CHAZAQ's Torah Talks #192 Rabbi Shmuel Alter Greenberg - My Life Is Not My Own

And when I got I got better. When I got better, I went to the Reb. I said to the Reb, I thank the Reb for the doing. He looks at me, gives me a cold look. He says, "I do?" He says to me like this, a stern look. He says, "A lot of people do for [Music] you. A lot of people do for you." And they did. And that's I'm the beneficiary of their. So when people ask favors, people speak to me, it's they legitimately feel they own shares of me because they do. That's the only reason I'm here. It was all the So when the rabbi says, "My life is not mine. You It's literal. It's it's literal. It's it's belongs to all the people for me. [Music] and welcome to Torah Talks Kazak's program with special guests. We have with us Rabbi Schmol Greenberg. Welcome. Thank you very much, Rabbi. Pleasure to be here. Such an honor to have the Rabbi over here. We're going to be speaking about how my life is not mine. Uh very interesting uh story and uh the life of the rabbi we're going to be hearing. And uh before we get to that, if we get a little background about the rabbi and the great work you're involved with. Okay. Thank you, Rabbi. It's uh so beautiful to be here. First, I have to make a correction. Can I make a correction? Sure, please. The rabbi introduced me as Rabbi Schmal Greenberg. That was in my previous life. At this point, my name is now Rabbi Alter Greenberg. Alter means old. So, I got I was sick a few years ago. Right. Right. I know the rabbi was aware of that. And uh so I I fell into a coma and I for 3 months I was in a coma. I'll tell you more about the details. But when shortly after I fell into a coma, they approached my uncle Feinstein and they said, you know, he knew that how sick I was and uh and and he said they should change the name and he suggested this. So then finally he said call him alter. So he called he made the name to be alter. Rabbi Rabb took care of the technicalities of changing the name. And what was interesting is that he came to me in a dream. Wow. And he said to me that we changed your name but you have to use it. So therefore I'm being I'm fulfilling what he told me to do that I'm introduced. Right. So it's alter my first life was Greenberg. My friends know me as that. But but now from now on for the audience out there it's uh it's Alter Greenberg. That's good to know. Okay. So it's very special that I get to use this name. Thank you. Really is. So I know that the Rab's involvement is the right. try to have a shaw and I learn I give I went to you're right we we learn together a bit and uh I teach in a high school in the morning west just high school so I try to keep busy try to be my Torah right and is doing an amazing job I try my best right so we I I'll never forget it was uh during co and uh the whole world has been domining for uh Rabbi Greenberg And I remember we even put together it's amazing I have to tell you it's amazing that uh I wherever I go in the world still today it's a few years later people come over to me some people who I might have known many I never met in my life and they come over to me and say you know you don't know who I am I just want you to know that when you were sick I davened for you when you were sick I gave stucker Wow. when you were sick, we got till groups and and I say thank you. It it's the the uh my my feeling my my attitude to that is that they really feel rightfully so that my life today they have shares in my life. I'm only here today because of the uh be because of all these people who died for me. The doctors did not really think that it could work. Wow. And um but hashem they but theos tell you an interesting story before I went to the hospital. I mean things were going downhill. It was CO. It was It was CO, right? But it it was a very unusual case and before I went to the hospital, I got my last call, phone call before I got to the went to the hospital, I got a call from the verbi's gab. So I know the rebi had told me once he never speaks on the phone. It's it's not I I could see why. You never know who's listening what you do, but that's and so the gaba got on. I want to know what it's doing. And then he says, "Now I'm calling. The Reb wants to talk to you." And before I went into the ambulance, the last call I got was from the Rebi himself. He got on the phone. He wanted to know what's happening, what's doing to give a braha. Wow. And and the whole time he was uh was very very involved. A lot of few people rav involved. And and when I got I got better. I got better. I went to the rabbi. I said to the rabbi, I thank the Reb for the doing. He looks at me, gives me a cold look. He says, "I do." He says to me like this, a stern look. He says, "A lot of people do for you. A lot of people ded for you." And they did. And that's I'm the beneficiary of their. So when people ask favors, people speak to me, it's they legitimately feel they own shares of me because they do. That's the only reason I'm here. It was all the So when the rabbi says my life is not mine, you It's literal. It's it's literal. It's it's belongs to all the people for me. When I went to after I got better or I wasn't fully better, but I after I was able to be mobile, I went to see the doctors who treated me. So there were two I met two out of the three. I met the third one a different time. But one of the doctor looked at me, he's a Goldberg, very big doctor. He looks at me and he says, "This is a miracle." He kept on saying to me, "This is a miracle. This is a miracle. And the other doctor was telling me, "You don't know how much I had to fight for you." Wow. Because when I was sick, I was I came to the hospital. I was there before Yam Kipper. The last thing I remember was Yam Kipper. After Kipper, I fell into a coma. And I had no recollection. But what happened was when someone because of the disease, you can't But the case I had was very unusually severe. You can't breathe. So what they usually do is they put you on they intubate you. They give you oxygen. But what do you do if the lungs don't take the oxygen? Wow. It's bad shape. That was the situation the rabbi was in. So that was the condition I was in and and they uh so they came up with a machine. It says, you know, we say boreos now every day we say Hashem creates healing. Not that Hashem makes healing. Hashem creates healing. And and here what happened was a while ago, but it was never used so extensively. They came up with this machine called an ECMO machine. You ever Okay, let me explain what an ECMO machine is. An emo machine is if the oxygen goes into your lungs but the lungs don't take the oxygen it's meaningless. Right? So they have this machine. I never saw the machine. I wanted to go see it. I'm hoping one day to get to see it. They have it in the machine. They connect it. They they connect it to your foot and then back in. They take the blood out of your body. It goes the machine is bigger than this room. Wow. it they take the blood goes into into the machine and they do an oxization of the blood in this machine. So the blood gets oxygen from the machine and then it goes back into the body with oxy oxygen in it and they made this machine they used to use it like for a few hours maybe a few days but here they act actually it's very interesting you know you talk of yom hadin you know to visualize a yhadin they had a yom haden they were they were those the pro and con took me to NYU. So that was the first miracle because NYU has the most of these machines. They were the pioneers in this machinery and because it requires not only have the physical machinery, you have to have people sitting there. Wow. 24/7 adjusting it from moment to moment, monitoring and making sure it's working. It's it it's when I heard it, I actually met one of the one of the nurses who who took care of the machine there a while later. She told my daughter she was there. Nobody else was there. She didn't get up from the chair for like eight hours cuz she couldn't didn't want to leave it for a second. And no visitors because of co no visitors. No vis and also I was out. I was uh I would not know anybody and and they didn't want any interference with the machinery. It's very I remember back then there was I think it was one guest uh per person. No, no, this was there's no there's no no remembers nothing. Wow. I had one guest actually somebody who was you mentioned John Gross. He was a medic, right? So he came into the hospital. They didn't they didn't know that he was a guest and and he came in. I had a few doctors who used to look up on me because they were doctors in the hospital. So they came as doctors they didn't come as guest as as guest and the they had this machine and they were saying that they had a debate should they let me on it because it's rare it takes so much resources. So there were those who said there were the pros and the and the yes the you know those who say and those who say no in the language those who want to want to advocate for advocate for the patient those against they had a panel set up and they had one of the doctors acted as a judge I mean I I can't even imagine what it was like and they said the machine is very rare takes so much energy And it takes so much manpower, you know, the chances are so slight. It's a waste. Wow. And the other said, "No, you got to give them a chance. We have to give a chance." And they had a vote. You know, I didn't a vote. I was not there. They had a vote. Can you imagine that? They had a vote and I won. I won by by a vote. Wow. And they said, "But they'll give it only for a month." M but once you're on it's harder to take off. I ended up being on it close almost two months and then after 3 months uh I started waking up. So this is what the doctor meant. This doctor said I had to fight for you get on the machine. He said I had to fight for you to keep you on the machine. And then he said the biggest battle he had was to try to get me off that machine. You can't stand that forever. And that was a real it was an amazing ness. Wow. And you know a lot came out of it especially that the certainly the tilos everybody's tos wherever I wherever I still go but it it's just unbelievable the the k of you know you have to always d they said to hill and they said they they they had the tum chats and and and at the end a miracle mash miracle miracle as they say is me Rael who's it's only hashem it's everything's from you know I have people who came over to me like we go like this and they say I just want to feel the miracle wow we do that all you can feel you can feel the miracle so it's still uh every it's a it's an incredible to be so connected to so many people not even realizing I mean I know they're out there but every time I get to meet them I met someone who told me you know I was in South Africa they were saying tell them Here I was over here bonf's listening to this and people unfortunately we know many people that are not feeling well right they need a what message could the rabbi give them for you know the inspiration is you know first of all every moment of life is precious every moment of life is precious you can never give up. You have to do whatever you could and and really dabbing. You have to dab and pray. I have to tell you could appreciate this how far it went. I'm very close. I'm of David. So when I was already that first pes I was already a little with it. So I called him. He was in no one was traveling anywhere. And I pick picked up the phone and the rebbitson picks up and she recognized the voice and she says to me, "I want you to know that the rashiva and I were daring for you the whole time." You know, I said, "Rebbitson, that's that's a ticket." you know, and and and and that with that it's I'm so indebted to to to people because I'm not here because of myself. This is a new me. It's a new beginning. I hope a better a better me, a more improved me, you know, but uh but I want to say something that about people, you know, whenever I tell this story, I like to predicate it. You know we say in we say in in inos right we start saying right after pes we say Moshe got the Torah from Sai and he gave it to Yeshua I mean it's from I learned Moshe got the Torah from Hashem what does it mean Moshe got the Torah from Sai right and after this experience I understood it that Moshe got the Torah from Hashem. That's obvious where who else could have given it to him and who else would not. But what did he get from Sai? If you look in the it says that the fire there was a fire on Hari and it the fire went all the way up to the heaven. And the idea is what Moshe got from Hari came to Mount Si. What do you need? Hashem give him give instruct Moshe finished. Mosher Raenu was he was ignited. He got the fire of har that that's what he had to take. The Torah itself is not enough. It could be a rule book. But you take he was it the the essence Moshe was ignited with the fire or the passion of Senai and that's what he gave over and that's he gave that passion and that fire the burning fire or that desire that that enthusiasm is that's what keeps us going amazing 100% I why what made me think of this because when I was in the hospital people would come it was even though it was co but there was one person in particular have to hear story. I was in NYU and then they transfer me to Rusk. Rusk is the rehab center of NYU, but I had to be specifically in that rehab center. That's a rehab hospital because they have an emergency room. And if anytime there was a setback, I was I they had all the records, all the doctors, everything was there. Everything was there and they could take care of it and they didn't. And then I uh was able to go back to the rehab section. I'm I'm I'm there again. After three months of a coma, when I woke up, it was a good thing my wife was there. When I woke up, I I could not move any part of my body. Not my feet, not my hands, not my fingers. And this I was able to talk. Wow. Couldn't couldn't move anything. It was overwhelming. was overwhelming and I'm there this a fellow he worked not he wasn't nothing to do with the rehab not part of my team a fellow a rabbi Dr. Pinter came in and he asked would anybody here be interested in putting on filling? So I said you came to the right room I would definitely want to be able to put on film. So he used to come every single day to put me on film. Wow. But it's not just okay he came to put on film. It wasn't that it sounds like okay it's that's sacrifice but okay you know it's not so not so terrible. in this hospital I was in, you know, bless them. They they had three hours of therapy every day, but no two days were the same. There was no schedule. One day they would say, "Come in at 8:30. We're picking you up in 5 minutes." Another time keep you up 2:00. I don't know. There was no rhyme or reason. So every morning, this is Dr. Pinter would call my daughter to find out my schedule so he could arrange his lunch hour to put on film to be able to come put me on film. And every day he came every day he came. And then as as things got better, I was able to start moving my hands a little bit, move my body a little bit. And you know it was it was really therapy really works and you know the the kas were there and but every day he came put on film and then one Monday morning I I didn't know what the weather was like because you're in the hospital. I'm in the hospital. You don't see anything. You know, I'm not listening or watching. But but that's, you know, not a half a second. Not. They said, "You want to watch?" I said, "No, not go next." Not a half a second. But they they say the Super Bowl. I said, "Come on. Not for me. Not for me." Anyhow, so he calls me one Monday morning frantic. He says to me, you know, I I feel so bad. I I can't even express how bad I feel. I can't come today to put on fillin. There was a blizzard in New York. The trains are not running. The hospitals were closed. Everything is shut down. And he said, I I just simply have no way of getting there to put on tillin. And I said to him, Dr. Pa you'll never guess Friday I put on film for the first time myself it was like such a hashkah to focus on this what he did and others others were and that's what I you know when I you see speak about the passion the fire of Torah this is where I experienced it I was in the hospital it's not what the what the the book says do this do that that they all did but to have such passion to have such enthusiasm, such dedication. It was the fire of Harina that I was that warmed me up that that kept me going. And this is something that really is truly amazing 100%. And I I really uh told people that uh we have to appreciate what Claude Israel is all about Israel. And I just called him last week before the uh I'm I'm very thankful to everybody uh You realize what was the what was the title? My life is not mine. Definitely not mine. It belongs to everybody out there and and the the number of people it's just unbelievable who said to them I mean it's it's unfathomable they they they in fact such a such an inspiration about the prayers you know many times people and pray and they feel like what's going to be how it's going to be. We see right and this this the doctors were shocked and uh the people who saw it hashem I I I say barakashem yum I have to tell you I was uh in speaking to the school in Los Angeles uh student of mine is one of the principles in my manities so the kids were listening but you know the kids all felt part of it because they all dove in you know and they all dive in. So they all felt comfortable. Then I remember this one little girl gets up and just looks at me in the eye and I the question still was there. She says, "Can you tell me having gone through all that? What do you do different now?" It's a good question. That was a good question. That was an amazing question. the the little girl. I don't ask him. It captured it captured and it was it was then early but I I was just beginning to get around a little bit. But I thought one thing I could tell you every morning I say the Hashem prepares the steps for a person. I said I say that braha very slowly with a lot of cavana and I say hashem give me the energy that I could go to shul I could go to the b medish that I could learn Torah and to study Torah and to go run to do mitzvah I'm I'm very mobile now and uh again if anybody out there is listening to me I want to say thank you for those who dive in But uh but more important pick somebody just keep the the the fire of of feel alive. That that that's the power that we have. I'm getting the chills just hearing this whole story and just seeing the rabbi again. I was one of those of the many people that were dabbing and praying and uh and and we see the miracle right in front of us. Rabbi, we have Pes coming up the Passover of freedom. Passover. I I said that I'm just I came home from the long stay and there was the regular hospital, then there was the rehab, then there was another level. I came home the day before Pes. Wow. So, here we are. And here we are. We're almost there. But the day before Pes was and it it was it was amazing because that pays out must have been a special but they had in front of my house they had a band playing when I came home and I remember that I'm this ambulance and as it came to my block I saw the the ambulance driver he put on the red lights, the blinking red lights. I said, "I know I'm home." And I got out, you know, they carried me out. I wasn't walking then. They carried me out and the people and they were people were dancing and and it was such an emotional moment. And the the the cops and the the neighbors, it was very very special. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] And to this very day, a sign for people coming over to me and say, "I daven for you." They say, "I d for you." And I saw I watched when you came home. I said, "How did they do it?" I don't know. Someone streamed it. And it it it was very meaningful to the people and it's and it's really very meaningful to know that we're there for each other. Pes is a new beginning, right? We have we say the first day we say we say special prayer for the D that do should give life to the ground and with that it says to give life to the people in the ground. doesn't necessarily mean those who are buried people who were struggling comes PES there there's a spirit in the air and that those who are struggling there's a hamm now why do I say resurrection res right because when I I told you I called he says to me he's on the phone he says I don't know what to make now he says should I make the braha that we've lived to see this day. And then he says, you know, maybe I should make the braim make the bra resurrecting the dead because I I got I I got it from the dead. I have to tell you just like from different people, you know, you hear this from rabbis when I came back. So I hadn't taken a haircut, you know. So there's in my neighborhood there's a Bkaran Bob. He lives not far from here. So he came comes to my house. This is a guy a regular barber, a nice fellow comes to my house and he gives to give me a haircut which is a I could no wait I can get around. After I he gave me the haircut Rafael I say to Raphael I said let me pay you. She says no I wanted to come. I said yeah that you wanted to come that I'm not paying you for but the haircut. It's a haircut's a haircut. He says, "No, I'm not taking money. When you come to the store, I'll take money now." Not. Then he looks at me in the eye and he says, like we I don't even know where it was coming from. He said, "I want you to know that you were dead." Coming from this fellow. He says, "You were dead. Hashem pulled you back from the dead." And he says, "I'm here to see it." Wow. You know, Pes is a time being pulled from the dead. You know whether it be emotionally, whether it be spiritually, whether it be physically, Pes is the time to rise from freedom, right? We we we we sprout again new when new people come pes and every any anybody and everybody who's in the could listen to this message come this pes come pes say where could I bring myself where could I bring new life into myself in what area it could be one area it could be many areas I have to give new life I have if I want to get Torah it's The fire of Torah that's makes us that makes us not so the knowledge is is a prerequisite but it's the enthusiasm that fire is what we give each other that's what we share with each other and and and this this is what the this is the message of PES everything is new come PES whatever struggles we had come Pesak we're new people and I want to wish you rabbi and everybody you always doing so many things you should do even new things. Amen. Even more things and I have I have I have such confidence that you'll come up with many many new things. But we always have to be new people. We say Hashem gives lives to the dead every day because every day we're expected to come to new life. Powerful. Very very and this is something that uh coming from Rabbi Greenberg who's been there alter Rabbi Alter Greenberg. Right. Right. It means a lot and the rabbi has experienced it. He's been there and uh and to the rabbi it's a big honor to have the rabbi on Torah talk. We want to thank the rabbi for the gems, the the inspiration every day to renew every day. Go somewhere new tomorrow. Go visit somebody who's sick, somebody who's needs help, somebody needs help to learn with them, to talk to them. 100%. You know, to go go talk to people. It when you talk to people, Rabbi, you're giving of yourself. That's right. 100%. and and and there's so many ways, but it has to be new. It has to be refreshed. It has to be that fire and and that's what ignited me. That's what got me going. So, thank you so much. I like the things that come out of the heart, enter the heart. But I like the Kazak part of and that's the that's the we have to be each other. This week's para, right? We have to be each other. Give each other we strengthen we strengthen each other. We do together and and everybody out there should have which you only hear. Want to thank the rabbi once again. Want to thank our friends at Torah in time and the various different platforms that Torah talks. He's very special. Thank you. And shout out to daily giving. A dollar a day goes a very far way. Dr. Donut and the rabbis on the rabbitical board. They do an amazing amazing job. Wrote a revolution. A dollar a day goes a very far way. And and Kina thousands upon thousands of people have already joined the revolution. We encourage everyone to be a daily giver. Please make sure to do so. Dailygiving.org. and we should only hear good news. Really, it's it was very inspirational for me to be here and to see the whole everybody working to help other people. It's keep on going. [Music]