Dream Big This Year: A Powerful Yom Kippur Lesson - Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

ress. >> Okay, dear friends, I want to share with you an original interpretation in a puk in paras. There's a well-known interpretation and perhaps we could add something very powerful. The P says [Music] that the land of Israel is a land that the eyes of God are upon from the beginning of the year until end until the end of year. So there's a well-known observation. Why does it say maitius hash the beginning of the year and then when it talks at the end of the year it's sh not a hash. So there's a comment uh maybe a sharp comment a humorous comment a biting comment all of the above from the sireba that every year when the year begins we say oh this year is going to be the year we're going to become completely different we're going to revolutionize ourselves and then when the year comes to an end we realize it's only that's human nature when you when the when there's a new beginning. You have a fresh start. You want to really uh do something special and then you realize it was just an ordinary average pedestrian year. If I could share with you another interpretation in a on a different uh in a different vein. I have an interesting safer here. It's called Schlimma Hoffman. Schlimma Hoffman was a student of Panovich raiser was later a therapist for troubled individuals and he has very interesting and illuminating insightful swarm. He tells a story that in 1953 the night of Yum Kipper in the the first year that the Panovich Shiva opened up. So between Kidra and Marav, everyone lined up to give Rev Kahan Autar. It was a very long line. By the way, I heard from friend of mine Novik that he remembers that the night of Rashashana the Panovich would have in a very long with awesome tears and crying and then afterwards everybody would come to bear from the Panovich. And this was Leam Kipper. And there's a long line. And if you know if you're ever on a line uh to give Shalom to a Russa and yeshiva and a Shabas or Yamiff, you know, the most you could say is good, good. Maybe you could have a word or two. You could say, you know, good to see the rashiva. That was a nice smooth. You can't It's not a time to say, "But you have a few minutes for me to tell you over my barit." You know, there's a line of 500 people behind you. You can't, you know, you can't really It's like um it's like you're at, you know, imagine you're on uh you're on the New Jersey Turnpike and you stop your car to chat with some car that's pulled off on the side of the road to catch up on P. I mean, you can't do that there. Anyway, Schllay Mahoffman, he's a baker. It's his turn to meet the Panovich and the Panovich grabs him by the arm. He says, "Come with me to the mer of opposite yeshiva panovich and everyone's astounded. Not only is the punisher of stopping, he's literally took this guy and he walked out of the yeshiva. What's going on over here?" He took Schlim Hoffman to the Meresset. He said, "Let's count the floor tiles in yeshiva's panovich." And they're counting 1, two, 100, 150, 500, 700, 1,700. And he said, "You see, you see, you laughed at me. You thought I can never do it. Now you see that I brought it to reality." He didn't say one word about yum kipper. He didn't say one word about the holiness of the day. He took him outside and they counted floor tiles. He went back the pun to the mis and he [Music] and said that a few years earlier he had visited the panovich. By the way, you know, when the second world war broke out, Punvich was in South Africa collecting money for his institutions back in Leita. He couldn't get back to Europe. So, he went to travel to he went to Israel. The money he collected in South Africa for the Yeshivas in Panovich, he used it to buy the parcel of land that later the Panovich the Panovich Yeshiva built in Benbra. So Rav Hoffman when he was even younger visited the panacherv and the panvibar spread out on the table the architectural plans of panovicha and he he showed him you see such a big base medish you know until that till then they didn't have midrashim that held more than 100 to 150 people and the panovich had architectural plans with the base medish to hold 1,000 and it didn't even have columns in it was the first Yeshiva that was so massive and they didn't need to use like those poles in the middle of the you know the hot water pipes in middle of the yeshiva and panovich looks at schlimah and he's laughing is laughing yeshiva in the 50s for a thousand yeshiva there weren't even a thousand yeshiva students in the whole of Israel in 1950 and a few years later The first yum kipper the panovich in middle of the line took this boy out and he said you see I told you I could do it count the floor tiles I don't understand it's yum kipper it's a time of cha he's showing him the floor tiles they're counting floor tiles he's saying you laughed at me and said there's a very important lesson over here even more important than understanding the holiness of the Today is understanding the histo [Music] the proportion of the opportunity that we have at the beginning of the year. Not to sell yourself short. You need to always dream big at the beginning of the year. You need to have big plans for yourself of what you could try to accomplish. Of course, very often the most lasting change is only small little steps. Small little steps of improvement in learning in but on the same time you always have to try to dream big in what kind of great accomplishments can you aspire to? If you don't aspire to greatness, you won't even achieve mediocrity. like Yseph would say and the would say anyone who doesn't want to be a general won't even be a regular soldier. Therefore, the Tyra tells us it always you want Sha you want to have a future it always has to be meious. Oh yes, yes it's human nature that by the end sometimes you you know it fizzles out but if you want to have a future you want to have an aas it always has to be hash you need to say raious hash it's not you can't just say oh it's just another year no we're still in the beginning of the year you could still dream big this year this year you could upgrade yourself in your tyra in your in your mid and you're shayim, you could take it to untapped levels, unparalleled levels. You always need to say if you want to have a future, you want to have an ais, whatever age you're at, you always have to say hash, you got to have architectural plans for big things that you want to accomplish. Maybe you will accomplish them, maybe you won't accomplish them, but you always have to aspire to them. It always needs to be gracious hash. So it's on the one hand we always say try to accept upon yourself one or two little small improvements in the beginning of the year because realistically speaking those are the things that stick. But at the same time you always need to aspire that this year is going to be the year you're going to turn it all around this year. Maybe at the end of the year, maybe it won't all last, but it's good to start with big aspirations. Anyway, Rabbi say have a a wonderful shabua. We'll see everybody. You could join us Monday and you'll see about further opportunities uh uh as the week passes. Okay, [Music] >> all the best. Recording stopped.