Chizuk from R’ Moshe Tzvi Weinberg

[Music] okay thank you very much for the opportunity I've heard a lot about the amazing work that kazak does and I'm very honored to have the opportunity to to finally be a part of it and as was just mentioned we're in the month of which is a month of sim and there's really no greater Sim in the world than the opportunity to study Torah what I'd like to discuss tonight and talk about tonight is what it means to to really fall in love with Torah sometimes we spend our life it's a little challenging everyone it's kind get a good workout tonight sometimes sometimes we spend a lot of time doing Torah and doing mitzvos and if we do Torah and mitzvos for any reason that's a good thing but I want to try in the in the spirit of the month of AD and we'll talk about why it's Unique to the month of AD to try to reconnect to Torah and more in a deeper way in a more meaningful way to do mitz not only because we have to but because we want to so let's jump in a few par go Source number one I hope everyone has the sources they're optional no obligation to foll in the sources if you like the sources you're welcome to use them it's Source number one a PK that we're all familiar with now sometimes from one year to the next we forget that this PK actually appears in par M as opposed to because chronologically we're used to thinking of it in terms of of something that came before the Jewish people came to and that is what the Tells in Source number one we know that one of the greatest statements arguably the greatest statement the Jewish people ever said was that they expressed a willingness to do whatever it is that a Kesh is going to ask for them before they even knew what it was KES is going around the world and is trying to find someone who's interested in this Torah and no one seems to be interested until finally who comes to the Jewish people and says would you be interested to my Torah and they say we'll take the Torah before we even know what it is you don't even need to present it to us we're not interested in finding out the details of the we don't even need to hear the big picture this appears again at the end of now there's a big discussion in the Ron and when exactly this PK was said was this in fact said prior to Kabal Tor was it said after Kabal as it appears seems to appear if I were to read the Torah simply followed by but if you look at thear in Source number two seems understand understood it this prior because what happened what happened when the Jews actually stood at the mountain ver number two says the in the Jews stood at the foot of the mountain but weren't satisfied with the Jewish people standing at the foot of the mountain go one step further lifted the mountain suspended it over their heads and threatened the Jewish people to accept the Torah said to the Jewish people if you're willing to accept my Torah then mut then everything's good will put down the mountain and the Jewish people will able to continue in a beautiful relationship with but if you refuse to accept my Torah that'll be the end of the Jewish people there you shall be buried threatened us so to speak into accepting the Torah now what's so strange about this this this mic explanation of the they stood at the foot of the mountain says the gamar no it means they stood Under the Mountain held the mountain over the head and threatened them into accept the what's so puzzling about this this so to right there on the side of the page in Source number three says didn't the Jewish people already say they want the Torah didn't the Jewish people say isn't it true the Jews said to before they were even told what the Torah is we're excited about it we're enthusiastic about it we're prepared to keep it at all costs and then afterwards threatens us to take the Torah we had signed up for it already to was right in Source number three bother the rhetorical question didn't the Jewish people already say Nas didn't they say we'll do it wholeheartedly before we even know what it is you know simple mush imagine you go to your neighbor you go to your neighbor's home it's a snowy day it's been a light winter but imagine it's a it's a snowy day and you're outside with your shovel and your neighbor has a has a snowblower you figure instead of breaking your back shoveling snow I'll go to my neighbor he's a good friend of mine maybe he'll lend me a snowblower so I go over to my neighbor I knock on the door I see his driveway's been clean for hours and I'm just getting started I said would it be possible to borrow your snow blower so he says I I would be thrilled it would be an honor I'm happy and then you pull out a gun and say if you don't give me your SL whoa I already said yes I already agreed so comes to and says are you interested in my Tor not 100% 100% committed next you know's threatening us into accepting his Torah so say toos what was the threat how did that come to be explains toos in Source number three where it's bolded when the Jews originally signed up to accept the Torah so they had a certain image of what it was going to be like what do it mean to come to the mountain what do it mean to hear God speak what do it mean to receive the Torah they show up at the mountain and starts to speak and there's lightning and there there's Thunder and there's chauffeur and there's darkness and there's bright lights and it's it's it's a very intense scene and every time he speaks their souls like the says are flying out of their body literally to do between each of the in order to bring the Jewish people back and at that point the Jewish people said this is too much we didn't sign up for this we signed up for a Torah Torah that's Pleasant that's reasonable this is too for us and at that point after having said assuming the t is going to be a certain way now all of a sudden they were overwhelmed and they decided to sneak away from the mountain and it was at that moment hasem says to them you're not going anywhere says you're here to stay and was at that point hasem forced them and pressured them to accept the remainder of the Torah that's how the balos understand this question already in the offered a different answer you know when it comes to Torah there are parts of Torah that are easy to learn easy to understand not overly Technical and there are parts of Torah that are very very difficult to understand and it takes tremendous effort for a person to learn says the in Source number four the Jewish people did not accept the Torah until threatened them into it so says the medish but I thought the Jewish people wanted the Torah why did have to pressure them into accept the Torah you'll say maybe had to threaten us into accepting the Tor says the not at all when offered them the Torah the T let's think about t for a moment what is T it's a tiny little book you could print it the size of this right you can carry the entire T in your pocket it's a very small book 5,845 sentences 5,845 it's a lot of stories what does it mean to keep shab according to T whates ask of us don't light a fire on shabas okay it's a lot easier than all the and so many others you know Rab's four volume work on onab so keeping the Torah is not so scary it's not so threatening so the Jewish people thought they were signing up an exciting story book couple of laws not too complicated not too detailed all of a sudden they come to the mountain and hasem says surprise I have something else to give you and lifts up the mountain reaches under the mountain and pulls out a beautiful leatherbound set of sh 2,711 pages of impossibly difficult legal terminology to to understand one page of it take a lifetime and says here this is It's a package deal and if that's enough right you've just won instead of with all the details and all the and it was at that point the Jewish people Saida who whoa we didn't sign up for this says the me Source number four where it's bolded in the middle of the paragraph what were they forced into accepting is made up of the finest details some things are easy some things are very difficult listen to the language of these are our greatest sages speaking say can be as painful as death itself it could be as difficult as the grave itself a painful experience has something to say about everything tells you how to tie your shoes in the morning tells you how to take a shower controls every single detail of your life and therefore CL said this is too much for us we can't handle this and it was at that point even though they said they showed a basic desire to accept was far too much to sign up for you have to be wildly in love with with all your heart and all your soul and all of your faculties all of your money to invest in t to invest in T is a tremendous tremendous investment and the Jews thought they weren't ready for it and as they tried to sneak away from the mountain hel the mountain over their head and said you're not going anywhere so these are the two classic explanations that are offered to on the side of the page of and the all of this changed on per coercion that pressure to accept the Torah entirely changed on what do I mean by that thear chabus goes on in Source number five because the tells us what would happen if a person comes to the you come to the world of Truth after 120 years and you're sitting down with and hasm says come let's see how you did on your life andem takes out the and he opens up to the first page let's see let's see if you if you all the the let's see how you did andem opens up the I'm reminded the great one time the great mag saw him he saw him one morning he looked exhausted particularly exhausted that morning so Shalom goes over to him and he says uh he says Ria what's what's going on you seem you seem very very tired so he says yeah I got up this morning about 3:30 4:00 he says so early Shiva minions at 7:00 a.m. what were you doing at a bed at 3:00 so he says you know one of the first really the first is person should jump up like a lion to to greet in the morning so he says it just so happened this morning 3:30 3:45 I opened my eyes and I was up so I figured is when you wake up you got to jump out of bed I knew I still a couple hours until the Yesa minion but I I wanted to be M andan said could you imagine after 120 years I get to the Ms and hasem pulls out you know the entire puts it down on the table so to speak and hasm says come let's begin your examination hasm opens the cover cracks it open the first page the first says did you get out of bed like a lion so says do you think I want to get out on the first question it's a big test think I want to get out on the first question right so a person has to have a certain enthusiasm so a person comes to the you sit down with hasem and hasm says come let's take a and you didn't do so well you aren't you aren't the best Jew you could be so what excuse do we have turn to God and we say I I told you at our I wasn't cut out for this I told you long ago I can't handle this you pressured me into this says the gar until the time of P the Jewish people in fact had that excuse it was a legitimate excuse to turn to and say I never wanted this you pressured me into this says the gar in Source number five from the fact that we were forced into it m from here is a a tremendous excuse for Tor we can excuse ourselves from a poor performance in Torah don't get too excited because all that changed on says in told the story of P the Jews were still operating under coercion once came in the time of the Jewish people re accepted the Torah says they were they really accepted that which they had previously accepted on our they were forced into it but on they really accepted Rashi comments on thear you don't have it on the page in front of you Rashi says they were so thankful to hem they felt so beloved bym that they were saved from that mad man H that it could have been Holocaust and not a single Jew lost his life her life right they were so thankful to hasem they said we want to reaccept the Torah not out of coercion but out of love and from that point forward the Jewish people are expected to find that inner strength to be able to keep all of Torah and mitzvas that's what changed on now I want to just mention parenthetically okay we'll just pause this part of the sheer for a moment but since we read this me which spoke so critically of the the the T experience the painful experience of learning gumar I want to just show you a little bit it would only be fair to show you a little bit of the sweetness of gumar and a person who is willing to our card and is's willing to look carefully despite again the nitty-gritty details of a couple of lines of gamar but if you look carefully you find the sweetest things in the world I want to just give you one example again in the spirit of the the sweetness of Torah da from an example that emerges from the gamar okay but really just parenthetically but it's worth seeing it's an amazing Insight from the villon the says in in Source number six the gamar is discussing how do we know that Esther migas Esther was written withes how do you know it's not just a history book The Truth is you get to the end of the Milla and it says if you want the history so go look in the secular history books that's how the Milla ends clearly indicating that this is not a secular history book but I don't know you read through the M's name doesn't even appear in the text how do I know that this is part ofes how do I know it's a divinely inspired work so thear gives many explanations things that are found in Mig that we could only have known if we Hades for example says the gar in Source number six how do you know was divinely transmitted H said in his heart how are we supposed to know what H said in his heart how can we possibly tell tell the reader of Miguel what H was thinking what H was feeling the only way we can know such a thing is if what hasm told us hasem told us what H was thinking so therefore said in his heart is an indication that the Milla was taught to us by hasem divinely divinely inspired okay reab AKA comes along and he says I'll give you a different proof the PK says that Esther found favor in the eyes of anyone who met her everyone tried to claim that Esther was was their girl from their Nation right we know Esther concealed her her nationality and everyone wanted to take credit for Esther so again how do I know what everyone was thinking how do I know that each of the nations of the world wanted to take credit for Esther must be that millas Esther is written withes or how about the matter became known to Mor again how do we know how do we know what Mor knew or how about the fact that after the Jews won that unbelievable military Victory not a single Jew took from The Spoils of War how do you know how do you know that there wasn't one Jew who reached into the pocket of some Amal and stole his wallet how do you know how can we testify to such a thing the only way we could say any of these things is if the Milla was divinely inspired okay a variety of opinions how we know Mig is written withes comes along sh three lines from the end of sour six and says if I would have been there I would have given the best answer of all I would have given the knockout punch the greatest proof that migil eser was written by hasem was was taught to us by hasem what proof would I have brought he says because the PK says they they upheld and they accepted so says it was accepted on high what they accepted down below says that's the greatest proof of all and says ra I could ask a question on all the other approaches but gloser no questions on said this is a beautiful work they were writing down below Hashem was signing offer says ra I can ask a question on all the other approaches for example hm said something in his heart how do I know what hm was thinking because throughout the Milla we see how hm's acting right it could be were suggesting it's obvious what hman was thinking at that point Esther was a beautiful woman she was the pride and joy of the kingdom of course everyone wanted to take credit for Esther so again I could I could try to disprove all the other attempted proofs but Untouchable says ra it's an Untouchable proof that Esther was written withes what's so interesting about the fact that ra of all people is saying this is the most beautiful interpretation of the P because it was R himself who in ver number five told us a different interpretation of Kimu what do we how did we learn Kim in that the Jewish people re accepted that which they had been forced into at how are we learning in Source number six that gave them the wisdom to write Mig down below so which is it which is the true interpretation of the and ra you of all people are espousing the opinion of you yourself told us a different interpretation what's going on here this is this is the world of gamar that makes you so crazy and to says how do you learn two things from one p so look at the sweetness of the gamar look at the a person who's in love with hasem and is willing to work hard you find unbelievable things it's interesting one of the Contemporary uh great minds in Brooklyn writes many many so writes to one of his that the gatria of the word aus the numerical value of the word aus is the same GATRA as the word m because if you're to work hard you'll see something very sweet the V was willing to work hard and the vill go showed us something very very sweet a little present a little early sh this year for p look what he says here this is my uh this is my present here I hope you enjoy if you don't like you can give it back I'll give you like a pineapple and a little thing of grape juice or something okay s the V how do you learn two things from one PK so the vill go says an amazing thing if I were to open up a millas Esther right now what would I find if I looked inside to see those words what would it look like it would look like aan what does it mean aan it means if I unrolled the Milla right now I would see the words in front of me how do I hear it every time I go to on it's written one way it's written and it's enunciated it's pronounced so says the how can it be that I learn two things from a sing from a single phrase which is it says the well there's a and there's a is expounding the way that it's written so when the says it's explaining at the way it's written right that's how it's written who was maet originally in singular who is the one person who was on top of the mountain so to speak when everyone else was under the mountain m so means that the Jewish people re accepted on what the individual M had accepted at oura he was the only one who wasn't forced into it what about says only that's following the way that the words are actually pronounced okay beautiful so he shows us how we can extract two things from one p but the villon is not done yet because take a look looks look only the villon only a mind like and a heart like the villain go could catch such a thing look at look what the I underlined it for you in Source 5 and six what is the gamar saying when it ques the what does it say in when it the same you hear the gar is expounding it the way that it's the way that it's written and it's expounding the P the way that it's pronounced unbelievable to be able to pick up on such a such a Nuance to catch such a thing is really an unbelievable insight and again that's the sweetness that comes for the person who's willing to work hard and to try to to try to crack one's hat on some of the intricacies of gamar okay but now back to our topic so the Jewish people had an amazing excuse it lasted until porm PM came and that was it no more excuses the Jews fell in love with and the Jewish people accepted the Torah willingly and that's what speak to be able to apply something to our life that's really what I want to focus on for the remainder of our share what does it mean what does it mean to accept the Torah willingly not by force not to do mitzah because I feel that I have to but to do Mitzvah because I really really want to and I find pleasure in it and I see it as an opportunity not only a respons it's also a responsibility but I see it as a privilege as an opportunity as a gift that hasm has given me the opportunity to practice his Torah and mitz so I want to share with you my own insight into a it's a it's an interpretation that I came to based on something I saw from great name so let me show you how he reads the and then I'll show you based on his based on his foundation I'd like to suggest the following okay Source number nine let's go back to the beginning of migas Esther is having an amazing party and the drinking at the party is is in accordance with the law Ain no one is being pressured to drink there's no pressure you could drink if you'd like to drink if you don't want to drink you don't have to drink that was the rule there was an abundance of Pleasures at's party but no one was pressured there was no coercion you could drink what you desired the king set up the rules to do in accordance with the will of each and every person no one was pressured in accordance with has many interpretations a person was offered wine in accordance with their age so if you were 40 years old they brought out a 40y old bottle of wine if you were 50 years old a 50-year old bottle of wine right there was all the all the Delicacies in the world but no one was forced you didn't have to drink if you didn't want to drink there was no peer pressure to drink okay a very deep interpretation of this he says what else could Shia mean besides drinking where else do we recognize that word from so he brings us to a mish in we know that during the second temple period when the would go into the kadash walk into the holy of holies you know in the good old days during B when he would walk in to perform the there was an Theon was there The KES was there with the with the sa Torah unfortunately during B AR wasn't found there either had taken it in captivity when he conquered when he destroyed the first base of mikash or the king Yos had hidden it away but the bottom line is how depressing he'd walk into the KES kadash and the room was empty so when he would come in to sprinkle the blood what was he sprinkling towards what was he sprinkling on there was no AR there was no AR in the Kash says the Mish Source number 10 once the had been removed the AR had been taken there was a rock there was a rock in the that rock was there it had been discovered truthfully it had been there long before but had been recognized and discovered during the period of the and it was called the EV what does EV mean we're today the Dome of the Rock stands right that rock that Dome of the Rock where unfortunately it's no longer in our hands right but that rock the EV is translated as the foundation stone because say that's where hasem founded the world when Hashem was creating the world where did it begin where did Hashem first so to speak place his presence down in this world and then build the whole world around it it was that evania the foundation still so say could mean to drink but Shia could also mean the foundation so now let's go back to the p and I'll show you very very deep interpretation of the look how he interprets it the foundation he's using the word is now the Evan the foundation of that the foundation of religious life the foundation of the religious experience is a onus so let me tell you what says says the father know one more one more word in terminology what's the concept of a or iron nothingness B complete self- negation the foundation of having a healthy relationship with Hashem is that a one's self- negation has to be oness has to be forced it's very hard as human beings it's very hard to to to crack to break our ego it's very easy when we work hard and a person is doing well financially a person is doing well spiritually person is having any type of success in this world it's very easy to say was my strength and you pat yourself on the back and you take credit for it you feel that I worked hard I deserve the credit if you want to have a real relationship with hem it's going to be hard but a be humble and honest and force yourself to be humble it's not so easy to do but challenge yourself force yourself to be humble and to give Hashem the credit for really everything that happens in your life that's what Rover says but I think I can imagine that many of you understand where I'm going with this and I'd like to offer a different interpretation the foundation of a religious experience is is that I serve hem not because I'm forced to serve hem but because I want to serve hem and if it's so beautifully with the end of the PK how does the p end that this is what the king decreed who's the king in miger the M says whenever it says the king without mentioning name he talking about the king the foundation of a healthy and authentic religious experience is a on that hasem doesn't have to twist my arm to get me to do that's how wants the relationship that's what the that's wants the relationship to be that's how he established it for all people what's the end of the in accordance with the will of each person that Tor MIT is something that we desire that it's not something to force us into it's not something we should have to force ourselves to do but be something we're so excited to do so enthusiastic to do that I want to do it on my own that I'm longing for it I'm not doing it just out of a sense of of responsibility which is also true it is a sense of responsibility but to get past that that more immature relationship with Hashem and to have a deeper connection to hm that I feel privileged to be a Jew I feel honored to be a Jew I feel thankful that I have all of these opportunities to serve you in so many ways who takes away that Joy who tries to make Judaism a burden for us of course if PM is the time when we're accepting this this degree of of sim of excitement to be a Jew then of course the enemy of p is the one who takes it away from us who's the enemy of P it's and H comes from who aik a Malik comes whenever the Jewish people are developing an authentic CER an authentic relationship connection to aik comes and tries to squash tries to destroy the that Jew has The Joy the authentic Joy of being of being a Jewish person says the p in Source number 11 the Jews in Camp in a place called says 12 Source number 12 a couple lines later couple later the Jews came to a place called and lo behold who shows up ined none other than our arch nemesis amalik what's why wased calleded so the has two interpretations the first one happens to be I find very very interesting the it's verse 13 says why was that place called raid ready for this for those of you who are very practical people you like this answer a lot why was it called because was its name okay thank you very much right why is it called because the sign when he got off on the exit said Reid him that what it was called don't read into it so much okay good says I'll go one step deeper raid means something raid tells me about the nature of that place and when I understand the nature of that place I understand how it was that a Malik was able to attack how did a Malik get the upper hand and feed them says Rua where it's bolded in source 13u T that there was a weakening that there was a loss of connection to Torah or as Rashi brings it as often people refer to this what's theot the Jews weren't learning as well as they should be they weren't as connected as well as they should be but it's deeper than that it's much worse than that when a comes to town or in the language of the I want to a beautiful interpretation that their hands felt weak T that they felt the Torah was a burden it's not that they weren't as connected to Torah they were doing Torah MIT but they felt burdened by they felt heavy from it they didn't feel privileged by it they felt that was punishing them by giving them the Torah and therefore we have to remind ourselves we have to always go back to that first encounter we with the if we want to go back like it's saying in what's the foundation of the relationship what was it supposed to be just go back and listen in to the way that hasm spoke to the Jewish people the very very first time hasem spoke the very first time hasm waited all those years to introduce himself and what did he say what was this opening sentence how didem introduce himself to the world I am hasem your God so immediately the Jewish people panic oh you're going to try to control us you're going to place all these demands upon us says hm oh slow down what does it mean to be your God why do I want to be your God I amm your God and I took you what I took you out of captivity I freed you from the house of slavery says not only did I free you physically but I freed you mentally I allowed you to to to leave that slave mentality behind you know how hard it is for a person who's coming out of jail who's coming out of captivity to transition back to regular life and hasem set them free they were spiritually okay the emotional trauma didn't stop them from functioning when they left M so hasem says hold on a second I took you I freed you physically I freed you emotion emotionally mentally right and I'm asking you and I'm introducing myself as as your god so let's ask ourselves a very simple question if someone is wallowing in a dungeon for 210 years if someone is being held a slave and being forced to work backbreaking labor for 210 years and someone comes and saves them if I were to ask you one of two possibilities is the person saving them a someone who loves them and frees them from that captivity because he loves them or B is the person freeing them because he hates them so I think we would all very obviously respond that the one who's freeing that person from captivity after such a long difficult period of time clearly loves them if the person hated them he would have left them in captivity let them suffer so says to CL I am hm your God and I'm going to ask a lot of things of you but I don't want you ever to forget why I took you out of MIT I took you out of MIT very simply because I love you so guess what everything else dot dot dot everything else I'm about to say keep cous but it's expensive but I'm giving it to you because I love you keep shabus but it's so restrictive I'm giving it to you because I love you keep put on give hasm says all the details of I'm giving it to you simply because it's a continuation of this is the interpretation of one of the great says I am your God and if you want to know what that means if you want to know what my motivation in becoming your God is it's the exact same motivation of I because I love you and I'm giving you all of the simply because I love you and when a Jew stops and he thinks about that it's a different relationship it's not a punishment it's not a burden it's not hard to get up in the morning and to face the responsibilities that a Jew has to himself or to herself in this world and I'd like to explain based on this comment of something we say every single day in sh what do we say in sh as we accept upon ourselves the responsibility to serve hem the med says that anytime you see the word it's a magic word means something very joyous the way begins always something something treacherous something bad could go either way says the is a of so look at this P it's so beautiful it'll be a tremendous Joy it'll be a tremendous for you if you listen to my but how do you listen to my do you listen to them as as God being some evil Taskmaster trying to control you or do you listen do you listen back into the voice of Do you hear the voice of who says I gave you MIT because I loved you and I freed you and if you hear if you could tap into that if you could understand why hasm is giving you mitz then there's going to be a tremendous in your life and you'll be able to serve as the P includes you won't spend your whole life serving God out of fear you'll serve AES out of love because you recognize that every single thing that aesh gave you is because he loves you mosha used to say an entire generation of Jews was lost because in the early years in America when it wasn't so easy to be a Jew when there was what to complain about I think we have it a lot easier today I think we could all recogniz that but in the early days in the 1920s the 1930s what it meant to be a religious person in America meant losing your job every single week that you were looking like you told your boss you're not coming in Saturday your boss said look for a new job and from week to there were people literally from week to week with M they kept but they carried it around like a heavy burden and they would often said they would say to their children it's so share to be a y it's so broken it's so heavy it's so difficult to be a Jew and the the truth is it's true a Jew is losing his job every week that is difficult to be a Jew but what didn't they tell their children they didn't finish the sentence it is sometimes hard to be a Jew it is a big commitment to be a Jew it is costly to be a Jew it is demanding of our time and resources to be a Jew but they didn't finish the sentence yes sometimes it's share to be a Jew it's hard to be a Jew it's difficult to be a Jew but it's so worth it to be a Jew it's so worth it and for all the struggles for all the challenges for all the for all the money that we have to invest in the time and the that all the things we have to give up in this world in order to be a Jew but it's so worth it and we're so fortunate that hasm gave us that opportunity remember I once read a story little kid went to school goes to goes to Yeshiva goes to school you know it's it's an Arab shabis right so the moris says okay you know we're going to have a a shabas Aba right the kid comes in dressed dress in his chabas clothes it's very cute and he gets to make Kish for the class so the kid comes he picks up the Kish cup and he starts to recite Kish and he goes o y so the says what's the what's the O where'd you get that o so he says my father he say I got it for my father every week my father comes home a long you know a long week there's so many emails that have to still be checked there's so many clients and so the kid picked that up right o I have to shut off my cell phone to keep sh such a terrible tragedy but unfortunately if we're not if we're not living a life of inspir MIT if we're not living a life where we're filled with Sim over the opportunity to be a Jew then God forbid that's what we pass on to our children that's what we pass on to our community that's what we pass on to cla a CL who feels burdened still standing under that mountain where's threatening us take my Torah or else it's true Torah is a big responsibility the of all people the founder of of all people was the one who said that was necessary because there's going to be moments when you're not inspired that right now we're so excited the B who was filled with with excitement and joy for said there going to be mornings where you need to force yourself where you need to put a mountain over your head to get yourself up and to do it but that's not the way it's supposed to be that's not the ideal relationship with hem the ideal relationship with hem is the foundation of the relationship what the relationship is really supposed to be ain't on us I don't need to be forced I don't need to be coerced I see it as a beautiful beautiful opportunity to live the life of a Jew who's observant of Torah and mitzvah the V said that there were three that the famous of yov the great mag of DNA known for his amazing Parables the villain go said there were three M of the mag where he explained with his Parable exactly what the PK's truest intent was and I want to share one of them with you the K rabi said about those same three Mas they must have been said with r KES because the mush so precisely captures the feeling of the PK of the word of the Nai who's trying to express something says says the the following the is I want to jump to 19 the is a the says before I even translate the P let's learn the mus of the the sh the re of Sak in his writings on V verse 20 he brings he brings this mus this the only place in the sa he quotes the he brings this mus and again the vill said about this mus this is exactly what yes was trying to express to in in expressing this in so here's the says the 20 imagine a fellow he's been traveling by boat he's got a a large suitcase with him and he arrives he comes from the road right comes to the port let's imagine and he gets off the boat or he steps off a train and he has his bag with him holding his bag and he says to the fellow there's a young man who's standing there looking for a little business and he this fellow turns to him and he turns to he turns to him and he says would it be possible for you to carry my bag back to the house you know I've been traveling for so long I'm a little worn out he can you can would it be okay for you to take the the bag to my house I know I know you charge and I'm happy to pay and he asks him what his fee is and he says I charge by the pound I charge by the distance no problem I'm happy to pay you and they come back to the house the fellow walks ahead and this guy's coming behind he's slapping the suitcase he gets back to the house he gives him the bill and he sees it's an exorbitant amount so he says I don't understand you told me what your rate was you told me you charge by the pound why why why is the bill so expensive he says what do you mean why am I charging you so much look at me I'm so worn out from carrying your bag I'm spitzing from head to toe I'm soaked I'm done for the day that was the heaviest bag I ever carried in my life and the owner turns to him the homeowner turns to him he says there's been a terrible mistake if you look that worn out and if this is my at the end of the day then I'm telling you without even opening the contents of this bag I can promise you that's not my bag that's not my bag I know my bag what was in my bag he says is something that's what he says it's nikala it was light it was clean I don't know what you were slepping you were slepping someone's gym bag filled with heavy weights or something but I can I can assure you if you're that burnt out from carrying my bag then you don't have the right bag that's not my bag says the that's exactly what the was saying this exactly what yes was saying on behalf of go back to theour 19 be is if you got to be is Jewish people if you're so worn out from being a Jew then says that's not my back that's not my that's not my Judaism that's not what Tor mitos is supposed to be yes of course it's hard work preparing for of course it's hard work scrubbing the floor but if you can't do with with some degree of if you're burdened if you feel tied down by your Fillin in the morning hasem says that's not Fillin that's not my intention in Fillin that's not what my Torah looks like that's not my bag of Torah mitz and therefore only a Jew who at the end of the day has worked hard and and has put a lot of energy into Tor mitz but feels not burdened by it and not broken by it but feels energized by it that's the person who really has who really has a who bag of Torah my daughter I have a four-year-old daughter we're blessed with four children my wife and I we have a four-year-old daughtera and some of the here knows and she's very cute and she likes to prance around the house and she has this little like princess crown that she likes to wear all the time it's beautiful you know every Jewish girl is a Bas a princess ofon so so one of her big sisters said to the other day M isn't it annoying for you to always wear that crown do that bother you isn't it like heavy isn't it awkward I remember once heard a mush someone said you know imagine a Prince when he first when he first becomes the King right and he has to wear the big the heavy Robes of the king and he has to wear the crown and and and even before he's the prince he looks at his father sitting there with the crown and said isn't that burdensome for you is that uncomfortable to wear that heavy crown with those heavy jewels and the King understands that what that that the privilege of wearing the crown makes it all worth it he doesn't even realize that it's a burden so Little M says to her big sisters no I wear it all the time I'm used to it right she's excited about it it's annoying if you're not used to it if you're not if you're not natural with it but when it's a natural fit when Tor MIT becomes a natural fit it's not burdensome it's not heavy it's not uncomfortable it's something that we're proud to wear all the time and we walk around with and we feel we feel that it carries us not that we have to carry it remember a fra I once read sh the founder of shash had in his office he had a picture or maybe had an actual key on the wall a little black key that he had imagine this was his desk he sat in his chair and he would meet with students and opposite on the opposite wall he had in a frame either a picture of a black key or an actual black key that was framed and reld used to explain that when he sits in his office and he's meeting with young men and he's talking about them about all their all their struggles all their difficulties right he looks at that key and he reminds himself that there's always a key to unlock a Jewish that was a reminder to himself that there has to be a way to to solve this problem matter how difficult it seems that there's a way to unlock the Jewish Nish so remember I read that story a number of years ago and I was very very inspired by it and I must have mentioned it to my wife and she mentioned it to her mother to my mother-in-law and next thing you know my mother-in-law is out shopping and and all of a sudden she comes back with like this huge black Wooden Key you know new generations like bigger problems you need bigger keys to unlock bigger problems so I have my I have my office in in Wu I had this huge black KY and I had it on the wall and it fell off and it broke a little bit so it was sitting on my desk day a student walks into my office and he sees this huge black key on the desk and he picks up the key and he say well grab you this this key is a lot lighter than I thought it was I said exactly his key is a lot lighter than he thought it was looked like this big heavy metal key was this light Wooden Key says you think it's so hard to carry my Torah and Mitzvah you think it's so impossible to unlock the treasures of Torah and Mitzvah it's not so hard it's not so heavy it's not so impossible it's very natural the foundation of a religious life is a on us it's really not that hard and the of others the recognition that is giving us the opportunity not only to refor into Torah but to choose Torah and I'll end with the final Source a beautiful remes that I once saw on a saer if you look at the name Ester Vilas Esther the heroine the one who who who taught us this lesson it describes the letters of her name Esther r spell out the first letters is actually the story of Esther and it's a very tragic story that first she was forced to go but in the end she went on her own before the king she entered a without being forced to come to on the on the realm of that was a very sad moment in Jewish history when Esther had to submit herself willingly before AOS and all of the repercussions in her personal life but in on a deeper level Esther being Esther was forced to come before the M but at the end of the day the salvation of the Jewish people came when Esther went willingly before the king when she came willingly before when the Jewish people despite the Esther despite the Hester pun despite the lack of clarity of hm's presence in our world but to be able to say I still Choose You and I come before you willingly that's the and that's what it means to really be a Jew should help us as we fight off this enemy of aik this aik who wants they the Torah itself should be that heavy bag says you've never spoken to me if you think are a burden then that's not that's you've never spoken to me that's not who I am says I'm here the same way I took you out of captivity after 210 years because I love you every other detail of our relationship is an expression of my love we should be able to come to should be able to look at us and the Jewish people should once again accept the Torah out of tremendous tremendous love for and in that way we'll deepen our relationship with hem bring tremendous thank you all for coming anybody [Music]