CHAZAQ's Torah Talks #197 Rabbi Nir Shalom - Ahavat Yisrael

to define is really to be correct you have to define what is all about what kindness is all about. So you think about explain especially in the that is like water. Water are water goes everywhere. Water does not distinguish between this place the other place or this man the other man between people between animals. It goes everywhere. This is also what and how is to [Music] be and welcome to Torah Talks Kazak's program with special guests. We have with us all the way from Great Neck Rabbi Shalom. Thank you very much for joining us. very very nice to have the rabbi and we're going to be speaking about which is loving one another loving and before we get to the topic if we get a little bit background about the rabbi yes so I was born in Tel Aiv initav to uh those who do not know may not know is a very liberal specific very liberal neighborhood in Tel Aviv And uh I grew up a little bit different than that. So it was a challenge for me to grow up in a neighborhood like this. But I believe that at the end it shaped my uh understanding and my uh ability uh to uh you know to think and to understand every single Jew even though he's very liberal or to the right to the left. Right. Uh and then uh and then uh I joined a high school yeshiva bilan in Tel Aviv which after that I went to yeshivate there. Yeshivat there is a combination between army and the yeshiva. The yeshiva was in Kiryat Arba he which gave me a lot of uh understanding and love to the to the Jewish settlements and Jewish in everywhere in Israel and uh in the army I served in the unit called gati which is like a foot soldier like gulani and khanim parat troopers that was also something very important to me um at the end of the shiv I went back to live in Raatav. I started to study law and I became a lawyer and at the same time I used to give classes and to be haz from a very early age I started to learn and that was my uh you know my hobby my love and u and what happened was that um after some time that I was a lawyer I made a decision to make a very big difference and to uh to come here after I was sent by Rabbi Sami Kesson that time I did the rabbitical uh rabbitical degree over there in his place in the inel we decided to come here to United States and we taught I taught for 16 years in Megan David High School in Brooklyn and then after that I uh I was uh introduced to my community which I'm serving as the rabbi of the Babylonian Jewish center Jewish community in Great beautiful amazing and he is he is very inspiring and I want to mention my family he was the rabbi that introduced me to rair shalom and we had an event the passing of the benish of Baghdad and Rabir Shalom along with my brother and Rabbi Minaasha were the guest speakers. It was a beautiful and here we are doing a Torah talk. So the question is loving one another and things along the line. Can you define it for us please? What is it? I I believe to that to define Israel really to be correct you have to define what is all about what kindness is all about. So we think about explain especially in the that is like water. What our water goes everywhere. Water does not distinguish between this place, the other place to this man, the other man, between people, between animals. It goes everywhere. This is also what and how is to be. You know, we just read two weeks ago in pari we read the list Torah gives us the list of of birds which are not kosher. One of them is the hassida sounds like hassid. She does what's kindness. But what's what's the problem with doing kindness? No, it's not kosher. Says something so beautiful. It says does kindness but only with with a with a click with a family with a community. And I believe that is for real it means that you see your fellow Jew. You are able to look inside to see the connection the nishama that you're sharing together with him. You came from the same place from the shame same global great nish of Isel and that's what counts. Anything else, colors, knowledge, yamin, small, right, left has nothing to do with your ability to love him, to connect with him and to give to him and to see if he needs anything and to help him out 100%. Exactly. 12vatim 12 tribes, different types of children. So how does connect to our current events and happenings going on in going on in the world? I think in any aspect in any any way you look at it that what's happening now especially in Israel and in the world because it's all connected it has to do with this with this uh with this issue of of loving every fellow Jew and unfortunately also if there is any mahaloket and the lack of an argument between the Jewish people this is what is causing all of these troubles you know rabbi let's think from what every what what started everything so we remember what happened init prior to October 7th. We remember first of all there was one group in Amis I'm not going to speak politics but it's just facts who felt that they are not counted and who felt that maybe the judicial system is not really uh is not really counting them as other people and they want to make some changes just to make everyone feel that they are connected and that was something that the other group did not like and there was a big fight that started that ended at the end of the day in unfortunately a very terrible thing in Tel Aviv. You all remember that that it in the beginning when it starts just with a fight between two different Jews, it goes it goes all the way into other things that has to do with our tradition, our religion, our Torah that we don't accept it and that what caused it was really really few days before that that's on the negative side. Also, we remember that there were some people who said, "No, we're not going to come. We're not going to join the army. We're not going to do this." Even though at the end, everybody came. But it also something that supported our enemies. We know that they came out and they said that what gives them the strength to fight at Israel at this point is because we were lacking in our unity and love that we were supposed to have to one another. And I think that this is always has been our problem. If you look at the history of the Jewish people, we don't have to speak too much about it. Everybody knows the second temple was destroyed because but we see it all along. This is disunityity is whenever there's disunityity, there's there's arguments, the enemies feel it, you're saying, and they feel like they know this is the time that the Jews are not strong. Now we can hit them. That was the letter that caused one of the officers to go to jail. If you remember that, that was the letter the letter that uh Felchstein, right? The famous stere story about Felston who was was taken by the Shabbak and was put in jail. The letter that he was revealing to the prime minister was exactly that that the kamas realizes that now is the time to hit the Jewish people because of all the riots that are taking place in the streets. So you know it's not only a beautiful unity. It is the fact and the reality of our Jewish history all along. And I want to I want to go to the other side to the realat is that we are now seeing right after the war. You know we grew up on the uh famous story of uh of the officers Galof Role Klein was the officer in Golani who jumped on the grenade. If you remember in one of the operations, one of the worst, maybe it was the second Lebanon war who jumped on the grenade and we were telling the story of the sacrifice we have today thousands of of people who are jumping on grenades. Soldiers, civilians, women who women who stayed home and had to take care of the family when the man is is for hundreds of years out of the thing. the Shiva all over the world who were praying were saying millions of every single day. This is something that we can't find in any other nation. This bond, this unity which is so natural that everyone feels one, this is what I believe is saving us now. This is what is making the whole difference in the world. the big change in the Middle East, the big change in Israel and it leads Rabbi at the end the people to feel because of that unity without any religious background. Oh, we belong to a an amazing big story is where's the where's where's what is this? Everybody wants to do something because the way to get into loving Torah and loving Hashem is sometimes through sometimes through the understanding that we belong together 100%. I see it all the time. People that are I guess for lack of better words not holding. They're not there. But you give them a little bit of a little bit of love and then they start opening up. I want to start this. I want to start that. I want to do this. I want to do that. So how do we make the inspiration that many times people feel like you know what enough is enough I'm going to start and then after a few days like many things it starts out loses how does one try to keep maybe with your permission before that because you said something that quote my thing you said many many times that you see it also you experience it how one thing leads to another thing said leads to uh when you love a Jew and you embrace him and you like him and like hey we're together it leads him to open his heart and Then the path to get into is immediate. Let me share with you a story. On my last visit in Israel, I had a a privilege to speak in two uh in the two army bases and with me there was an officer in the Israeli army is a a great man who is doing great things for Amil. In any case, uh, at the in the middle of the in between the the the places, I heard him talking to his son and smiling and being happy when the So, I asked him what was the conversation all about. He told me the following story. He told me that his son who is an officer in one of the places was that back then it was in Lebanon or something. He happened to know a guy by the name of Oscar. Oscar. Okay, this is a very weird for Israeli name, you Oscar is not an Israeli name. He said, "Let me tell you the story of Oscar." That's what he told me. He grew up in I don't know what which neighborhood exactly. I think he in America. His parents made aliyah. And any case, his parents loved movies so much and they used to take him to all the the movies and the Oscar. They named him Oscar. This is how he was, you know, in a total different uh different world. totally, you know, um removed from to anything that has to do with that. He said that the war when he stepped into Gaza the first time, he felt out of nowhere. He did he couldn't understand it. He felt that Hashem is with him. He said, "I felt with all of my body and feeling and emotion, my blood, who is keeping me and saving me time after time after time. So much so that there was an incident that there was a house over there that was burning in Gaza and there were two groups of soldiers from both sides that were were trying to shoot the Arabs who try, you know, the terrorists who tried to get in and to kidnap them. And the order was given to both groups. No one is allowed to step into the house because if you step into the house, you're going to burn alive. Number one. Number two, one of the one of the groups are going to shoot you. And he said to himself, feeling that embrace from, how can I leave people if there are people over there in the house, how can I leave them to burn alive? I feel something that I need to do. He jumped into the fire and he came out after a few minutes with two little kids in his heads all burned. They were burned and he was burned. He said that uh his son he was talking to him on the phone happened to know and he uh you know he u after two days he spoke with him. He said, "Uh, what's going on? I remember you from this story. What happened to you?" And then he told him, "That's what I felt. I felt Hashem is with me. So that means that I have to jump and to save my fellow Jew and my friend from the fire." And the beautiful story, part of the part of the beauty of this story in my eyes is that this commander was telling me, "You know, Rabbi, what they're doing right now." I said to him, "What?" He said, "They're learning." I said, "What do you mean learning?" Right after when they finished with Gaza, they made a between themselves and every day in a certain hour, he calls him up and they made a on the phone. So you see over here the the spark that was light leads to to an action, a real action, a real feeling of belonging, of saving a Jew, of saving someone, of sacrificing from yourself literally your life and to bring them out. And what is the direction? Where does it lead you? It lead you to Tua. leads you to it leads you to love the Torah, love, love. Amazing. Amazing. Very very very very inspiring. Very inspiring. How about what we mentioned before about the keeping the momentum, how to keep the momentum. So you know if we think about the following thing there is a midrash of midrash so beautiful midrash simple and beautiful says to what am I asking from you God? not what I'm what you're asking from us maybe 630 minutes of vote and another millions of different details of us this is what you're asking for says no no no no what I'm asking from you that means what's the bottom line what I want at the end what's the product what do I want to see when I come to my house what I want to see in my family all I'm asking you all I want to see at the ad is that you're going to Love each other, respect each other, and give the most utmost that you can to one another. That's what I'm asking you. So sometimes, you know, many times in dua says, "Oh, what's the bottom line? What's at the end of the day? To be sadik, to be hashem, it's all true, but at the end of the day, there is another root over here that hashem is telling us to be one another." And also Rabbi you know in a lot of our writings and in every every other there's so many that are teaching us that we should not just look at ourselves as individual. It doesn't go this way in if you do not understand that you are one part in a big story of Isel you didn't get the message. So every day when we wake up and we're thinking is not disconnected with other of the Jewish people. In the same time you were giving me another opportunity to connect to Israel, to do favors to Israel, to do to love every single Jew, to see around what I can do good for is very very very powerful. Rabbi near shalom. Uh I must add that this is a very uh perfect topic. During Omar as we all know the rabbi akiba had uh 12,000 pairs of students which is 24,000 students shal they didn't respect one another and we all know that the beta mikdash the holy temple was destroyed because of because of basic hatred and every year that it's not rebuilt it's as if it was destroyed. That means we still have to work on loving our fellow like we love ourselves in this generation so we could rebuild the beta mikdash and I must say that the rabb's last name is shalom shalom means peace and all the all the prayers that we end off shalom and say shalom shalom benching is shalom shalom is the way to get everything else by having peace by getting along with one another by loving one another is a very very very important message we have a custom aag final message from Rabbi near Shalom. Okay. So, we'll continue with this path. I believe I think it's a beautiful path. I love this topic. Shalom. Getting along. Everything's amazing. Phenomenal. Great. So, you mentioned shalom. Shalom is also the name of Hashem, right? Shalom. The shalom and the peace that we should have between us is because we have peace of Hashem between all of us. Hashem is the one who's making us all shalom. You know, I was just preparing myself to for a class, a lecture that I'm going to give a class in my community. We're going through uh the parot of the of the Torah from the beginning from Bishit and trying to figure out the history and the beginning of the Jewish people of Islam and the Christianity all in the perspective of the history of the parot and everything. And I'm just now getting [Music] to that brings the story of Ysef Joseph and the brothers which really started what? Which started the the division between Is when they headed Sadik, right? And the throne to the pit and that caused what? It caused the exile of the Jewish people. And this is the whole story of what we're talking about. You know over there there is one bas that says that ysef sadik was sent by his father to do what the peace of your brother it's not only to give them some food to see oh I you know I'm I'm I I wonder where they are now it's make a peace between them because I know what's going on between you and when he sees the angel what does the angel tells him he said to him they went away from here it's not a matter of location. That means that you have they have removed themselves from the peace that you had between you and them. They don't like you no more. They don't want to give you a hand of friendship, of love, of unity. They take back the the hand. What happens when you have a hand that is shaking another hand on the other side? You have yadid yid friendship, love. They're out of it. And a very long time is going to pass tens of years, 22 years until this is going to go back. By whom? By beyamin. Binyamin is going somehow when he comes back. When you sees him, he gets so and they when Yehuda is going to fight for Binyamin next time when he's going to see and he's going to say, "I'm not going to make this mistake once again. I'm going to make sure we're all going to stay united forever." What happens at the end of Bishit? It just clicked in my head today when he blesses he says to him. Here we have the that's the protection that Hashem gives over the Jewish people when they make peace finally when we get together. There's no power in the world that could defeat Isel. There's no power in the world that could be in between us and this is our prayer Rabbi. We're praying today for Israel, all of Israel. We love all of them. And this is I believe what Kazak is doing. The biggest thing that they're doing is that they give their love to every single Jew here in our community in all the communities. Amen. Shalom. Beautiful inspiring message. loving one another. Shalom, peace. We should all take this message to heart for this amazing sh to your family, friends, neighbors, everyone, anyone you know. We want to thank the rabbi once again for the beautiful words. We want to thank all the different platforms that host Kazak Torah talks with a special thank you to our friends at Torah Anytime. A special also thank you to Daily Giving. A dollar a day goes a very far away. If you're not a Daily Giver, I really encourage you to check it out. dailygiving.org. org. Amazing website, amazing people, amazing organization doing a lot of good and natan behind the camera and the entire staff and team working day and night to save uh our various different people to bring them back and we've seen tremendous we want to do much more suggestions for future guest rabbis are always recommended info.org info@ chazaq.org and we should be What do you have? [Music]