EN | הרב יאיר הלוי, ראש ישיבת תורה ועבודה | כנס אסופות ה-5 — המסע מעץ הדעת לעץ החיים

[Music] Okay, just to realize that uh being here itself is the goal to understand that Amish have been around for many many years and to know that the the nature of yeah the nature put on the button the nature sometimes of yeshiva is that we get very very into our circle and we don't see the full circle so just sitting next to people that you don't know being in a room with people that you've never met but understanding that there's something that's uniting us that's unifying us that itself is already enough for us to stay here for at least a week or two to live that these are the signs of we're going to go on a journey together you use the tape or okay so we don't have source sheets but this is the entire shar for anyone who's struggling to follow there uh there might be sometimes side notes but this is the main thing to remember we'll begin from the title kennesufot um anyone who came to this day kenessot is translated into English to collect to connect. Okay, we're collecting all of us together and that itself is connection. That's so that's the title but the title of our is the journey from to say that's our journey. We know uh on a very very simple level that there's something called Ganeden which is translated in Karen Byav where we are today teran there are two trees one tree named and anyone disagree so far anyone no one disagrees we're all people want to disagree about being we're all on the same page okay I'm no one wants to disagree I okay disagree we're Okay. So, come in. Come in. If you want there's room on the [Music] floor. Okay. So, we'll open up just very very simple. If Hashem makes a decision when he opens up the story of Gan to give us two trees, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. Can anyone translate what's Hashem's number one message? I didn't want to try. What's your name? Yud says, there are two things that we need. One is to know and one is to live. But I want to take you one step forward. It's a little bit scary if you fall out of your seats. There's it's okay. We have aesh everything's going to be okay. If Hashem made two trees, two sources, he's saying something to all of us in this room that's very scary that the dot is not. If these two are trees are the first presentations, Hashem is saying you might know. so much you might be z to finish like sabid sabid could stand up he's already innabed will tell you that he's finished seven times but hashem came to him in the dream and said just because you know it doesn't mean you live we'll give a simple example if any of us walk out into the streets and we yell out Who here wants to be happy? Everyone will say we want to be happy. How many people are are happy all the time? So just because we know we want to be happy does not equal that that's the way we live. And what we want to go on the journey in this year is to ask ourselves all of us are immersed in we're immersed in can we get to that's the the title of the year as introduction the introduction that we want to start with is an introduction that begins with the idea of an uh something called an appearance. Let's recognize an appearance. Don't get nervous. You can all uh you know raise your hands if anyone in this room is a bur raise your hand. Yeah. A little bit higher. A little bit higher. Be be confident that you guys get two times more than your siblings. It's all smiles. I don't understand. So you were born first. You didn't do a thing. So you were born first. Now you get two times more in the inheritance and the does anyone know the first day of the week who you're car where you from. So what's the first day of the week? Because Adam is created at the end of the sixth day. So his first day is Shabbat. So the first day we celebrate the first day is Shabbat and we celebrate that. Does anyone know what's coming on Sunday morning? We don't want to say it out loud. People call it Ellie Weinstein also goes by. He says, right? There's in a ditch. It's an opportunity. We're going to the world. So, we realize where were we a second ago? I lost my train of thought. What? the horns. So Nissan Sunday, first day of the month, 24 hours, night and day, but we celebrate it. Some of us might not, but we should all go to the Everyone's invited called anyone wants to come 610 at the hotel. What's so special about that we have to celebrate? First day of the year. Anyone want to guess? So we have the first day of the year, first day of the month. First day first word of the Torah entrance code into the Torah beginnings. So all of us are going to say I don't understand why are we celebrating the can anyone can anyone give an answer someone want to be a source no one wants to try pure all the answers are true but it's not good for the shear It's not good for this year. Oh, cute. Not good for this year. There's something that's very different about the beginning and the continuation because there are two words that we're always dealing with in our entire lives. The word of why and the word of what. Those are the two words. Ken. When you start something, what is stronger? The why or the what? What's stronger? When you start, you didn't do a thing. There's no what. There's only why. Says Hashem on a very, very simple level. We celebrate beginnings because we need to ask ourselves a question called why. And if we start from why then what we do will always be passion. So when we look here the root of the fruit is at mish three days ago we sat at the cavern in pisad. He says there's something called sh whoever agrees that there's shas raise your hands says you're all liars six there's no such thing everything in Judaism is seven we agree or disagree the week is seven is seven is seven we all agree in sevens you're not following you're following Mike you're following said the scariest thing you guys might ever hear in their entire lives. There's no there's you can just make up things. What is it? But the shin is for not. So Jerry sitting there in the back saying to himself, "When is the over?" And how can you say such audacity? Such audacity that there's seven. So it says something so simple. What's the first? Everyone knows geniuses. We're going to later in the sources and you might have many that will explain why why is ine will give you many says is its own it owned because we have something called we make a before the action and therefore is its own says because the idea is that we make a four shots and we're says the whole experience of Judaism is that if we don't know why the what will never last and therefore is saying make a bra before the six just like everything else and that is exactly where we're going to go now from this reality to realize two facts. There's a lot of a lot of stuff in Judaism don't have seven parts debatable. There is other things that are in seven. There are things that are in tens. There are things that are in ones. There is we're getting excited for that there is an idea that we have to realize there is something we have to ask ourselves why is the beginning so he understands it own it's making the before the I'm sure Okay. So, there's two facts that I want to identify that's uniting all of us. Some of us are Sabah David, we're about 42. The rest of us, let's say, are uh 19 years old, 19, 20. So, fact number one, we've been learning for 15, 16 years. S why am I saying that? Because until the age of three, you're still a part of Ghana and you celebrate life itself. It's aim. Then you get a mind and you start going into learning. So that journey you know no one understood it. You start from yeah you run around you play with Lego and then you start learning. So we've been learning for 16 years and we've been in yeshiva for a long time. So that everyone agrees on this from this I want to go to what's called the main issue. Why learn Torah in the eras? I know it might sound like a simple question. Simple. Who asked this question first? Who's the first person to ask why learn Torah in erit Israel? Who's the first person to ask asked that question? See, this is what happens when people sit in the [Music] window. There are people that that started this question of Torah and way before someone before anyone want to try one more option. saidim theim they said a very simple question we want quantity you have to listen to that it's a very scary sentence we want quantity what is going on 24 hours a day in the midbar 24 hours a day Nathan say something I'm giving up on you mama they're learning quantity they have it's a dot all life. There are no distractions. There's no I know you guys came to cuz the rug the coffee but it's a distraction. I want to say something scary but we're not going to say it out loud. We're just going to say it out loud anyway. There's something [Music] called Israelis. Anyone know where they are? far far far away from your life. Far away from your life. is a suburb of there's buses every six minutes. So the question you have to think about it's a huge anomaly. Anomaly no doubt what that word means anomaly. All Israeli yeshivot are far away from your line and all American yeshivot are immersed in your line. Can anyone identify why? Anyone want to guess? Oh, there's a lot of what? They don't really want to distract ourselves. Don't don't say it out loud that we're going to experience. We don't want to actually live. I went to we had a it was open 1 hour a month. There were no mid. There's nothing. You walk around the only thing you could see. Everyone got excited from sunset cuz there was nothing else to look at. There was nothing else to do. You were mummish living immersed in Torah. But you say to yourself, what are we thinking when the Mira say if you want quantity, if you want quantity, stay away from don't come here. You got it. But going to the army is a distraction on quantity. It's it's distracting quantity. You will learn less. So Rabi Ram is walking around the streets here and everyone has like these big stories about Ram in the army. He learn. But when he wasn't in the army, he learned the whole zora in one day. So it's a lot a lot more quantity. A lot more quantity. So the question is why lessen the quantity? When you come into when you see trees, it means there's less amount. And if the goal is Torah, if the goal is aatim, if that's my goal, then don't lessen the quantity. Don't come here. You guys want another quiz or must speak. You want another quiz, raise your hand. Okay, we'll do it anyway. We're going three people. What's the first thing Hashem says to man? Stop learning. It's not the first thing Hashem says, stop learning. He says, get married and have children. Does anyone know by heart? We all do. Getting married means less learning. And that's the first thing Hashem says to man. to the male prime. Anyone know what happens in malay 80% of the time they're clean dishes. So all of you guys are going to say I came to you for a quantity comes once says if we came back to Israel and if we listen to Hashem saying get married he's saying to you a simple sentence if you have the audacity you have the audacity to look at Hashem in the eye and say Hashem No bet. You want me to get married to a girl? Does anyone know what it means to marry a girl? She's not you. So I was a genius. I came to my wife. It's our anniversary yesterday. Said, "Let's do a kabuta." So she waited till we got married cuz we were swimming again. She slapped me in the face. Yeah. Yeah. She said, "M we're living. What's this garbage? Right. Let's have a kabuta. Let's clean the dishes. Let's make a a dinner." So I was like let's invite the holy to for she said what are you bringing? She said you you you have to make something. You have to make a make a you already bored. You look at Hashem and you say the first thing Hashem said is not go to yeshiva. He said go to yeshiva if it's a very scary word to add. If you realize that the why for yeshiva is not quantity. If you realize that the why for yeshiva is not aat. And so when we look at this question why narrative we're really saying why waste our time? Why go to the army? Why get married? Why deal with laundry? Why clean dishes? If I could learn another it's a big question. Audio. So that's question number one. The question number two is an addition or a definition. Is it another mitzvah or is it a definitive mitzvah? And we're going to speak about Koolie. I don't know if anyone here sees this beautiful water. We're going to pour it all over you guys. If I take a little bit of Kool-Aid, three sprinkles, sprinkle inside. What's this called? Okay. But it's three drops. There are certain things that it's not about the amount. It's about what it does to the water. Is redefineses the whole mindset on why I'm learning. We need to start with why. And we're realizing right now that the question is what did Erit Isel do to Torah learning? We're all on the same page. Everyone's happy. Okay. So, we're going to go on the journey. Source number one. You want to go on the journey or speak? Journey. Okay. S. So, we're going to start with source number one. Source number one says a very simple thing. If you are present in the moment of someone's alive leaves the body, what's the first thing you need to do? Okay. Says, "You have to tear ka says rashi. Why? Why do you have to tear ka when evaporates from the body?" So says Rashi. Everyone likes you don't like it. So Rashi says why? Because a met is like okay very simple Rashi. Why is the first thing I do when I see an leavea? Because it's like a burning safer toky. That's source number one. You got source number one. Got it. Source number two. Source number two. elaborates on this and says, "How many people need to be at a funeral?" Anyone want to guess how many people need to be at a funeral? You yawned in the middle of a shar. What do you think that makes me feel when I go home? What? Say that. So we So, so he says, "How many people do you need to have at a funeral?" Anyone want to guess? 600,000. 600,000. To the level that if there isn't 600,000, you have to be Let's let's understand that init. I want to say a joke. Don't listen to it out loud. Why? Because he says three words. The Torah was given with how many people? 600,000. Every Jew is a safer Torah. So just like at Madarit was 600,000. At a funeral, there needs to be 600,000 cuz a Jewish person was like a safer Torah. Very good. But now we're going to get to what's going to be the biggest question you guys will deal with your entire lives. So far, simple. Yes. Everyone's happy. be but comes to says we just saw that a person is like a safer Torah the amount of people that come to a funeral is identical to because a Jewish person is a safer Torah says that when a safer Torah burns how many creo do we tear two. And if a Jewish person passes away, how many creo do we tear? One. So this is called the biggest question you've ever seen in your life. You know what I mean? They say the reason you tear ka is because a Jewish person is a safer Torah. A safer Torah burns, you tear two. And if a Jewish person passes away, you tear one. So the big question, it's called the big Q. How does the idea of met the sephilah work with that says that a separator you tear two and in you tear one and you become alama not understanding what the 600,000 by the matra is when they were given the Torah but the by the funeral it's when the we have a marker here ma what do you go Tani Tani everyone should beem to cancel the shir come listen to Tani the first learner ever in the Jewish people says don't mean I don't understand when the Torah was given there were 600 now when the Torah is being taken zan is you're going to give your own she best question I've ever heard I don't want to ruin it s we're going to continue you're going to have an answer for sure you're going to go you're going to find an answer okay so how are we going to answer this. We're going to go to four more sources. Source four is Americans. [Applause] The Babylonians are stupid. So says the Kumar, why are they stupid? Why are the Babylonians so stupid? And we all know because they stand up for what? For a safer Torah, but they do not mame. They don't stand up for people. And the there brings a very very interesting question. Who here ever did a love rebel is the only one according to the Torah according to 40 makot 40. Everyone knows how to count to 40. We're all good. Come and say but it says it has to be your brother. So you know we're going to make it a little bit less 39. So now we have a competition. Person versus Torah. Adam versus God. Who wins the debate? You guys want to talk about that also? Who wins? Okay. You want to say it or no? You don't want to say it out loud? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So they say, "How stupid can you be?" There was a debate if a person should get 40 or 39 and a person said 39. What an idiot. The Torah said 40. How dare you? What are you unaware? But they're so stupid. They don't understand that the goal was not the dot of the Torah, was the of the Torah. And if you hit a person 40, what are the chances that's going to happen? A lot of death and no life. a lot of but the person's going to die and the goal is so if the essence of Torah is life then man wins because he said 40 equals death I know what the Torah says but I know that the essence of the why of the Torah is and life will always be death meaning writing notes will always be the phone is F. Everyone knows how to spell cell phone. Yeah, you could write it down in English. S E L LF F- O W N. I made it up myself. Now it's all over uh Instagram or whatever. Say to her, it owns you. And you you're not alive anymore. Imagine going on a date with a girl with a cell phone. Then you propose to her. If she doesn't she doesn't run, she's not a real girl. You understood? So that's Makabet saying Adam is bigger than a book because a book is a means. It is not the goal. The goal is life. The goal is dishes. The goal is laundry. The goal is to brush your teeth in the army for 3 hours and 14 minutes. This is how I stayed awake in would fall asleep. So I brushed my teeth for 3 hours and4 minutes sitter. So we're going to go to source number five son. We all know Rab Lazar. What do we know about Rabazar from he was put in solitary confinement. He lived by himself for 20 years like if you don't know you don't know but that you will know. And Rabil is for 20 years is by himself. And what happens when he's on his deathbed? No one knows the san all the all theim they come into the meet. They come over to Lazar. What does Rabazar say to them? He's asking why do you know? It's simple question. Yeah. Why did you guys come? So they say very simple. He came to learn. He came for this is mish black on yellow. You could open it up later. What does he say to them? What does he say back to them? Why did you not come till now? So they answer back loyal and we didn't have enough time. We were inad we were learning all day. We weren't bad kids. We were at night till 2 2:00 a.m. We were good. He says, "Everyone knows that we ask yourself why says Rashi right over there. Rabaka gets his death penalty because he was learning Torah. He's doing such good things." says Rabia Lazar to Rabia his greatest student. Did anyone translate that sentence? My two arms are like two Torah. Did anyone ever do Gila before? Anyone do Gila? How many arms does the Torah have? Jack has two. He says ina you don't understand anymore. The whole idea that I was teaching you is that I am two times greater than a book. I'm two times bigger. I'm alive and you're coming here to learn. You've lost it all. Sama mit. If you are speaking the language of it, it is the tree that can also bring the drug of death. This is sentence. So this is that he says to him, I'm greater than all those books you're learning and you let me sit for 20 years all alone when I was alive. You forgot life. You forgot relationships. You were really successful. And what do all you Shiva people love doing? Making fun of businessmen. Said that we walk around businessmen. Ah, they're dealing with this world. They're not involved. They're not connected. They don't know RIPA. They don't know Rashbah. and comes and says, "But if you don't understand why you're learning, then do me a favor and stop. Just do me a favor. Don't Torah. Don't ruin the essence of what it's all about. Don't you dare eat lunch and wait for someone else to clean it. How dare you walk around and think that picking up garbage is a we have cleaners that walk around 215 to listen to him. What does he do every day at 2:00? He goes over to the cleaner. He says to them, "Go into the mid, sit and learn. I'm taking out the garbage." Says, I don't want to quote it from you get busy or get busy. You either get busy reading the past, the books of the past, or you get busy in realizing that the past is waiting for the future. That Hashem didn't give that as a goal. He gave it as a magnifying glass to fall in love with the Jewish people, not to fall in love with yourself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Why do we say you tell me? Give me a name. Give me a name. Joe says, "Does anyone know why Torah is called Torah?" Because it's a simple word. If you really know what to it's an educational system. You know the PSSI you know him or no I'll ding for you. I'll kid. The PSI says if you're not an educator you're not Jewish. You have to educate. Why? Because Torah is to teach. If you're not teaching you're not alive. You're not understanding Torah. If you're not sharing, it's not that you're not caring. You're not alive, you're dead. The learning of Torah, the learning of the learning of being an extension cord 100%. But if you don't live, what what do we know? If you don't make a before you learn, what's the saying? Remember why I'm learning? So that I can transmit. What does that word mean? transmit you you're following or call the Sarah Joe what I'm saying is the whole continue the whole reason the Israeli Shivas are not in the Jerusalem because they are spreading across Israel they want to to be a pillar of of We don't have the that much time. We want to get to practical also the sources over here if you want to see them later. So is the er an addition or a definition. Then we want to guess we're going to say that the idea of the er is that it redefineses ami why you're learning. You didn't come here as an addition. You didn't go to Karen Byna as an addition. It defines all of why you're here. It defines that the goal of learning is not vertical. Mishama is a vertical upwards. The goal is horizontal. How do I use this? How do I infuse it? How do I relate it? So is not another mitzvah. It's the Kool-Aid of all of Torah. And where do we see this? We're not going to go so long. We'll go straight to the land is not a means. It's a goal. Why? Because the er is where mom is 20 minutes here from it's called because if you're connected to the you're always you're always excited not only to lock in but to fact out conclusion practical and anyone who wants can look after. Conclusion, the er changes the Torah from vertical to horizontal that if we go all the way back, why did we tear two Kas for a safer Torah? Anyone want to guess? Okay, so the Taj will answer you. When a safer Torah burns, there's two things. I'm a soulair. Want to be a soulfair. Try to be a soul. I never write There's something called gil. Does anyone know what gil is? It's the body of the Torah. You're getting all excited cuz you're so fair. Said then there's something called what are the and you have a goof and an the goof and then you burn a safer Torah. What burns? Both. Both. So you tear two. But when you burn a person there is something called the goof and the goof is like the but in when they take out to get burned he surrounds himself with a safer Torah and when he surround himself with a safer Torah they say to him hey you're you're burning what do you see says says, "What is he really saying? I see myself. I see that there's something better than me than the book." And I I just want to finish with this had seven siblings, went to Maidanic. I was there two days ago. He came into my donic with seven siblings. The common dad, the main guy took a safer Torah and he said to Zerak, "Do me a favor. Wrap up your family with a safer Torah." and he took out what's called a little match, some gasoline, and he said, "You'll never forget this scene in your life." And he lights his family on fire in front of his eyes. And Zerak pulls out of his bag. I was there when I was 17. Last that was 20 is very old here. 25 years ago. Yeah. 25 years ago. I was there. I was there with 53 innovation wild kids. Israeli called. He pulls out 53 Israeli flats. He tells all of us, I can never ever bring back my family. But I could ask for one thing. I want to ask all of you to wrap yourself in these flags. We did. Out of 53,49 went into because Zerak added one question. He said, "Can any of you differentiate between the eretss of this flag and the Torah that was burnt on my family? The Torah is to enable, not to disable. It's to create conversation between us and the in Tel Aviv. And so he said to all of us, if you wrap yourself in the deel, that's something that no one will ever be able to burn because that's alive. And what he was really saying is that we all are z to learn with windows. I learned in I've said it already 16 times, 17. Then when everyone would have been no one's ever been windows is the reverend why is it windows because we're learning in order to see the world not to look out away from the world my practically is to realize this is the idea of a minan anyone know what a minan is. a line and a circle. A line is me. I'm learning for myself. Yes, I'm growing to become part of the circle, to become part of the to become part of the land. So, we should be in Nathan, you wrote it down. That's part of how we learn just dedicate it. Write articles, write to your family, thank you once a week, once a month. But make sure that there's something within your learning, how you're doing it, that's reminding you how the when you learn, it has to be at 5:30 a.m. Why? Because of they began their day at 5:30 a.m. Why? Because my idea of learning is that I don't wait for reality. I control reality. I am stronger than reality. I am stronger than kamas. I'm stronger than their tunnels. I'm stronger because I have something called life. They celebrate death. We don't. We celebrate life. We celebrate weddings. That's what we celebrate. So when we learn has to be at 5:30 a.m. You can take it or leave it. Whatever you guys want. You have to find the Aut means that I'm not learning more. I'm learning in sometimes learning with a is less learning but more long term. Have a journal or the PSU. If you don't have a journal, you're not in yeshiva. You're learning your story. You're learning how to become more notep. Now I would say just when you walk into baby mid gift give realize that giving is not a gift it's a lifestyle it's the right thing it's when you walk into mid givea not talking about 100 but just give walk in as someone that's sharing and not someone that's taking. [Music] I'm not saying shalom just to finish that the dot is not essential. It's part of we're if we know that there's [Music]