Eretz Chefetz 7:5 A Lighthouse from the Land: Rav Kook on Land of Israel By Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

all right good morning everyone Boger to all right if anybody wants to open a window or I open this one over here if you want to get a little a little air it's a beautiful day out oh you're cold okay don't open a window all right I think we can begin a um a a big welcome to everyone Bim welcome everyone back and uh it's great to see everyone great to be able to to get together again here at the OU Center and to learn and continue our learning of uh of the Torah of erel the Torah of ruk and uh in particular during these days it is uh really a greatus a great honor to be able to to be learning Torah together and to be learning the Torah of ruk which is all about erit iSell it's all about our love of er iSell our connection to erell that is certainly going to be a uh a theme of this morning and the theme of the coming shiur that we're going to be sharing together let me just begin with the sponsor of our Shar this morning the uh the shear this morning is sponsored by Merill and Murray goldwag in loving memory of meril's father Ben mayor the third of shabat is his 25th yard site and may his Nama have an Aliyah so thank you very much for uh for sponsoring this year today and great to see you again and uh yes the learning today should be in Elo for your father and we have a regular sponsor as well a uh for for the uh for the year and that is ra so we thank our sponsors we also have in mind certainly this morning as we're learning Torah this morning it should be a for our soldiers for sahal who are on the front who are fighting in Gaza as uh as we're sitting here learning Torah this morning so we certainly have uh have them in mind for those that are kidnapped those that are still being held in captivity our learning should be Aus for them those that are recovering those that have been injured um our learning should be a for them as well so um certainly as we are sitting here this morning as we're learning this morning we uh we have Amel in mind those that are in need in mind and um as I said just a moment ago how beautiful it is for all of us to be able to learn the Torah of ruk and a Torah that is all about the land of Israel all about our connection and uh the bond that we have with ar Israel and for us be sitting in y be sitting in Israel and to be learning the Torah of ruk is uh is especially unique and uh significant especially at this time okay so just one word of introduction and um for those that are with us for the first time this morning I see many faces uh and many of us who have been studying together over uh over the last year over the last year and a half or more than that but we have been studying over the last year and a half a safer that is a collection of the teachings of rev cook it's a saer that's called eret it was compiled by Ray Shapiro Z who was part of a great Dynasty who made his way to Israel in the early 1900s he comes to Y he meets rook and he becomes Aid he becomes a a student a talet of ruk and one of the things that he does is that he asks R cook if he can take teachings from all the writings from the vast writings of R cook and if he can compile that in a safe fair and to to take excerpts smaller sections from the very large writings of rook and to be able to present them to the um to theim and to those that are that are interested in learning the words of ruk so we are looking at that safer we're looking at sections from that safer and we've been studying from the very beginning we're now in peric Zion and uh although as I said we've been studying for uh for over a year this safare what we're going to look at today and really every class to some degree really stands on its own because every piece is a uh is a separate teaching so if you've never heard any of uh this learning before any of R cook before um no problem and that's very very exciting to be able to uh to be introduced to Ru cook for the very first time and those that have been with us and have been studying Ru cook over the last uh many months together so um we look forward to to uh being inspired this morning as well by the words of R cook so we're going to be looking at a piece that's found in parag Zion it's hey it's the fifth piece and one of the things that we do together here and one of the goals is actually to see the words of R cook not just to not just to um you know to quote what Riv cook said but to actually see the words and to study the words and for all of us to have the opportunity to uh to see his writings and to analyze his writings together but before we get to this piece in RI cook I want to introduce it with something that we say because it's actually a comment on one of the one of the uh the phrases one of the sentences that we say in daving every morning so let's begin there this is page one we're going to be looking now at the bottom of page one and this brings us to the sitter now as you know we have katma we have the reading dma that we say every single morning and uh that makes its way into the sitter at a very prominent place in the sitter right before the amida that we say the shma but as you know there's a that's recited earlier as well in the sitter it's really one of the first things that we say in the morning we'll talk about that in a moment why it's there and why we're saying the shma earlier and why it's being said later but there is an earlier shma that is recited right after that reading of the shma we say the following and um I guess depending on how much of the sitter we all say or how how late we might be for Shu some of us may say this or some of us may kind of run through it or maybe we miss it but it's worth looking at so right after we say that shma and again I'm referring to the earlier shma that first shma that is reite in the morning we say the following words kades and I'm sure many of you are familiar with it because many of us say ites may your name be Sanctified and your name should be Sanctified in the world your salvation will be ex exalted rais High the pride of your salvation now it's an interesting that we are reciting that your name should be Sanctified should be hallowed in the amongst the multitude among the multitude so that is the that is the braa right after that braah there's one other paragraph This is the first part of the paragraph page two has the second part but we go into the following paragraph and it and it describes Hashem or we're describing Hashem in the following way and I'll read it to you you are our God in the heavens and the Earth in the upper spheres of the sh of the heavens em it is truth you're the first and you are the last and there is nothing other than you there's nothing other than you God and here this is a bit of a surprise and the question is how does this following line fit into the into this now what is that doing there that sounds a bit strange within the context of reciting the shma making the Declaration there's one God in the world and that everyone should know that God and now we say kabet gather those who hope in you may from the four corners of the world and all those that are part of mankind will recognize yaku and they will know you are God you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth so again this is this is from the this is not an obscure passage from from the Zohar or from a medis somewhere this is what's recited and again I'm not sure if this does this ring a bell for for us I hope so so yeah it does good good so this is what we say this is what Jews say every every single morning as they as they start their days they begin to Davin every morning and I don't know if you ever thought about that but the meaning of this verse and here we have an illusion or more more than just an illusion we have a statement about the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel we have the saying the shma and this prayer that all those that hope in you should come to the land of Israel and the question is what is the what is the meaning of this so here now we're going to go to the words of ruk to the teaching of Riv cook we know that Riv cook one of the unique um contributions of Riv cook is the sitter is his commentary and the sitter you would think that many rabbis would write you know pushim on the C we really have very few pushim on the the sitter from rabbis if you think about it very very few that wrote directly on the sitter RI cook does that and riff cook is uh is a lover of of HFA of understanding you know what Jewish Jewish thought is all about Jewish belief and that's certainly the sitter is a is a place for that that is a a headquarters for for our belief and for our faith and for hashkafa so let's now look at the words of Ru cook and this is uh this is an exciting moment after many months that we have and study together to go into the words of ruk so we go to the top of the page the top of the page is from again it's from the safer called ER but if you look at the very end of the paragraph it comes from that is the name of his the commentary on the sitter that R cook writes and he quotes this line which means we're asking hasem and this quote is a quote that's taken from the sitter itself gather those who hope in you from the four corners of the world says Rook the very essence and here I have a translation below that's my translation and I'll translate as we go through it you can look at the translation and we can listen and learn together the uh the Hebrew of the very root the very essence of faith in all of its uh purity it's where we connect the the um the kadus of romea of a very high kadus of a very elevated Kad that is part of the Endless light of Hashem with a that is injected or embedded within the world within all of creation is this not the special quality of Israel of the Jew so what does that mean it's a not a not an easy line and here we get a a taste of the complexity and the challenge of of reading R cook this opening line but if I were to break it down and just simply share with you what it means it means the following ruk says there is a Holiness a Holiness a gusha that is a Holiness that is that is um a Heavenly Holiness a Godly Holiness and what does the Jew what did the Jew je people have the ability to do the Jewish people have the ability to bring that Holiness that um that transcendental Holiness a Holiness that's that's very much Beyond that's Heavenly and can bring that Holiness into this world that we have a way as a Jew and as Jews that we can bring Holiness into this world that we can feel that Holiness shabas that we can feel Holiness of the concern for one another love that we have for one another that we can bring Holiness into the world and that is unique unque to the Jewish people there's no other people that can do it like the Jewish people do in terms of taking a Holiness that is Transcendental that's Heavenly and to make it real and to feel it and to experience it that is the Jew okay that is the that's the opening line of rook and now Rook asked the question why were the Jewish people taken from the land of Israel and brought to the araba that they're in Exile that they've been brought to lands throughout the world we know to some degree that that's a that that is a punishment and certainly that is an aspect of it a very critical aspect of what it means for the Jewish people to be outside of Israel galut Exile that has something to do with sin with with transgression that we don't have Aus to be in the land of Israel but there's a positive side as well and that's ruk is going to highlight says r four lines down and for that reason we have been spread throughout the world the four corners of the world in order to make whole that vision and I would just underline underline that not not literally but or you could underline it physically as well but what are we supposed to do we are to fill the world with kavod Hashem we are to fill the world with the honor of God that the world knows about God I was just talk listening to a talk this morning R panski I'm not sure if that's the name I'm sure some of you are familiar with stepen panski who made Aliah he was giving a talk in in uh in New York this past week and he was talking about that over the last number of years last 10 20 30 years that there's less and less of God in the culture in society in America we're removing American culture Society is removing God more so than ever before so um s of cook says what are we doing and what is our role in the galut in the Exile we are to bring God into those places we are to shine God's glory God's cavod in those places yes yes the I I I think I mean certainly that's part of it but in that context he's referring to a um what they what they transl as the endless light of God it's a cabalistic idea that there's a that there's an aspect of God that is that's that's not knowable that's that's endless orano right related to Oran absolutely but yes I think that's I mean what you said is correct as well that that light that light of hem that is unique to the Jewish people and that we are a people that brings that light to others says R cook one of the roles that we have in the galut and why we are in the galut is to be able to accomplish this so a Jew that's living in Galo Jewish communities that are living in Galo that we can bring a great light to the Gentiles to the people that are living around us and we have done that I think to some degree there's been some some success in that area that uh that the Gentiles look at the Jew and see what the Jew has accomplished and that's part of what we are doing there and reading uh continuing to read uh from ruk and this um knowledge of God and the truth of God that will make its way that'll be injected Into the Heart of all of all people right that every person outside of the land of Israel the Gentiles that were living uh amongst them outside the land of Israel why are we there one role that we have and a role that we are to play is uh to bring to spread the light of God the light of morality and ethics the wisdom of the Torah to the Nations around us and we've been there for about 2,000 years is trying to do that would you say that we've been successful doing that that that that's that that's we've accomplished that say I not not much right I right I don't I don't get the sense that we've that we've accomplished a lot in that era we've kind of had our communities right we we have our nice we have our shs we have our our yeshivas we have our day schools we have our our kosher pizza places and and like we haven't really done much more than that maybe you know maybe there's been an influence here and there but it hasn't yes we have taken the Z out of the we've taken Abad Zar okay I'm not sure I mean right yeah maybe maybe again the question is looking at the the years of galut the 200 years of galut and the Jewish people living in that environment what has been our influence what has been our impact on others in terms of bringing the wisdom of of the Torah and of God to the Gentile world around us I would say it's it's the it's been it's it has not been immensely successful well you don't agree yeah yeah that no that that's for sure in terms of what Jews have brought but I'm talking about rev cook is saying the light of God meaning the the Torah and the wisdom yeah yes okay good good are you a Yu person to that's great the on the Jewish end right okay good so we haven't been doing that well in the Jewish side either okay so that's that's Rook Rook is is is has a very optimistic view here something very positive to say about what we are doing in the galut and that that is part of the role we can we can debate that and uh it's a good question interesting to analyze that that question however so R cook is now as Rook always does is now going to bring us to the land of Israel and what the land of Israel is all about and the potential of being in the land of Israel in terms of spreading that light of Torah and that light of God to the world and now we're look looking at the second paragraph on the uh on the left side he says but that spreading of the Jewish people has only been a preparation we've only prepared maybe we have planted certain seeds and he says yes yes to some ree there has been success but that's really just a preparation it's just been a preparation for this Mission or this purpose that only afterwards meaning after this long Exile that when this with with this eternal Redemption will re reveal itself that when those that are yearning for God return to the land of Israel all of us here in the room May then we make our way back to the land of Israel to the land of our yearning then this great light will return then we'll have the ability to bring this great light to the Nations they will be able to bring the knowledge of a true God Leia it's something that we will make known to others and all of its Grace and all of its beauty May from the land [Music] of so where is there going to be great success for the Jewish people in terms of spreading the word of God the the word of Truth ethics and morality that we believe in that we are as a people how is that going to happen it's going to happen from the land of Israel it's going to happen right here now let's let's go back now just that paragraph give me one second just so I just I don't forget now we come back to the paragraph we say the shma in the morning right after we say the in the morning we have a prayer that the entire world know God right we want the entire world to know not just the Jewish people yes we have our work to do amongst the Jewish people as well intermarriage all the issues that we're facing secular Jews we want everybody to be back on board with the to and with mitzvot but it goes beyond that and that's what the sitter is telling us it goes beyond that that that message of one God a belief in monotheism a belief in the Torah is something that we want everyone we want to sanctify God's name for the world that everybody knows it and how is that going to happen says the sitter says the sitter according to R cook what is the sitter telling us what is the only way that the only way that that's going to be effective the only way way that we're going to bring that message to everyone if you bring everybody back yes we can do a little bit outside the land of Israel we can try to the best of our abilities to kind of bring that goodness of Torah the wisdom of Torah to everyone but it's limited the success that we're going to have the sitter tells us and then from here will be able to to bring the word of Torah by the way let me ask you the question another interesting question today the war that we are in the war in Gaza is it just a war in Gaza is it just a war with Kamas or is it a war in which we are bringing a message to all Humanity to all mankind what is good what is evil what is right what is wrong and by the way it's not an easy battle that that we're in right the battle on on the front right in Gaza is a very difficult one one where we're suffering tremendous losses every single day but the other battle the battle of bringing to the world what is right and what is wrong what is light and what is Darkness what are they saying in Harvard and what are they saying in Penn and here we're fighting a world and but where can we make that fight where can we make the statement right from where is that is that teaching coming it's coming from here it's coming from Israel it's coming from the fact that the Jewish people are back in its land and we have a nation and we have a people that can bring that message to others that's what R cook says that's what the sitter according to Rook is saying as well yes marur I don't think the dision of the Jews to spreading yish world yeah not Yiddish kite not not Yiddish kite other words not that we're if if you mean yishai in the sense we're we're converting people bringing shabas and Kash but Torah is bigger than just that Torah is Torah is also goodness it's ethics it's morality it's it's belie belief in God I I think that the spreading of Jews throughout the whole world was the Jews looking for a safe place to be where we could live in peace yes and it doesn't seem likeing it there right okay absolutely no that that that's that that's true as well and that's the that's the punishment side that's the negative side of Exile that we all know and that's that's a that's that's an that's an essential part of Exile RAB salvic would always say don't call it diaspora call it Exile call it galut he didn't like when people would use the term diaspora diaspora has like a nice feel to it we're living in the diaspora right but Exile when you hear the word Exile that means you're you're out of the place that you're supposed to be a negative it's a negative and yes it it is a negative R cook sees a positive as well a possibility a potential and he sees that this sources why are we there why have we've been there for 2,000 years there's a lot to accomplish there as well there's a lot of good to do there as well but that's not it's not it's not ultimately going to be the place where we're going to be able to fulfill this Vision which is the ultimate vision of kavod Hashem to bring the honor of God the knowledge of God to all mankind yes we'll take a yeah please is the does you're talking about galot while we're in Israel I mean while in other words yes yeah no we're still it it without the beta mikdash without the aod in the beta mikdash without the presence of Hashem in the in the fullest sense so there's there's a level of galut living in Israel as well but we're we're much further we're much further along it's not the same galut as living in burough park or in yes okay all right so that's why we need to learn R cook yes that's why we're here this morning so we get it we get our heads on straight yes yes Harriet yes right Mar Martin berer okay I'm I'm not familiar with that I'm not familiar with that yes there are those that take a that's I mean that's like TARTA and yeah yeah okay okay I'm not familiar with that all right let's let's um let's return now to um let's return now to a the continuation of we're looking now at page two the continuation of that that that we say in the morning again this is uh right before the carbonos again we have the shma the earlier shma and then we have what we just read and then it continues with the following this is top of page two you made everything and who is compared to you who can tell you what what you are doing nobody can tell you God what to do again this is the daving that we say right after the and uh this leads us into the right after this last paragraph please do kindness on behalf or because for the sake of Your Great Name that we call upon you and fulfill that which it says that's that which is written the prophecy and this is how it ends and this is the P from at that time I will bring you at that time I will gather you and you will become a a nation a great name and praised amongst all the nations of the world hasem as you return from your captivity from the Exile before your eyes says Hashem Amar Hashem so this again sounds like I don't know something out of uh out of a out of a medish maybe out of some obscure Source we're reading from daving we're reading from the sitter this is right right after we say the shma every morning and we conclude with the following statement or with the following PK a prophecy and what is that prophecy we conclude with a a prophecy that talks about that speaks of and it will bring you back to the land of Israel and what is this all about what is the theme the theme is returning to the land of Israel because from the land of Israel here will be able to spread the message to the world I'll just point out one thing this is interesting the um the the the the phrase do you see that it sounds like it's a bit of a repetition at that time I'll will bring you at that time I will gather you right and the question is what is the difference between them so this is from the um this is from aimon Schwab from the commentary he has on the sitter he was uh I'm sure many of you are familiar with that work and with that name he was a rub in Washington Heights for many years originally in Baltimore yes and then he made his way he was invited to head the German community in Washington Heights so here I'll just read to you this uh his comment and uh speaks highly of all of us here this morning this P refers to two stages of the G of the Final Redemption the first stage is described as by I shall bring you this refers to the return of the vanard of the Jewish people to Israel that sadim the righteous ones who's going to come first in the return to the land of Israel us us the sadik that's right right those that are those that have a yearning for the land of Israel the sikim that kind of made their way that left left New York and Los Angeles and Chicago how difficult it was to leave but to come because they felt that desire and that they knew that this was the great mitz of the sikim the second stage will be the ingathering of the entire Jewish Nation to erel that's that second term the second stage is what it what is meant the second stage is what is meant by U at that time the time when I will gather the rest of you L before your eyes meaning the eyes of the sadim who will return who will witness the return of the rest of the Jewish Nation this accounts for the use of the word Ki meaning a wide in gathering to describe the second stage of the Redemption as opposed to the word a I shall bring which refers only to the first limited stage of the gula that word you said before this I've never heard s is the name of the it's one of the books one of theum of the of tanak one of our one of the prophets really yes is that y y y yeah it gets lost in the trar but yeah yes the first wave will be sikim ah very good you make an excellent point you make it you make an excellent point RI cook RI cook right right okay yeah it's a good question R cook talks about that he has a different puic that says it'll be uh it'll begin now with it San but this is his interpretation R Schwab according to R Schwab so the question is is that really true that this wave of the of the return to erel were were were were they the sadim who were coming back the first to come back were not the sadim necessarily or they didn't appear to be sikim so that's another that's another answer maybe a good answer maybe they were the sikim right that's what ruk says they were the holy of holies right they they were the sikim but the way the RAB interprets the p is that that first is referring to the sadik come back and Ki is a larger Gathering but ruuk is going to comment on another part of the PUK and this is what I want to look at with you and that is what does it mean that you're going to return to your eyes or in your eyes or before your eyes and I will bring you back and I'm just reading the translation from the from right above the number two when I bring you back when I bring back your Exiles before your eyes that's a little bit of a strange phrase I'll bring back your Exiles before your eyes so here we come back to the sitter of ruk this is Source number three in the B of page two and let's read what R comments on on this and the way they interprets and we're reading the words now Rook this is Source number three the bottom of page two not only will it be a physical or material return meaning just the bodies of the numbers of the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel there is the other nations also see that they recognize that and they can appreciate that right what a wonder that is for the Jewish people to be returning after 2,000 years that there are millions and millions of Jews living in the land of Israel that everybody that everybody sees that everybody is sort of the wonderment of that I remember before the uh before the war we were we were doing a lot of Hosting I've mentioned this here many times of guests from on Friday night they have this program where you can have tourists at your at your shabas table and we had many guests from China there were a lot of it was like the largest percentage of uh of of new tourists coming to Israel from China that they were very interested in in seeing Israel and learning about the Jewish people and they were always astounded by the Jewish people 2,000 years coming back to to their land I mean how does that as we know it's one of the great miracles of the Jewish people how how we've been able to do that that's something that the Gentiles sees as well well and is astounded at as well but what does it mean that I'm going to bring you back you're going to come back to the land of Israel and there's going to be a particular k a Holiness that only your eyes only a Jew only from a spiritual vantage point as it says in sh that your eyes are like the eyes of a dove that you're going to see that the Jews sees in the return and it's all of us here see in the return of the Jewish people not just the fact that there are 7 million people 7 million Jews living in the land of Israel right but we see something deeper in that what does it mean that the Jewish people are ret returned to the land of Israel that this is the beginning of a of redemption only the you can see the beauty of this return and by seeing it this way by seeing the return in this light as we are seeing it so this is the beginning of the Redemption we also need to view it that way and that's what it means that we see it in a particular way we see it in a holy way we see the sanctity around the return we see the religious significance of what it means right there are many people I think benorian when saw the Jews coming back you didn't necessarily see that in a religious in a religious way in a spiritual way but we as religious Jews see it that way and that's what it means you're going to see with your eyes right from a religious point of view what it means for the Jew to return and with that that you become a great nation for the rest of the for all nations that we're going to be able and again again coming back to this theme this beautiful theme that not only for us but what it means for us to be in the land of Israel what we can now contribute to all mankind to all Humanity that's the ultimate that is the dream it's not just to have a a midina to have a midina but it's to be here to be able to spread the light of goodness the light of Torah the light of God to all mankind and as I said before this war is not just the war the battle that's going on on the front or in Gaza but in terms of who we are as a people and spreading the the truth of uh of Torah and he quotes the following is a a that's found in Mal and I have it here below and all the nations will praise you you will be in a land and that's by the way the name of the safer that that rap chose for the saer of c and it's from this land that is a land of delight where actually has two meanings what's the other means Delight but also desire that's right like it's a land that we're yearning for we yearn for the land but it's a land also of beauty of so it has that double meaning says okay let's um let's look at two more sources and we'll uh we'll close up so the shma that we we say Asma early in the daving as we know we then say the kma the formal the official kma the obligation of reciting the shma and then there's another shma that's recited and this is a shma that's not recited during the week but on chabas as well I don't know if you ever took note of that but we're saying shma on chabas morning we're saying it three times we're saying that early part of daving we're saying kma and then it appears in the kades well and the mus so look at what the mus says is this is Page Three Source number two right in the middle of the page so this we say is part of the mus we say who elu he's our god what do we have here again and something that we saw earlier and a theme that we're coming back to again in the Musa and that is that the shma is not only for us it's not only our Declaration of belief in God but we want this shma to be a shma for everybody to hear I don't know if you ever took note of it we say this every shabas let us hear a second time in the presence of all that lives by the way when is the second time well when's the first time it's talking about the second time but when's the what was the first time what's the first time I think the first time is I I think it's referring to the to myari that we no yes when is the first time that we accepted that we accepted that we knew one God that we said n isma that there was a revelation that we saw God that we heard God a revelation of God M SII that was the first time that first time we know was just limited to the Jewish people as the Met says God offered it to others but just the Jewish people you know that we uh that we agreed to receive it so that's time number one that we knew the Oneness of God but we want a shanus shanus shanus right shanus shanus Shan is is a second time we want another time that not only for us we want the whole world to know the shma is well and and ruuk says that's going to happen when is it going to happen it's going to happen when the Jewish people return to the land of Israel that we have the opportunity to bring from the land of Israel we've tried and we've put in our best efforts outside the land of Israel but part of gah part of that dream of gula of return to the land of Israel is to be able to bring that message to all now by the way does anybody know why we have that earlier shma that it's stuck in you know stuck in the daving in the first you know few minutes of ding that we say the shma and then we also have what is that if you wake up too late well that doesn't well again we have an early shma before we get to the shma what is that early shma doing there and on a shabas i me we could say it was what is that to try make sure it stay on time so look at the following look at the following this is is uh this is really fascinating I I remember hearing it but I you know just the details around it this is Page four let's go to the bottom of page four and this will tell us about that early shma this will tell us about the late shma which is the shma that's in the Musa as well so it's a little bit uh it's in small print here this is from the art scroll sitter Shay is yeah take out your glasses during the middle of the fif of the fifth century the Persian king YZ GED yger yger II forbade the Jews to observe the Shabbat and to recite the shma his purpose was to eradicate belief in Hashem as the Creator and in his Oneness as it is proclaimed in the shma to ensure that the shma would not be read in Def in defiance of his decree the king stationed guards in the synagogue for the first quarter of the day when the shma must be read to to counteract his design the sages instituted two recitations of the first verse of the shma the one here that's referring to the early one which was to be recited at home and another one is part of Shabbat kadus of Musa these were added in order to put shma in places where the guards would not take note of the reciting of the shma although these Services contain only the first verse of the shma th this is sufficient to fulfill the Shah's obligation in cases of extreme emergency even when yesz gird was killed in response to the prayers of the sages his decree was lifted and his decree was lifted the two shma recitations remained part of the regular ritual and the one that had been recited at home was moved to this part of the synagogue service so that shma that one line of the shma that was said earlier that was to be recited at home privately it made its way into the sitter and the Musa was to be later when the guards would leave the sh and the shma would be recited at that time so these two Shas that are added to our sitter are related to a time of a decree a time where where they did not allow us to recite the shma and it amazes me that in those two places in that early shma right and we saw those verses around it and the shma that we say is part of mus what is the prayer that we add to the shma the prayer that we're adding to the shma in both places is that we should be able to bring this word of God and the Oneness of God to all nations in other words we're making a statement that even in this decree and even in in the suffering and the pain of not being able to recite the shma we're going to recite it but we also have this amazing Vision right this notion that a time will come and we want that time to come not just to destroy the other nations we want them to know we want them to know the shma we want them to know our our belief in hasem what period of time it said fifth century Persia fifth century Persia let me um let me conclude with uh with two items and [Music] um and we'll close with uh we'll close with the I was um I was at a funeral at a funeral for um Alicia yhonatan Luber or lber I think it's pronounced Luber a Yin that was a couple of weeks ago and quite an amazing quite an amazing young man and quite an amazing family his wife spoke his father spoke his grandfather's name is R Yaniv who spoke as well he's a uh um he is a well-respected RV here in Israel he had two grandsons two other this is a grandson two other grandsons Hillel and yagel who were killed in uara in that attack where they attacked a car and they killed both boys Brothers hill hill and yagel so this is a third grandson that he buried in the last uh in the last six months now he got up that day and he asked he asked everyone to sing together you can look at this footage you can you can look this up he asked everyone to sing together he asked everyone to singu that you've chosen us from all the nations and he said something which I one line that I'll just highlight he said that we are a generation of redeemers this generation is a generation of redeemers and he sees the Jewish people and again I think I think this very much comes from the teaching and I think he is grounded very much in the teachings of R cook that he sees this generation as a generation that the war that we're going through the lives that we are that we're giving up that we are losing it's part of a process and part of a process of gula and he didn't say this but I'll add the following while we were talking about you know the past generation as being a generation of of survivors right that's the term that we've used that we're all familiar with a generation remember we still the survivors this is a new generation right the generation here in Israel and the young people in Israel and all of us who are living in Israel we are a generation of of redeemers that were Redeeming the land of Israel that were moving closer that were inching forward towards the Redemption and that's how he contextualized that's how that how he saw this you know what what what it means to unfortunately to lose his uh his grandson um just the optim optimism and the faith and again to to use that uh to use that term and to see it that way this very much what cook is speaking about in terms of what it means for the Jewish people to return to the land of Israel today and the spiritual component of that the spiritual power of that to come back to the land of Israel right not just physically that we're returning to the land of Israel but for the very first time that we can bring the goodness of Judaism and the goodness of the Torah the ethics the morality the kindness the mercy of the Torah to teach that to the world in a way that we have not been able to do that and when we do that and that's part of what we are trying to do when we do that when we accomplish that that's a Messianic time that's moving into days of mhia that the whole world recognizes that goodness and the greatness of the Jewish people and I'll that's right that's right and that's yes and when we are when we are a model and only back again only when we return are we able to accomplish that and I'll end with uh I'll just end with this and this is a this is a line that we we we're all familiar with it's the way that we bring in chabas and it's the way that for many people bring in chabas for many people that they bring shabas to a close and that's with theid nees right if you're in ch Friday night if you're daving on your own right singing yid nees that bring in chabas many people at shalis will also sing y nees as they close out shabas there's a lot there in y nees what is it that we're that we're drawn to the beauty certainly the melody The Melodies of Y nees the words ofes the very last paragraph ofes is we askem and we're calling AEM as the kiv as the one who is beloved to us that you should spread Upon Us Su a Suka of peace and here's the one line that I that that I want to highlight and it's the line that we started with from Rook that the entire world should be lit up erat the entire world should be lit up with your cavod kavod Hashem that the honor of God that the beauty of God the Oneness of God should be known to all that's how we conclude quickly my beloved the time is coming the time is close what okay thank you right good and you should be gracious to me as in times of old so this is the way that we can bring in chabas and the way that we conclude chabas that's the inspiration of chabas the the piece of sh shabas the Shalom the peace Serenity of chabas but to that your cavod should be known to all arids to the entire world that everybody should know the uh the cavod the honor of Hashem and this Rook is the message and one of the beautiful messages in a very profound idea of what it means for the Jewish people to return to land of Israel the beauty of returning to the land of Israel the kibuts Gallo the the you know from the four corners of the world all different languages all different people Americans and from England and from Hong Kong and from Australia from Ethiopia they were all here all here together returning to the land of Israel but in a very profound sense in the deepest sense what does it mean to return to the land of Israel for the Jew it means that we can bring a message to the world that we've been unable to bring to the world up to this point and with the Jew in the land with the nation in the land of Israel we can bring the message of Torah the message of God the message of goodness to all of humanity we should be Z to do that uh I thank everyone for uh for being here this morning great to see everyone again and look forward to seeing you everyone should have a uh a good week ahead we should have only BOS toos hear good news and SM