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