say affected my my path where I work a lot not only in regular shiram to give in our community but to try to repackage the beauty and relevance of our Jewish Heritage of of the Jewish wisdom that has passed down for 3,000 years and how do we make it relevant and presentable to 90% of the Jewish people who are not coming to air Torah when you say she in the neighborhood they're not coming so how do you bring it to them so how do you bit you know one what it's it's a big the media I know the rabbi barash thank God short what you guys are doing and I think I think uh the media was created for us to spread hashem's it has so many n and it has so many terrible things but people are spending their time there anyways people who are in the BET M should not be using it but the people who are already spending their time there it's we need to be creating the content so that they're able to to reach it and I think a big change that that I realized in repackaging Jewish wisdom is thinking about and this was also R Noah Torah what he called Always Tor we're not here to teach what Rashi says on a specific PK it's not that the PK is bothering me cuz somebody who's not interested in the pusk the PK is not bothering him so what's bothering him life life is Bo what do I do with my relationships how do I deal with with what's going on in Israel right now what's our approach how do I deal with with uh with anything with success in my business right we need to show that Judaism that our number one asset as a people is our Torah and if we're able to show that to am Isel to ourselves that our number one asset is not even it's not even it's not the Army it's not the government and it's not our business our number one asset as a people is the Torah is the Jewish wisdom because when we have it we're able to survive and we survived for many years of galut without all the other things but because we had the Torah and now that we have other things so sometimes we get distracted but how could we show that the Torah is relevant and it has value for our life when we're able to repackage it like that everyone is able to to see the beauty of it everything is in the Tor it's all in the Tor just have to repackage it like Rabbi saying beautifully and give it over to am the Jewish people and you know October 7 is uh is is never going to be the same right it's it's definitely a very big hit to said to the Jewish people but with what I understand right before that there was a very big divide within the country within AR and after that there was this tremendous amount of unity which I'm told again I'm I'm I'm over here in America you're you're in the front lines Rabbi yes and uh right now here we go it seems like we're going back a little bit yeah if you could give us a little bit of a update or what's flying being that you are from the Holy Land yeah so first of all I think there's you are the the dates in history that you're living through it and you could say I am living through a transformational time period in Jewish history and in world history yeah right sometimes in retroactive we could say oh on that date this law pass and that's what led many years later to uh a big a big event and and we commemorate certain events this event in our lifetime is an event and we're seeing it as it unfolds throughout the entire year that in the beginning we're like oh maybe it'll be over very soon and we'll go back to normal right we want to to go back we're not going back to normal world has changed the Jewish life has changed and if we're not going back we need to be moving forward to to extraordinary yeah we don't want to be normal anymore we want to be extraordinary we want to bring ourselves to like to to the real uh where we want to go to really where we want to go as a Jewish people and and I think there has been you mentioned that there was a divide yeah and then there was a coming together but then there's a divide again and I think a lot of people are confused yeah that that that's what we're getting over here a lot of people are confed what's happening what's not happening uh something with the government right now and Yesa and also we we want to support I I feel so much support from American Jews from all Spectrum everyone wants to feel a part of the Jewish people and some people are saying oh we have to support the some people are saying we have to support the we have to support the we have to support a and politics and and and all of the negotiations and the official whatever it is we need to support everything and and then people are starting and that's really where the Sak is when when they're starting to put down other people and what they're supporting and they're saying that you're not doing the right thing and only my way is the right thing and this happened to us when we left MIT we left Egypt we left Egypt and you know whenever you leave something you take on a new cabala you're like I'm going to be liberated I'm going to be free right I'm going to go on a diet us rabbis we need to start going on a diet right I'm G to go on a diet I'm going to start we're really excited and we start getting into it usually a week into our new cabala of like no technology and uh eating healthy and and whatever it might be one week into it it gets really hard and in a certain way I think leaving MIT is leaving our when we're stuck into something our boundaries and we start going on our free Journey but then one week later the story is that Egypt MIM the boundaries are chasing after us get back over here come back to your to your boundaries you think you're a free man you can't go free and they're chasing after us and we're stuck in front of the water the the the re is there they're chasing after us and when we have that pressure of our and sometimes it happens to us on a personal level but on a national level we're feeling it so then what happened is the way the kazal teach us the rabbis teach us is that there is four different camps on yamu and they started fighting with one another one Camp says we give up I can't do this I can't do it on a personal level I've tried so many times to break free I can't pray free and on a national level I'm not ready I'm not going back there I'm not going back to slavery we give up let's jump into the war commit suicide and another group said let's go back we'll negotiate better terms but we have to go to galut again we'll negotiate better terms and another group says no way we're not going back we're going to fight there could be casualties but we're not going back to slavery we're free we're going to stay free and another group says we need to pray now this is not the time to fight it's not the time to go back we just need to pray to to our father in Father in Heaven that's what we need to do and what does Hashem tell mosha to tell them move forward you're all wrong he says you're all wrong you saw you won't see again you're not going back there you think it's time to pray it's not time to pray you think it's time for war no God will do jump into the water strengthen your in is the one who's gonna help us and find a way that every Jew could strengthen a little bit more in theira that I am a son of Hashem I'm a child of Hashem the creator of the whole world and therefore it's going to be okay I don't know how but it's going to be okay let's just jump in let's let's keep on going when the moment they had that imun and it took a few people to jump into the water to show them they all just jumped in and then it split for them powerful and this happens over and over again in history and it's happening now again after World War II am Isel was in shambles one group said we give up on being Jewish let's let's ignore the fact that we're Jewish one group says let's go to another galut we'll negotiate better terms and other group said we're not going back to galut we're going to El said we're going to be free we're going to fight there going to be casualties but we're going to fight another group says now is now is the time to strengthen our amuna we have to we have to D we have to pray four different camps and each Camp went in a certain way on their own and built and built and built and built amazing things and now is the time I believe that we have to do like yov before he's walking into is he's about to walk in as is coming towards him there's always dangers when we're back about to make it we're about to make it rubot we're about to make we're at the Finish Line yakob says it's not different camps it's one Camp he prepares himself for war that's right he prepares for prayer and he also knows how to negotiate terms and sends a gift and he says we as a Jew as yob we need all of them and if a person can have the self-confidence that what he's doing is the right thing to do but that other things are needed as well and therefore to be the other things that are being done even respected even though it's not it's not what's best for him and they see that you respecting them and therefore you're respecting them even though you're not doing it but yeah you're respecting and you're supporting and each one is supporting one another then we become theim of yob and we're all yeah we need the negotiations and the people who do the politics and we need the prayer of course of course we need the and that and we need the people who are also going out there their M when you meet these I went around to the different some students they're they're risking their lives and there's and and and it's not that they have to do it they feel they want to do it and they're married and they have children and they have wives and they're going in there and it's and and I know the mothers of these of these their day is not like a regular day they every knock every phone call they don't know are they calling they're nervous there's from the mothers from the wives from the friends from the people are going out and we perhaps the we need to have our in whatever it is we're doing are we doing one more ounce of one more ounce with respect it's very hard because the politics is getting people to say what do you mean I have to stand up for what we're doing and of course stand up for what you're doing but with respect respect to the others respect to the others and I believe that's what that is our final when we are which is what happened after [Music] through all the process then we see the we see the Revelation the mass revelation of may we be to see it again and we're we know it's right there yeah we feel it we definitely feel it we feel it you know not only do we feel it meaning one that's from Mar but also in America the situation of the campuses the streets the synagog what's going on over here we think we're people think like it's just going to happen there's processes you have to push forward you have to push forward we have to have in and when a person has and every person needs to make his his his calulations his own calculations what's he doing what's going to be my relationship where am I what am I doing extra what am I doing a little bit extra if they're trying to put down the Jewish people so where do we show a little bit more that we're Jewish our Jewish Pride our Jewish commitment whether it is to a little bit more t a little bit respect for another Jew that's what we need right now more than anything 100% so RAB you mentioned about the parents of the the of the soldiers for every knock their very word because what I understand the way it works is that unfortunately God forbid whenever there's a tragedy they don't just uh call or they they knock they meet and they break the the news so there was a story in that there was a there was a knock and the parents were very worried and uh and it was late at night and they were going crazy and then the husband's like I'm I'm going to open the door and he opens the door it was a m was someone asking for Ted and he says he was saying over how he wanted to just kill this individual like you know his heart came out but on the other hand there was another story similar story I heard that there was a knock and the parents again going crazy opening the door and don't open the door crazy news bad news and they open the door it was their son to come say hi I'm I'm back and what a feeling it was what a feeling it was to have their son come back after who knows how long are mons in in war and with understand they don't really have normal contact because they take away the phones with understand so the feeling was unbelievable so that feeling how much that he has us our CH his children coming back to him to Tora and I know this is something that the rabbi touched upon in the beginning the importance of one that's already keeping toah to knock or to reach out to family friends neighbors that maybe are not holding on some Tor what what inspiration can you give to about and being those that are okay so number one first of all the story that you said is so true and it's and I think that itself needs to give us which the that I got from Mya the the strength to do it is to realize that the story of the Jewish people is larger than my community and after October 7th we're all feeling it we felt something it's larger than my than my own story but so how do I reach out to them when is my connection to that only only in in like in such dire needs I think one of the switches that we need to make is our job is not to make anyone from to make anyone religious that's not our job our job though is to connect with another person and if they're able to come and see Ouran Shabbat our shabas table if they're able to come and and come to for one they're able to just get a Hello just to get a basket to get aab I'm thinking about you you're my family even though we don't agree that itself is our job and I'll tell you there was there was a Big R in Kaa he was uh involved with teenagers over there and unfortunately he he had a three-year-old daughter that passed away and uh and the teenagers from the neighborhood were close to him they came and he's a rabbi a lot of other rabbis are in this and they were sitting more in the back some of them with earrings and you know they weren't in the regular scene of of the rabbi's house right but they just they sat there in the back and before they left they got up and they said Rabbi we were sitting here and we thought what could we give you as a gift to give you we decided that this Shabbat we're going to keep Shabbat we're not we're going to turn our phones off for 25 hours we're going to do Shabbat for you because we love you cuz they said that's not what we we're not holding there but you will do it and he got so excited and he gave them a hug and he gave them a this and and he loved them so much and then they left and one of the the students said Rabbi one Shabbat who are we kidding what is that worth what do you mean they they're playing games with with Hashem you keep Shabbat or you don't keep Shabbat you're religious you're not religious and he said do you know what I would give to have my daughter on my lap for one more Shabbat wow wow do you know what I would give to have my daughter sit with me for one evening I would give everything and he said do you know what Hashem would give to have one child with him for one moment it's not our job to make people from to make people religious and when we realize that that's not our job but rather to connect with people to love people and to show them the Beauty and the relevance of Judaism the things will happen by themselves because people want it and because there's so much Beauty and relevance in it and there's so much wisdom in hashem's to that's what created the whole world it is everything so just show what what you're connecting to this is what I connect to this is what I like this is what my shabas table is and I would love for you to be a part of it and when we're able to do that without any agenda so then people are like wow this is amazing this guy just appreciates me for who I am and he's showing me the beauty in his life and you know what that's the beauty I'm looking for and that's how things happen amazing 100% so we we don't have to like oh no I didn't do the job I'm learning with him people tell me I'm learning with guy with this guy for for six months I didn't see anything like that's not your job your job is to learn with him well I tell you just now I have the mar to go to various different offices to give shiring now a certain office they moved and I wasn't able to give the shiring for many many months maybe even over a year or plus lost contact with them they reached out saying that they're moving back to the area they invited me to come back and I'm so excited I go over there and I see the guys wearing toit I'm like what in the world's going on you don't remember you asked us to take something upon ourselves and it was and here we are I'm like all these months whatever all this time it it gave such a you never know sometimes the smallest things smallest actions right and you don't realize what a massive effect it has on individuals going back to to current events to the situation a lot of turmoil there's there's war which is physical which is the Army there's also the spiritual aspect of things and the rabbi touched the point how we have to respect one another and everyone of course 100% but if we get some for the what's going on for one to understand how we could through the the world was created for the Tor but at the same time there's the concept of that's right which is making an effort not just sitting back RAB could touch upon that uh aspect we would appreciate that the the the question that you're asking I believe is the fundamental question and discussion how the describes the of the that we just read because they came in they were the heads of ofers the leaders they coming in and they say they don't this is not it's not we're not going to make it here we're not going to make it in the land of Israel it's too hard how many of us say that it's too hard we're not going to make it even people living in Israel look we're surrounded by enemies we're not going to make it what's going on over there and first of all they were saying that the right even mosu before they entered the land of Israel said listen there's going to be big Nations over there there's something though in how they said it the way theim explained is was a lack of they had a little bit of a the way it's brought down in the Z that we're not going to be the leaders over there but why are they not going to be the leaders over there what were they scared about because in the land in the desert they had everything was spiritual spiritual they're they're listening Torah from Moshe straight from Hashem they're surrounded by the Clouds Of Glory they're eating the m everything is great they're coming into the land of Israel the land of Israel is the land of the number seven there's Seven Nations there there's sh we have number seven number seven is the spirituality in the physical it's it's like Shabbat meaning you're eating the food you're enjoying everything but it's like the spirit you feel spiritual in it the land of Israel you come in you come to the land of is you have to plow you have to plant you have to start working you have to create a society an economy and it takes a lot of H within it and you cannot forget you're doing and that's the risk I built a beautiful Nation I built a beautiful I have an army and andem says don't forget the don't forget me just because I'm letting you be successful so it's always that balance now they were nervous that we want to stay just with Hashem we want to stay just in the Yesa we want to stay just in the spirituality and and we don't necessarily want to create this this economy this society and this and we're not going to be the heads over there cuz we don't know how to do that we know how to be here we don't know how to be there says this and all the that was the pus that they didn't want and they should have been their to the because the will of is not that we bring God just into the Yeshiva that we bring God into our job into our work into our home into our community into our society into our government into our army we're going to need to create that type of society with Hashem there present in every single aspect of that life now it it ended up being that it's two separate things the Tor is here and of course there is a lot of tah there but it's not enough our mission is to bring it across the entire era toel and to let the people who are there to feel that that everything comes from and that's the right now so of course there's a there's a struggle there because there's a struggle on both sides there's a struggle on the to infuse the Torah into the the and there's a struggle on the the physical world of the people who are actually running the businesses and the Army for them to realize that everything is Hashem and we need it both and is on us the responsibilities on the people who are learning the Torah who understand it to to work and to create that type of environment where hasem is present the is on the lowest of the points they feel Hashem is is there on the lowest on the most mundane points we're living with Hashem we are living with Hashem that's our aod and it's a big aod but we're there we're almost there we're getting there and when you when you look at the Jewish people like that you realize H just a little bit more 100% just a little kazak is a huge part of it a huge part of it must tell you the energy the positivity I feel it wow I'm sure you feel through the screens everybody but I'm enjoying every single moment uh but we have a custom a meh which is a final message to our broad audience so beautiful Torah talk very inspiring uplifting um based on everything that we said based on everything that we said I would say the most practical steps for whoever is listening to this is the mishna who is a wise person somebody who's willing to learn from any other person are we able to go around throughout our day and to say what did I learn from a different Jew who thinks differently than and and to say I learned something new from some not just from my rebi but I learned something new from a Jew that thinks differently than me mikad Madam from every person if you're medic there in the Mish from the entirety of the person there's what to learn from every person am I able to go around and give a compliment one compliment a day to any Jew no matter what give a compliment my father always told me it doesn't cost any money and it's so valuable when you're able to first of all it makes you feel you need to be confident with yourself and then you give a compliment to other people doesn't hurt be happy with what your lot is whatever your is wherever you are be happy with your in your and what you're doing in your life's Mission and what you feel is the best for you but be other other people and sometimes that takes takes courage you have to be you want to tell them oh no no no I have to I have to be I have to be K my and not what he said I don't need to put him down in order to lift myself up because a I think I'm going to put you down I'm going to show you that I'm stronger my idea is stronger see what you can learn from him be happy with who you are and therefore give him a compliment if we're able to take that Mish practical that is that is our way of bringing am Israel together and so try to take on a cabala every day I say to people give one compliment the day for days everybody anybody everyone anybody does you could be a child you could be a man woman grandmother throw a good word and any one of us could do it throw a compliment to another person see that you can learn something from another Jew and it takes automatically to be happy with who you are and to be Kish inro sometimes con you'll see within 30 days you have a broader mind you become a Jew that is broader that could hold the entirety of am isra Rabbi I'm not giving you a compliment because you said so but this was an amazing Tor do what an honor to be it was really really really inspiring on a personal level I'm sure everyone as well is inspired I really encourage everyone to forward the link to family friends neighbors everyone and anyone you know because every every everybody's got to hear this message it's a very very powerful message it's 100% true kazak T talks 8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time k.org c q.org special thanks to our friends at to Anytime and all the other podcast players special shout out to our friend Natan bear behind the camera and entire staff team board members supporters of kazak we're forever grateful and a special shout out to our friends at Daily giving dollar goes are very very far away and their sponsors Dr Don that's right Dr Don very very appreciative and uh looking forward to seeing you in the future Tuesday nights 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time kak amazing [Music]