Rabbi Mordechai Kraft - Bringing Home the Message of Passover

but welcome back after the pace like holiday let's just tell our friends that we'd begun you should come to join us small crowd tonight we'll tell everybody that we started again we'll speak tonight about Jewish food so I have to tell you just a little joke about Jewish food for one moment you have this little Jewish guy and he's sitting on a park bench and he's eating a herring you know herring what herring is you know fish you know nice herring salty herring and this rich person sits down next to him it sees this little poor little Jew eating the herring he says to him you know you Jews are so smart how come you're so smart why does it make the juice of smart as a little Jewish guy goes well truth the matter it's the food that we eat because it's the food so yeah a fact this herring that I'm eating that's what makes us very very smart so this rich man says can I try some soju I said well will cost you because of how much about fifty dollars for three pieces fifty dollars for three piece of what are you crazy look you wanted to be smarter don't you said okay okay pays the money takes a bite of the herring and looks at this little jeweler he says hey wait a minute I don't feel any smarter because I think you tricked me that you turns Toomas says ah see it's working rather joke about food is that in Russia you know sometimes in Russia they would kick the Jews out of the country you're gonna make expulsion so one time they were going to expel the Jews and they got to follow this y'all watch it one time I expelled the Jews and you know goulash and these this the priest says unless the Jews can defeat me in a debate I'm gonna expel them from the country so no one wants to debate the priest finally there's one little Jewish mulac the shoemaker it's okay I'll do it so Schulich goes into the priest and he walks into the room with a priestess and the priest looks at in the ghost shmulik looks back and says and the priest goes and shmulik goes and then the priest takes out some crackers and some wine and he eats the cracker and drinks the wine she-wolf reaches into his bag he takes out an apple the priest looks up and he says the Jews have defeated me the Jews won the debate the Jews can stay and Schmuel it goes he leaves and everyone comes up to the priest what do you mean what happened how do they defeat you he said these Jews are so wise I told us Jew that God is three parts the Father the Son the Holy Ghost he said no God is one I told him that God is everywhere he said not in hell I said the only way you could have a Tolman eat the body the cracker and the blood the wine of yashka he said he took out an apple that said but wait a minute there was no sin in the Garden of Eden the Jew won these Jews they're so wise they could stay its Juve so she will it goes back to his town and they're all rejoicing we hear the good words you know the good news that they could stay and they turned to shmulik said what happened what did you say she looks ence I really don't know yes he said you have three days to leave I still not one of us goes he said I want you out of the borders I said we're not going and then we had lunch okay Jewish food let's talk about real Jewish food matzo I call this class from macaroons to macaroni taking home the message of the matzo let's go like this what makes matzo matzo why is much different than bread what's the difference difference is it's not fake let's think how do we make matzo the recipe for matzo is as follows you take any of the five grains wheat spelt barley oats or I you can bind it with water and that what happens normally when you combine any of these five grains with water what's gonna happen is there's going to be a chemical reaction it'll create glucose and from the glucose there will be carbon dioxide the carbon dioxide will cause a rise to take place that's what's natural that's what causes bread to be bread sometimes we want to really stimulate that rise we want to make a really you know rich cake we want to make tender bread or something like that what do we do we throw in some yeast and the east therefore adds bacteria and the bacteria causes an even greater chemical reaction more carbon dioxide and causes to rise even more nuts is we prevent that chemical reaction taking place basically we add these grains any of these five grains to water but before it could produce carbon dioxide what we do is we start kneading it and manipulating it you know and pushing it and we get it into the oven or within 18 minutes and by doing so we prevent the rise from taking place that's why matzo is a food which isn't natural it's a food which goes above nature meaning what it's natural for wheat sunrise it's unnatural to prevent the rise so there's a important message in that what's the message the message of matzah is one of the messages we're gonna see tonight one message of matzah anyhow I I gotta say oh look at this alright one of the messages is it's a message which says that the job of a Jew and the job of life is to be able to fight what's natural about yourself to fight nature to fight the nature of you you know we know that if we look at ourselves we examine ourselves closely we know that we have a lot about us which is very similar to the animal kingdom in fact our DNA is almost identical to the ape yet we're not Apes the animal wants to eat we want to eat animal wants to drink we want to drink animal has drives passions we have drives we have passions animals get angry right animals sometimes want to be the first like a horse wants to be the first in a race we also want to be the first we have a cobbled glory honor we have very things that are very similar to an animal tom vote all these sort of side things drives the desires but what makes us different from the animal kingdom what makes us different being the kingdom as we have souls we're bodies we're not bodies with soles for Souls with bodies the challenge of life is a challenge to fight nature to fight the animal fight that animal inside you rule it don't have it rule you that's why we say in Hebrew the word for king in Hebrew is thick another so people speak you'll appreciate this Mela is three letters men nammed huff mem stands for law brain love it stands for lave heart ruff stands for claim which are your tested kidneys you figured the idea of a Mela a king is somebody who puts his brain as more above this Leyva brothers emotion and both above the lower part of his body his passions that's kingship rulership of the brain of ideas of God's Word over our emotion and both ruling over passions if you spell the word melech backwards in Hebrew rough lovin man it spells kill em which means Lachlan which means disgusting but it's disgusting clima something which if a person allows the animal side of themselves the passions or their emotions to rule their mind that's disgusting that's not living a life that's worth living a life worth living is to be ruled by the brain and have that rule the emotion channel the emotion and channel our passions that's what America is all about and that's why it says in the Tsar that the human being is the only animal and creation that stands upright why because the waiver position teaches us a very important lesson the head has to be above the heart and both have to be above the lower part of ourselves our passions all other animals walk on all fours meaning the head the heart and the passions are on the same line there's no fight toe instinct the human being has to be ruled by what's above so we walk straight up so God gives us little help you know it's a way to help us God's assisting us in this understanding it's strange to walk straight up if you think about it it doesn't make much sense it makes a lot more sense to walk on all fours standing up is very difficult we have to have a light bone structure we have to have a sense of balance balance happens to be where in your ear what's the word for ear in Hebrew ozon what's the word for balance in Hebrew know the word for scale he's in rosin one write the word for ears and the word for balance is the same word sent Shore the holy time why because the ear is the source of both physical balance and spiritual balance spiritual balance because by listening to God's Word we find the path in life and physical balance because that's where the water is so it's interesting that the Hebrew language knew that that's the point of physical balance right because modern science discovered that one about yes not like that 70 years ago maybe and we've had it in the Hebrew time for the last five thousand seven hundred sixty-five years nice coincidence okay but the Creator who designed the system gave us the language so of course he knows the source of balance there's no contradiction no problem but the challenge of the human being is to be a king to be a Mela okay that the mind should rule the emotion and together they should rule over the passions you know men and women sometimes make mistakes women in one area men in another area an area where women can oftentimes make mistakes is in the area of being too emotional and therefore emotion can rule intellect right make the wrong decisions because they get emotionally involved true men can make mistakes sometimes because they get too caught up in their head and they don't bring the heart there at all as a result they also don't have proper clarity the proper state of being is where the head is above but you're in touch with your heart and together you control the passion of who you are now it's interesting matza teaches us the lesson of matzah is the lesson that in order to become somebody who is spiritually great you have to rule over nature you have to rule over yourself and that's not an easy task in life to rule over yourself that's a challenge you know ruling over yourself as many many levels one level is for example you know if a person walks by I'm not kosher pizzeria and you smell the pepperoni pizza and you choose not to have it that's kingship I'm not going to be controlled by my stomach I'm not going to be controlled by my desire I'm gonna be controlled by something much greater God's will that's kingship whenever you pass by a non-kosher pizzeria and you don't eat it you've demonstrated an aspect of a king or if a person says look you know I choose not to marry this person why even though she or he is handsome or beautiful but they're not Jewish okay a person to say I'm not going to be ruled by my desires I'm gonna be ruled by a mission a vision of something greater that's kingship and that's what the tour is all about becoming Kings but to become a king you have to be willing to rule over the animal of who you are and I'll tell you a secret the greatest pleasure in life is the pleasure of overcoming yourself when you do what's right and you don't give in to temptation it's an amazing pleasure God wired us in a way we're programmed in a way that we get such pleasure by fighting the animal of who we are we get very little pleasure by acting like animals and not only that if we really want respect from people we gain tremendous respect when we fight animal temptations I'll give you example what I mean I remember when I was in college so back then they used to have I think they had a banana eating contest who can eat the most bananas I think somebody won by eating something like I don't know how big 300 bananas it's not like that so at the end of the day do you respect that person or you don't respect that person the guy is on the front page of the paper he ate 300 bananas do you respect the person I respect anybody why do you respect tonight that's pretty good the only problem is you know a chimpanzee could do it much better anything the animal kingdom can do better than we can do we have very little respect for like I remember in college you know at the certain fraternity house they used to have this like they stacked up the beer cans from the whole semester you know on the wall that must have been thousands of beer cans up there you know look what we accomplished you know I'll take something the fish can do it much better fish could probably drink more it doesn't engender I respect you know one time I was out of a Clarion wedding and they brought out a whole lamb and I was surprised you know what we can do with this lamb now you have to maybe the Pesach offering uh something but I wasn't sure but supposing somebody came up to you and said guess what you know I ate a whole lamb would we respect that person know why because about the lion could do it better anything an animal can do better than we can do we don't respect it in a person is that true you know even in sports I'll taste lying true about sports you know you could take the you know the greatest wrestler who's the greatest wrestler today I don't know who it is anymore is it Andrew the Giant is there I see like an old man right now you know who is it but do you take the strongest wrestler but you know what that strongest wrestler you pit him against a mountain gorilla who lose who loose he will lose but I guess the bear he will lose you take the fastest swimmer you put him against a dolphin he will lose are you taking Michael Jordan and you want to watch how high you can jump and you put it next to a kangaroo kangaroo will jump higher so you know it's interesting even in the sports in the world of sports and we like sports I like sports even the world of sports we don't respect people necessarily because of what they can accomplish physically because animals can do it better well we do respect and I personally respect in sports about people is when they play with fairness or the play was sacrifice you know are there team players you know or the guy chooses not to shoot but the pass you know he's giving up his own honor but the guy should get the point not him that's what I respect that's we really respect when a guy plays for the team well the guy pushes himself beyond his endurance you know he's injured but nonetheless he cares enough about the team that he tries his hardest that's a human quality it's not an animal quality he's sacrificing himself so even in the world of sports we don't admire people who act like animals why because intuitively instinctively we know that the essence of who we are is not the animal the essence of who we are is something much greater and that's the soul and when the soul directs the animal harnesses the animal whoa we could use all these energies and all these passions in the service of a sham in the service of pleasure and beautiful things of this world and it's a great thing but just to live a life of animals is a miserable terrible life and you get very little pleasure out of it I want to take you right now I'm just a little journey and I want to take you back to the Garden of Eden for a moment and listen carefully to me because I say something to you which might be disturbing let me ask anybody questioned we've heard of the Satan the Sultan is the Sultan a good guy or a bad guy the Satan is he a good guy or a bad guy good guy or a bad guy who says he's a bad guy bad guy okay learning never play Simon Says with me right the Satan happens to be a good guy not only is a good guy he's our best friend the Satan's job is to be our adversary to be our opponent in order that we should have more free choice and we should get more reward in order to get reward forever there has to be a challenge you know if a person says look you know I get a lot I love playing soccer hey Garson over here and he goes out one night to the soccer field and there's a big you know goal post goal he takes a soccer ball keeps kicking it in kicking it in he says look at that you know I keep scoring left and right so I look at my silikal or what's the big deal there's no goalie right in order for something to be meaningful there has to be a challenge have you someone trying to stop you oh then if he could score and get by the goalie then he's somebody kept by the fullback you know then he's somebody I might press again back my knowledge of soccer sure the rabbi's know a little sports that's about it I descended my knowledge for the way that was it but if there's a challenge in life then the game is meaningful what the Satan does is he tests us and challenges us but he's really working for a god now I tell you this because in Christian thought Christians believe that the Satan is a force independent of God somehow there's this force called a satanic force that operates the world independent of God we do say no ha special them twice a day we declare watch my israel hashem elokenu hashem ed claude hashem is one what does it mean that God is one means that everything in the universe is being controlled by God the Sutton also it's a force that God created to test our free choice okay and that's why the stuff is really our best friend and that's why the Satan is the only angel that's happy when we don't listen to him all angels are happy would we listen the Saint is happy when we don't listen it doesn't want us to listen he wants to test us but not that we should fail the test he wants us to succeed and that's why it says in the days of the Messiah it says God is going to ship the something he's gonna do ritual slaughter on the Satan so what does that mean nothing he's gonna murder the same thing anymore oh it's good to say he's gonna elevate it just like Chiquita takes a cow and elevates it to a higher position that we therefore can enjoy to use it he's gonna elevate so to speak the Sutton back to a position where we're gonna realize he was working for us all along we're gonna realize that he was our greatest ally he was intensifying our free choice so we should have more reward okay that's the something he's a robot he's a computer he's God's angel he's working to intensify our free choice now let's go back to the Garden of Eden for a moment in the Garden of Eden God created snake this snake was the contained within him the Satan the snake was the Satan now this snake was a very interesting snake it wasn't a snake like we have today this snake was a very elevated creature that can walk and talk to speak with you discuss this with you a very elevated animal the most elevated animal the entire animal kingdom almost like an animal that was almost human but not human as close you can get as close as you can get to the human being but did not be human that was the snake but the snake was also the Satan same thing elevated animal and snake now his job was to test Eve and Adam to eat of the tree now listen to how we tried to test them he said something very interesting listen to the words in Hebrew the words are the F qiyamah elokim and even if God said don't eat period that's all he said the F key on lar ll kin l'hotel comical AIT's a gun what did he leave out what ii leave out even if God said don't eat what's he implying nobody's implying he's applying even if God said don't eat who cares what God said why don't you be an animal like me imagine if the animal world could talk to us what might the animal world say the animal world might look at us and say you know aren't you an animal don't you have drives don't you have desires don't you have passions if the animal world could speak to us the animal world might say to us why don't you join us and be an animal you know and that argument from the animal world wouldn't be a bad argument you know why because there's so much of us which is like an animal and that's what the snake says even if God said don't eat from the tree well don't you have drives like I do like the animal don't look at that doesn't that look tasty does that smell great doesn't it look so colorful doesn't your stomach just start getting excited when you start looking at that fruit like I got excited when I saw that fluff tonight okay when I saw that I had to drive that fluff from got it over here and I hadn't supper I was going crazy in the car yeah something inside your animals also get excited I haven't added that that's part of the animal food we are right you get excited by food that's the steak that's what the snake is saying who cares what God said God said don't eat it but why do you follow what God said maybe God you should follow the animal in who you are aren't you an animal you're an animal aren't you so why don't you live like an animal like us that's the snake is saying which is a very interesting argument because these drives that God created unlike the other 14 thousand 999 religions out there there were 15,000 no religions in the last three thousand years 15 thousand fourteen thousand 999 of them say that the physical world is something which is very evil in that we do say no these drives to eat these drives our pleasure these drives for the opposite sex our drives which God created which are wonderful wonderful drives the great drives it's got a hardest than the direct but the drives that could bring you to amazing holiness we don't say they're evil at all the snake is an animal he's saying look why don't you be an animal didn't God create all these wonderful drives in you so go for it go for the drives be an animal you're also an animal let's Express these drives why do you have to listen to what God said be the animal who you are and I met you this at st. John's today I was once listening to a radio station radio show and on the radio show the the announcer the host he was interviewing a kid somebody from the Christian Right and he was asking this boy why he has chosen to remain celibate before he gets married like not to engage with somebody from the opposite sex why he's chosen this and this boy from the Christian Right he said it's what I believe so the host the radio host turns to him and says to him but wait a minute they said aren't you an animal don't you have animalistic drives didn't God create these drives why do you want to suppress the natural drives that God created where did this argument originate with the snake that was the argument the snake used if God created these natural animalistic drives why don't you go for it why do you want to fight what's natural that's this radio host said to this kid the exact argument of the snake to Eve here it works that's a very very compelling argument even if God said don't eat look careful God said be the animal because you're also an animal like us and that's these question that the snake the Satan was posing to Adam and Eve be an animal don't rule the animal be the album now I want see everybody a question if the snake was in fact the Satan and the Satan is God's angel and he works for God why was the snake punished how can you punish an angel who's a robot was a computer for doing exactly what it's supposed to do what's that okay I heard you say this is Owen like that but on a simple level why is the Satan punished for doing its job you know it's almost kind of ridiculous if you think about it like if I you know I take my bread maker and I program my bread maker to go off after one hour and my bread maker goes off after one hour just like I programmed it to do it almost a nice oh why did I do that I'm so mad if you bread maker for going off to one hour so I pull out the plug and I rip off the legs you know and I throw it on the floor people would look at me and say you know that's crazy you programmed it to do that some people said that for doing what you programmed it to do how could God be upset at the snake what God programmed this angel so to speak to test Adam and Eve and how he tests Adam and Eve that's up to him you know you didn't test them this way that way but the point is test and this was a very very good test what are you are you a soul are you an animal what's the real you why don't you be the animal like me your passions I have passions go and express your passion eat the fruit forget about the intellect figure God said that's a very good test how could God punished the snake for doing what the snake was programmed to do not enforcement then for some gain the back he doesn't blame me he doesn't blame here also you can see why don't you punishing was his idea also to me like he was okay that's that's interesting that that that right if you hear the way the conversation goes what's never go yeah Mike Mike say something interesting listen to the way the dialect flows and usually very interesting first of all God turns to Adam and says Adam why did you eat of the fruit and once Adam say well Adam says ie Shoshanna saucy Mahdi he knows Lily Adam says those terrible words of ingratitude the woman that you gave to me to stand beside me she gave it to me so I don't you know Shem turns to add and I said look you know a little it was long enough that you should eat but the second crime is can't you at least a little gratitude I gave you this wonderful person Eve to be your helpmate and you blame it on her tinnitus acted in gratitude the first acted in gratitude and even history then God turns to even says to Eve Eve why did you eat from the fruit what did she say she said the snake he she Ani the snake deceive me again denying responsibility which God did not like then God turns to the snake this way says the snake he says the snake he says to the stake because you did this I'm going to cut off your legs you're gonna crawl on the ground how come God never asks the snake why he did it he knows why he did it he was programmed to do it just like I don't ask my bread maker well why did you go off in one hour cuz I forgot you to go off after one hour oh very good question okay buddies the snake that's a very very good question it's a very very good question so we share with you an answer there for purchases shops and Raphael Hirsch says this great German rabbis 1850 he says as follows he says who says the snake is punished God's not punishing the snake you can't punish a computer you can't punish a robot you can't punish an angel and you can't punish the snake so what is God doing God is teaching mankind a lesson God is teaching mankind the argument that the snake posed to you to be an animal that argument has no legs to stand on we're taking the base of that argument away that argument is baseless let's knock off the support of that argument right there let's remove the legs of that argument the snake isn't being punished the snake is being reduced so that we should understand that the argument the snake posed join us and be an animal it's totally baseless there's no leg to stand on ya work it's not a punishment it's teaching mankind a lesson and God goes even further God makes the snake so unhuman like we'll never ever make that mistake again God takes this animal was so lofty and so human-like in form an animal that you just wanted to you know cuddle up with at night you know and God turns it into a reptile something which is disgusting to us I've never met a person besides Lord Baltimore who likes snakes right it doesn't happen Lord Baltimore oh my gosh it's very embarrassing the rabbi knows more than the connotation over here come on she likes snakes Levolor braincase when you look at a reptile you know the fascination we have of going to the reptile you know house at the Bronx Zoo is a fascination to see something which is really weird something so unlikely human being that it's interesting you look at a reptile you look at it a snake it's interesting only because it's so not us so God takes the snake which was so elevated and God is teaching us an important lesson and teaching us that argument that the snake used which is to be an animal is so wrong never make that mistake again that argument is baseless it has no legs to stand on and not only that I'm gonna reduce this animal into something which is so unhuman like you'll never ever think again that the animal and I are one in the same that's what's happening now it's very interesting you know if you go back in the storyline even further before God God gives a commandment he gives the commandment to eat of every tree in the garden except for one and then all of a sudden God says you know what he says he says it's not good for man to be alone I should find them a wife a helpmate and then God brings all the animals before Adam and Adam names all the animals the measure says that not only does Adam name all the animals he speaks the animals he speaks them he names them but it says something even more fascinating says that he is intimate with all the animals he tries to mate with all the animals a very bizarre statement in the network like Adam is trying to marry the hippopotamus you know he's trying to marry the walrus he's trying to marry the pen didn't God in is evident wisdom know that sometimes it's not gonna be a good up between Adam you know and and and and you know Adam and a kangaroo didn't God know this I mean I'm sure all of you have probably has experience when you're going on dates you got to shut up the on a date and looking across the table and thinking like you know I mean I you know hippopotamus would have more common than me and her you know or him and me like you know what was the shot can thinking like you be thinking that sometimes but certainly God in His infinite wisdom knows that you know the animal kingdom and Adam just don't miss mix like you know so what was God doing what was the plan what was God trying to teach so God was trying to teach out or something very interesting God was trying to show Adam that you will never find in the animal world a creature that's like you yours totally separate from the animal kingdom and therefore after Adam it says names the animal kingdom and and tries to see if his wife will come from the animal kingdom and fails obviously so then God turns and says ok let's make Eve and takes the side of Adam and splits it and bring forth his wife Eve but the message that God is trying to communicate to Adam is that you and the animal world are totally separate the animal world and you do not belong together because you have a soul and you have an intellect and you have to use your mind and your soul to rule over your nature to rule the animal and that's the way you're gonna grow in life that's the way you're gonna be happy and that's the way you could accomplish your mission so that's one thing that Mazda teaches us one thing that nuts is teaching us as matzah is a food in which God says for seven days you have to eat a food in which you rule over nature don't let it rise to teach you that the job of life is to rule nature to rule that which is natural to rule the animal and God loves that God loves that about us there's a famous statement that what we love about God is when God changes nature for us what God loves about us is when we control our nature for him that's that God loves about us we love God when he changes nature for us he split sees what God loves about us should we control our nature for him is that's the essence of being human and that's this challenge it's struggle of life and that's the mission and vision of Torah to harness the animal in the service of God not to let the heart and the passions will you but to have God's Word rule your heart and together God's Word and your heart should rule your passions that's one message the lesson of the matzo I'll give you three more lessons in this short period of time another lesson of matzah is a very interesting lesson the lesson of matzah is if you think about it what does bread have that matzah doesn't have has yeast which creates gas carbon dioxide which creates air all bread really is is flour water and hot air that's all this air the air really has no substance it's false the falseness in it and that's why bread is the symbol of arrogance because arrogance is something which is false you know if you look on if you ever see the great website here we go into acecomm x and xsin jewish web site h com so they have a funny movie and jewel arias on it and i didn't see it but somebody told me that this man this boy is on a date with this lady and he's sitting there at the table and he's telling her how he's directing his new film and he's getting all these famous actors to star in the film and he's gonna have it produced in hollywood and is expected to make you know 100 million on the first weekend of its release and the waiter is listening to this the waiter goes walks over to the table takes away the bread comes back and says i think you need this and places a couple mots us on the table and then the guy looks at the mosses and in turns to the girl he says because actually I'm just the guy who fetches the coca-cola's you know all of a sudden humility and honesty come out bread is the symbol of arrogance and falseness knots is the symbol of humility and honesty because it's saying I am what I am and there's nothing false about it and I don't need anything from the outside I don't need any yeast I don't need any air to make me bigger than what I am because I know what I am so it's very interesting another message of matzah there's a message that says that in order to be happy in this world one has to know who they are don't try to find happiness by looking for approval outside of yourself you know oftentimes people play to the crowd or they feel they're only special if people notice them the message of matzah is know exactly what you are that's what humility is humility is I know what I am I'm bread and water that's it that's it I know what I am I don't need any thing from the outside to define me you know and when a person lives their life like that that's another aspect of freedom that's freedom freedom is I don't need you to approve of me in order for myself to be happy because I Know Who I am you know that's like you know if you go to college and somebody pulls up to the College in his 2008 you know red BMW you know what my first reaction is my first reaction would be that guy is a slave why because he is a slave to me he needs my Wow he needs my oohs and ahs he has no confidence in himself he has no self-worth his self-worth is only if I tell him that I love his red BMW suppose when I go over this guy and I say I don't know a nice set of wheels you got there my grandmother has the same model I've ruined this guy's day I've made it ruin this guy's month you know why because he's my slave he's my slave matzah says freedom means that you know exactly who you are and you don't need anything on the outside to give you definition to define you bread need something outside it needs air to build it up Martha doesn't mean anything to build it up it is what it is it's bread and it's water there's nothing false there's nothing external there's nothing that gives it meaning except what it is and that's humility humility means I Know Who I am now ones truly free when one can say I'm gonna live my life the way I want to live my life regardless of what people say that's freedom you know it's also the purpose by the way for modest dress in Judaism the reason why we Jews dress modestly and have laws that steeled is to teach this lesson the lesson is that I know who I am for the inside and I don't need your boos and alls from the outside to define me and the reality is you know if you look in the world today and you see people dressed in ways which are trying to show off their bodies my first reaction is it's really sad because people are slaves the slaves the dependent on other people's approval to give themselves happiness Jewish modesty and Jewish dress says that I Know Who I am from the inside I don't think your approval the outside to bring me joy and happiness so matzah is the bread of humility it's the bread of honesty that's the bread of freedom why because it teaches the aspect the true freedom means that I'm free when I don't need anything from the outside to define me I know who I am for the inside it's a very important lesson a very important lesson that's important lesson for marriage also happiness in marriage one should not look for the spouse to give them happiness happiness is a function of knowing who you are on the inside and not looking for one's husband or wife to define us and to make us happy freedom is freedom only when you know who you are and you don't need anyone else to give you that definition that's another less than months a third lesson of matza is if you think about it it's very interesting that when God took us out of this rhyme he took us out of Egypt he took us out in a very interesting way the food that we ate as slaves what was the food that we had as slaves matzah why did we eat matzah as slaves we ate mats as slaves because we're always working you know we didn't have the luxury to let our wheat rise we have to put the wheat with water and eat it it was a very flat bread we didn't have the luxury to let it sit and rise and become a delicious bread we were always working you know doing our jobs people were impressing us notion now it's interesting when God frees us from Egypt what does he do he frees us in a way that we also don't have time to let our bread rise you know what happens God says okay everybody I'm getting ready to take you out of Egypt you know get your flour get your water start making your bread so what do we do we get our flour we get our water good okay start making bread we put the flour with the water all of a sudden what does God say go couldn't got him waited 18 minutes could even least let us go out with bread I couldn't God has given us the command of the night before and said you know prepare your bread why does God redeem us in a way in which the exact same bread that we ate in Egypt becomes the exact same bread of freedom what's the constant what's the idea so that's a very Justin concept I was exactly what I was gonna say what Alex is saying is like this the reason why God has the bread of slavery become the bread of freedom is because he's teaching you something about freedom moxa teaches us about what freedom really is there is an aspect of being free which also requires some level of servitude now what does that mean to be a slave to an Egyptian obviously that's not freedom but you know what's true freedom true freedom is if one becomes a I'm gonna use a word in English it's not the best word a servant of God and evide God and ever - em how does that create freedom why is that freedom let me explain to you why in Hebrew we have an expression I'll say the English expression the expression is to accept the yoke of heaven what does that mean the yoke of heaven how do we spell yoke not y ou L K which with the yolk of an egg why o ke which is like the yolk that in Ox puts on his shoulders now a yoke is something very heavy then ox wears and then you tie to that yoke you tie the plough and the Ox pulls the plough if anyone's ever been to the Pennsylvania Dutch Amish country anyone's had been to Pennsylvania you go to Lancaster Pennsylvania Dutch you go to Penn some people haven't will have an Emmet trip there you see the Pennsylvania Dutch Amish and they've chosen a lifestyle in which they actually live like they're you know they live in a way that they rejected modernity to a large part they don't use tractors in their fields they don't drive cars they have horse and buggies never be down there it's very fascinating to go it's about two hours from here you go to the farmlands of Pennsylvania they're called the Pennsylvania Dutch Amish but you watch the way the farm of the field they actually have these big horses hooked up to these plows with with yokes and apples you can still see it today it's amazing to see my people are living but if I were to tell you if I were to ask you a question would everybody anybody like a yoke does anybody like that word yoke I want to put a yoke around your neck right now and around your shoulders any takers any takers for the yoke if I said to you well you know what life is all about is accepting the yoke of heaven does that make you feel it's not like a warm fuzzy word or is that a word that feels like rabbi craft like I like the Plouffe but I'd like to leave tonight you know let's get out of here like what does it do to you I think it's a turn-off right yeah I don't think any of us would like a yoke around our neck I said well life's all about i yo of heaven you know no please yeah like it doesn't do much for me well let me teach you something so beautiful i'ma teach you one word in Hebrew ESCA totally transform your understanding of this concept what's the word for yoke in the Hebrew language all iein lamb it all what words do we know in the Hebrew language which share the same root hola what does all that mean to go up aldea to ascend why is it yoke called an all which means to go up to ascend you know why you have your ox you have this big animal right a thousand pounds of energy yeah so much strength so much power to accomplish so much but you know what unless you harness that energy in a certain way it's just gonna run wild all this from the root oh yeah okay I'm sorry mister I mean it's the early for keV I need mr. okay okay I'm telling you I'm telling you what it says I'd say what it says I'm sorry if I'm wrong do my best this is what I know all is the same route as on that to go up listen to it I ain't mom it what else could it be oh it means to go up that little goat says it the building gun says I'll show you where he says it you argue with it on the golf done are you with me all means to go up a scent the reason is like this because you could have this ox you can have this animal with all the strength but if you don't harness that energy what do you what it does accomplish anything but you put a yoke on it and now can do something it could make something great it could ascend so God says to us you know people you have all this energy all these drives all these passions all these desires all these thoughts this great mind but if you don't have a way to direct it you're never gonna send what it means the old now could survive the yoke of heaven means we placed God's will upon ourselves we direct ourselves to accomplish without that all of our drives and patches could take us in a million different directions but with the responsibility now of God's Word what do we become we ascend to become great it harnesses all the drive passions and energy that we have just like the yoke harnesses the strength of the ox and that's where the word for yoga Devo is all same word as I said are you with the bill Mangano such beautiful constant beautiful concept now it's interesting that's why in Hebrew you know it's not I'll give you another example what I mean what's the word to get married this is a win what's the word to rise to to lift to go up now sir what's the word to carry a heavy load nice uh what's the word to get married the swing that's up the word to get married nutzy the word to carry the heavy load nuts ah the word to rise up now sir same root and Ebro what's God trying to teach us that's trying to teach us yeah marriage is a heavy load you have responsibility got a care about someone else you gotta be other center he can't be egocentric but guess what that's the only way to become great the only way to rise up the only way to rise up is if you accept responsibility first it does accept responsive and live totally for themselves it's sad because they're never going to accomplish anything they're never gonna be great and that's why it breaks my heart when I see all these old people who've retired you know and they had such productive lives now they do is sit around watch television it breaks my heart because Roth means that you have responsibility you have to have a weight you have to carry something that's gonna make you into somebody greater so God's teaching us a very important lesson Alex and you hit it exactly God is teaching us the bread of slavery is going to become the bread of freedom why because even within freedom true freedom is when you become now in evidence because slave to God slave is not the right word Evan but you channel all your energies in the service of God that's real freedom because I'm we're just gonna go after all my drives and patch and do whatever I want to do I'm not gonna get anywhere in life I'm gonna be a slave to my stomach I'm gonna be a slave to my emotions and slave to my physical passions when I'm a slave now to god I'm gonna harness it and I'm gonna use it I'm coming somebody great and one more less than I'm gonna teach you one more less of the matzah it's interesting the matzah once again the food that we ate a slaves because the food of our freedom you know it God's trying to teach us beautiful lesson this is the Swarna what you thought was the symbol of your affliction of your pain God is teaching us that it now becomes the slave of your it becomes a symbol of your greatest joy what does that mean the bread you ate which was the symbol of slavery God flips it over and says that same bread you're now gonna realize is the bread of your greatest salvation and God's teaching us a very powerful lesson in life the lesson is often times in life we experience things which are painful it could be a loss it could be an illness it can be an emotional trauma but we're going to understand and matza teaches us to have the Emunah to realize what we think is painful one day we're gonna realize that that pain is the source of our greatest joy what we think is painful one day we're going to understand whether doing the share comes whether it be just in a few years whether it be in our lifetime whether it be where after our lifetime but one day we're gonna realize that what we thought was the source of our pain our greatest anguish boom is the source of our greatest joy but that takes a Munna that takes a moon that takes faith God is teaching us that matzah is the bread of faith have trust the Jews in Egypt saw it in their own lifetime the bread the ate a slave in their own lifetime became the bread of freedom hopefully we'll save our lifetime the things that we think are painful will be flipped around and we'll realize those same things are the things of our greatest joy you know that's why we say you know it's it it's interesting that the when we bench you know before we say we say sure how ma loved after we've bread so we say the words from mm Ella and the time of Messiah it says what do we say sure malos basura shem achieve Etzion ye know kick from him when Messiah comes we were like dreamers it doesn't say we will be like - reverse meaning like who would have dreamed so beautiful you know what w melech is teaching us he's teaching us when the shear comes we will look back to now I would say what we think now is bad we were like dreamers how could we thought it was bad we're gonna realize exactly what we thought was bad so perfect and so good was exactly what we needed neither to perfect herself atone for our sin to bring us a we have to go whatever it might be it's like we look at this we'll say I was in a fog in this world I thought it was bad I was like in the dream world when we see the when the chef comes that's why that beautiful story I'll just just say it once again I just got love the story I've Dumbledore then tells the story he says that you know that his great uncle was leaving Europe and what did get out of Europe because of the poverty and cold no Lithuania and this was going back little under a hundred years ago and he sold all of his property and he slows houses business and he put the money into tickets with these tickets he bought travel for his family to go from Poland to Metheny to Warsaw Warsaw to Odessa Odessa where there's a port to England and England to America so his great uncle got to the train station with his family that 22-8 to catch the 8 o'clock train train that would take the to Warsaw when they arrived at the train station they see the 8 o'clock train chugging away chug-chug-chug-chug and to go to the station matheson what's happened is what train is that that's the 8 o'clock train that came early today it came early to look up an 8 o'clock I just came real I don't know why he said when's the next train there's no next train that's it and in those days it wasn't like today you know you missed flight you know Pan Am you know 21 you take pan up 22 in those days you miss a connecting link you miss it all and you don't get a refund and that was it he's standing there holding tickets for his family that are worthless and he sold his business his house store he has nothing left so he went back to the town and he was devastated devastated and didn't know what to do you know about a week later he comes running into the synagogue and says I have to make a blessing I said what blessing the blessing that you make when your life has been saved a gold male Cassidy intervene I'll go over the time and talk about the Cassidy the blessing you say when your life has been saved so one look that way your life has been saved you've been the Tavor last week so I just got a newspaper news travel very slow I just got a newspaper remember I was supposed to take a train to Warsaw and Warsaw to Edessa and a desert to England and England to America I just found out that the ship that I was supposed to have traveled on from England to America sank what what ship was that Titanic true story you know imagine this gentleman looks up he watches that train chugging away chugging away 22-8 he looks like I can't believe it he looks up to the sky he looks up to God he says to Hashem what do you want from me you know I keep Shabbat I keep kashrut I'm raising my children in the way of Torah I'm a good Jew like if charity what do you want from me why are you doing this to me you know if he could hear God's response you know what it might have sounded like listen you big dope I just saved your life Mele did I save your life save your wife's life I say the life of your children and you'll just have a little patience wait a week you'll realize exactly what happened sometimes in our lifetime we're able to realize that what we thought was painful it's really the source of our greatest joy and I imagine that this person took this lesson of his own personal salvation and it transformed him in his realization of how much God loved him that he became a different person I was able to raise his children in a whole different way so matzah is teaching us that lesson what you think is painful have patience one day you're gonna realize that what you thought was the source of the greatest pain will be the source of your greatest joy if the source of slavery the bread the symbol of slavery we come the bread of freedom so let's just review what did we say tonight's class was entitled from macaroons to macaroni the lessons of Pesach and I think these five things perhaps are amongst the many lessons the matzah number one that matzah teaches us that we have to rule over nature which means that we have to rule over the animal who we are we have to fight the animal with the soul rule the animal and that's our job not to give in to the animal kingdom not to listen to what the snake tried to convince us with but to rule the animal lesson Martha said rule over nature number two we understand that bread matzah is an honest bread it doesn't mean anything from the outside to give it definition and meaning and we understand the true freedom is when we understand who we are we don't need approval of anyone else to give us happiness for meaning in life number three we understand that freedom means not that we run wild like the ox without a yoke but when we harness ourselves and servitude to God that's real freedom because then we channel ourselves to become something great that's why it says right the freedom is really only achieved when we see the Torah a particular teller he wrote it says don't read that the words are in saved under stone but the words are freed into the stone Tory gives us freedom finally number four we realized that matzah is both the symbol of slavery and a symbol of freedom and a God designed it that way the bread that we had a slaves God purposely made to be the bread of freedom to teach us exactly what we think will is the source of our pain in life one day if we have a little bit of patience we've realized is the source of our greatest joy I'll provide a wonderful you want to find joy speaking to you buddy thank you very much one just one one announcement everybody this Saturday night again you know as as our friend as Sauron does 10 o'clock sharp we're gonna have a Elly Mansour lecture on video the topic is Glatt Kosher Jewish kite I'm not sure that means and our guest speaker will also be read Ilan the hero okay ten o'clock here Pizza is always served as usual Saturday night thank you bless everybody