Cultivating A Lifestyle Of Giving - Parshat Vayeira - Rabbi YY Jacobson

to H him for our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land in AR Israel and especially for all of the hostages and all of the soldiers and the wounded and all their families and everybody on the front lines especially today which many say is the yard site of RA and for the Jews in Amsterdam and all over the world yes So since today is your Al let's do we'll do Capal which is part of today's day of cap which is 61 everybody could join me El let's do 63 the one right after for okay this's one good morning everybody and welcome there's one source sheet it's double-sided so if you didn't get please thank you Mrs Klein it's double-sided thank you everybody for gracing us with your presence I want to especially welcome back Hindi marwit who's here with us thank you for coming and whenever you come you fill our room and our sheer with light so thank you very much and everybody else who's here Eng gracing us with your presence and those who are here virtually as well you don't I don't see you but you can see us today's class is graciously dedicated by Dr yal good friend in honor of the yard site of his dear father Reb David Beni good friend he was a holocaust Survivor and a model of everything that exemplifies what a true mench should be may his soul remain an eternal source of light and love and inspiration for you and for the entire family and for the entire community and all of the Jewish people and may we see very speedily and all of the all of our people and thank you very very much amen should for you and yours I find one of theuk one of the verses in p v to be one of the most uh gripping I don't know if the right word is haunting but maybe the word is haunting certainly gripping versus in the totality of tanak and which is BAS chapter n chapter 19 of Genesis V perut perut we have the story opens up with ainu who is visited by the Creator and in Middle he's visited by three he sees three people three men walking as he sits at the entrance to his tent amidst a very high day that's how par V opens up and he runs out to greet them he welcomes the three people the three men into his tent he offers them water shade and protection under his tree he asks SAR to make some of her favorite rugala and bka and Kush cake although he uses different words it was more healthy at the time Sao that's true s sorry I'm from the 70s very good good you're right huh right well she was at a class and uh of course he serves them a lavish meal as we all know cream and milk and then meat Etc it's three people and uh they make the promise to him and to his wife SAR that the next year they're going to have their own child what happens right after the story so when this story ends the people stand up and they leave and Aram escorts them and says goodbye as a great host so if you'll see in the First Source in your Source sheets this is V the people stood up from there they look towards the city of s is walking with them to see them off to send them off this is where this section of the story ends and now comes a PK a verse of which we have no parallel for in the entire tanak Hashem is speaking to himself and sharing an intimate doubt that he has within himself how do we know about it cuz he sh it with the T we would have know about it so this is a unique PK he's not talking to somebody he's talking to himself and within himself he's not just saying what he's going to do or what he's not going to do or a decision he made he's talking about a struggle so to speak that he's having two sides this vacillation this doubt this ambivalence if I can use that word within God's internal self however you explain it and this is how the reads Hashem says can I hide can I cover comes from the word to cover something to hide something to Eclipse it can I cover up can I hide from a what I am planning to do can I in other words there was some sentiment that I should hide it from him that's why I'm not telling him but now he's like Hashem is questioning himself can I really cover up can I keep this a cover can I keep this story covered eclipse and not tell him and he continues the next is going to become a great and powerful and populous nation and all the nations of the Earth are going to be blessed by him he's going to to be the source of blessing for his people and for all the people of the earth that all be blessed by him Rashi says y here means love from the word yod which is of course a euphemism for Oneness for intimacy for connection is not just intellectual knowledge says I love him I connect him I love him I'm intimate with him I'm connected with him knowing that he will instruct his children and his entire household after him to preserve to protect the path of Hashem to do charity righteousness Mish Justice in order that hem brings for what he promised him so this is all Hashem speaking to himself so to speak how can I cover over how can I hide from a what I'm planning to do knowing all these things about a a who he's going to be and what he represents and therefore he made his decision and he approaches of and he spills the beans and says the outrage the outcry the the Thundering ing uh horrible stuff from is so powerful their sin is so grave I'm going to go down and check out if the cries that I'm hearing are authentic this place cannot continue to exist and we all know what happens afterwards aam stages a rebellion he becomes defiant he says to has how can you do such a thing this is a violation and he uses those inimitable words will the judge of the entire world behave in an unjust fashion how can you just destroy a city like sity like just because there's evil there and he argues and Hashem answers and he says maybe this 50 no maybe this's 45 40 30 20 10 even if this 10 I'm going to spare it and then a Falls silent and how does the story end having finished speaking to God goes He departs and what does a do AR goes back to his place that's how the story ends of course here moves on to the next scene which is what happens in s the the two angels come from they go to light light offers them Hospitality the city wants to attack him and abuse him and ultimately will get destroyed even though L and his two daughters are saved if we think about this question we never have such a question at T Hashem speaks to a lot of prophets he never gives this introduction you think I should tell him the story you think I should not obviously God made a decision there's prophets throughout the whole tanak speaks to Adam speaks to no he doesn't say before he speaks to no you think I should tell the story maybe not there's so many prophets throughout the whole T we never have this introduction in other words there's a part of me that says I shouldn't tell the story but there's another part of me so to speak that says I can't I can't cover it up and then apparently he's giving a justification why he can't cover it because AR is going to be this great man he's going to father a nation okay so so he gets to know everything I mean Pro probably most not probably for sure most of God's mind and Heart Is concealed it's infinite precedes creation so here there is a question but something is off I can't cover it anymore what does this mean what were the two sides why here why suddenly when it came to this prophecy we're going to examine this today on two levels if you turn your your page around you'll see this is from theam this is the commentary of theer you probably know who theer was his name was RAB Moser shriber means shriber many of the shers cyers are descendants of his and he was the chief Rabbi of pror pburg was a city in the Austria Hungarian Empire which dissolved during the first world war today it's called bratislav but then it was called pburg and he passed away in the year T which would mean 1840 after sukus or actually 1839 CU it wasn't yet uh January there's if you'll see in the left column there's a bracket you see the third line there's a bracket that was written by a pen so that's the piece I want to read with you I don't want to read the whole piece cuz I want to get through the idea but I first want to raise his questions in the beginning of the paragraph his first question is in the beginning of the paragraph I'm just going to say it outside his first question is when hasem Praises what does he say I love him cuz he's going to tell his children that they should keep the way of has to do righteousness charity and Justice in order that God should bring and deliver to a what he told him he will says it sounds like that the motivation ofu to educate and Inspire his children is in order to get the reward that he was promised so that will get asks a question and he says that it seems like this is whole was what we call Al in order to get this reward I want the rewards when actually ainu is the Paradigm of complete dedication transcending the desire for a reward the rambam actually in the laws of repentance chapter 10 when he wants to give an example of Ava out of love out of true dedication with the person's complete unwavering conviction and connection he EXA he uses the example for my is called by the my my beloved one my friend and yet here hasem it seems like he's saying the only reason he's doing it is in order to get for his house and for himself what he was promised that's his first question his second question is what I asked before we never see with any prophecy Hashem meditating and asking if I should speak to this person or I shouldn't speak to the person if you decided to speak to this person and then God saying you know what let me think about who he is is he's such a good man he's such a prominent person I think I have to speak to him we never find this so let's let's Lear what says he gives quite an interesting interpretation you could see the second column 1 2 3 four five five lines from the time I'm going to read it in Hebrew and transl therefore I think if was in a state of Prophecy to be able to hear the word of God what's going to happen to a nation or a city of course prophecy shouldn't be up withheld from him revealed his message to people like yesah Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel you have the beginning of Y I have designated you as a prophet to the Nations he shared with them prophecies that weren't even relevant to the Jewish people yes when you read their prophecies you see that many of their prophecies relate to Universal events and truths so of course if abah ainu was in a state of to receive prophecy he could also hear the message of what's going to happen this Di but here was the issue didn't reach the state of Prophecy why not he didn't have the time and therefore the mental space to meditate to be in a state of meditation and mindfulness and connect his soul to this state this frequency of Prophecy why not because was a quential educator so he was always consumed with teaching students was integrated with people with masses of people multitudes of people to bring them in under the wings of the now if these students were in an elevated emotional intellectual spiritual State they wouldn't prevent him from the meditation required for prophecy he could do it together with them but they were in a very very basic place so therefore he had to work with them very very slowly in order to bring them in to the world of morality of goodness of spirituality of authenticity and in the beginning it was very reward oriented it was very benefit oriented you know it's brownie points what are you going to get for this how is this going to help your life because they were yet still spiritually immature and because his soul was constantly swaying and moving around to work with people whose Das means their Das was less developed it was not so enlightened therefore he had no ability to become that Prophet that he could become what is what is the teaching what does prophecy really mean hashem's energy cruises through creation constantly but the question is how clear are my antennas right we all know you can have uh you can have static sometimes the radio stations those anybody still listens to the radio yeah so as you're dialing right you have the static The Voice the airwaves is not coming through through so clearly there are different zones where there'll be different static depends on the re re reip receptivity the same is true spiritually what does it mean to be a prophet Prophet is not some supernal some super Supernatural angel with wings flying around a prophet is somebody who works through all of the internal blockages first of all of the ego and of the fears and of the anxiety and security until their antennas are so clear so there's a transparency so they're open to the divine energy that vibrates through the universe every moment prophecy is essentially something that's relatable to every person the navi says in y that that all of your sons and daughters are going to be prophets my spirit is going to be poured on every person in other words it's basically being open to the full majesty and depth because every soul has very clear Clarity Every Soul essentially is a prophet it's a vibration of the Divine it's but how many blockages do I have so many and like we speak spoke last week about all the thoughts and the hijackers Etc so the navi needed a lot of time to be able to be in a place of Stillness and silence and open themselves up to a mindful state where their antennas could become so clear and refined and spiritually sensitive that's how they become a became Prophet heu would have loved to do this but he had a job he was steeped in a world of paganism and he felt that his mission is to be there to educate the World to Change the World so he had to be there for people so he ran a hotel he ran a restaurant yeah he had to ask everybody how do you like the cougal or how do you like your salad you're a vegan you're a vegetarian what diet are you that's what and socialize be integrated integrated means I have to tune into to where people are you may be in a different space but where the person is if I want to affect the person if I want to go into isolation I don't have to do that but if I want to connect to the people and bring them up which was AR's Mission he needs to be able to be there in that state so the says therefore he couldn't be the prophet like other prophets you know in the time of the first B there were schools of prophets right there were many the gar says that there were prophets in the number double of Jews who left Egypt there were 1.2 million prophets we only know 48 because those were transcribed in t say only only prophecies that are relevant for all the generations were transcribed but prophecy was a it was a very it was a very common thing there were schools for prophets Judaism was an extremely meditative fully immersive visceral experience of Experiencing God that's what the prophet is so Abu experienced hem and he spoke to hm but this type of Prophecy to be able to see what's happening in the future the vibrations of the universe this because of his immersion with the world and people on their level where you had to educate them step by step and they came from the opposite opposite world so therefore it was so slow it was slow paced therefore could not be this Prophet so the says but God knows knows the secrets of every soul and heart so he knew who A was he didn't look a from the outside he knew AR was he said it's true didn't reach the state of Prophecy of the others but it's completely wrong to cover anything to hide anything from him why it's not that he's not doing the work of being open to the true inner voice in him no it's because he dedicated his life to be able to spread truth in the world which is what I want and it's for my sake that he hurled his soul in order to change the world and that's that's what took from him the of this prophecy just does not make sense that because he's truly dedicated to the cause and he's there for the people and he's fulfilling the ultimate purpose and he's not in isolation something should be lost from that and that's why so therefore I'm not going to tell what I'm doing B when I know the only reason he hasn't reached the state of Prophecy is because he's busy educating so many people not only his family but his whole household and all the people that are connected to him to follow the path of God and you know how he inspires them only by talking to them about their benefits and their rewards because the definition of prophecy is you open yourself up to the point where Infinity is the only reality so it's not anymore about reward you're in a much deeper deeper space it's about the actual relationship but they're not in that space so he's talking to them about he humbles himself every day to go from the highest place down to the lowest places to be able to be there with people who need this type of awareness and [Applause] inspiration and it's all from my name in order to turn everyone into God's servants and Friends and therefore the right thing is that as much as he could not prepare himself for this state of Prophecy I am going to reveal to him all the secrets that the prophet is capable of receiving and nothing will be concealed from him this is the interpretation of this story no way just because he's actually doing the work of changing the world and therefore he can dedicate all this time for prophecy which takes a lot a lot of time because it's really hours of it's it's a very very uh lonely Place spiritually lonely place and the per the sense that the person really needs to be in tuned with the inner inner voice of creation and there's so much static and ainu is the opposite he's completely entrenched in the world but this is every day his mission and his statement knowing that the ultimate purpose of creation was not just to be a prophet down there because up there the soul is much a greater Prophet the reason is God wanted you to change the world so that's what he's doing so not because of that he's not going to be deprived of everything that the prophet has that's the's interpretation of the story what was this ambivalence what were the two sides whyem was saying how can I cover over from an introduction we don't see with any other Prophet now let's go to the next level cuz really the question that is Raising here is the shocking fact of this PK why hasem is convincing himself I'm using words I know we use for human beings but I just don't have any better words why Hashem is convincing himself or persuading himself to reveal his plan with a we see that there's a doubt there's a question and he's convincing himself and he's talk it's all talking to himself he's not talking to anybody else so there's two sides but one side is going to Prevail thank you thank you and it's interesting Hashem doesn't answer his own question by just answering the question he doesn't say I want to tell a what I'm going to do it's almost in the negative he's answering his own question in the negative shall I cover this up no nobody asked you to cover up anything God we're not in a Cahoots forcing you to cover up anything it's like what was like this whole internal internal Summit with a memo and they said you know the CIA and FBI told God we got to cover this up forever forever you know Kennedy's assassination who did it we still don't know was it Lee Harvey oswal what who was it Lee Harvey Oswald or somebody else Jack Ruby Well Jack Ruby killed Oswald and then he died from cancer right what like hasm said are we going to cover this up no nobody asked you to cover up anything he doesn't say let me go tell AB what's happening or just do it he's answering his own question in the negative it's like almost like it should be covered up but like I can't no I shall not so that means we have to understand why he's thinking of covering it up to begin with and why does hashem's choice to reveal his thoughts feel almost like a rejection of his desire or tendency to remain closed off now the word that's used there is right the word means to cover to conceal it's not common in the Torah although it's a common Hebrew word or in you have a lot the cover of a vessel in ter it's not such a common word in fact this is the only time in tanak where Hashem is described as making a choice to cover or not cover something up you don't have this concept anywhere else in tanak hasem is like choosing do I cover this up do I not cover this up the first time we have someone hiding which is covering is and hiding in the garden but the word is not word the word is and his wife hid they went into hiding where is the first time that we see the word to cover by RKA says very good she took her cloak very good and she covers herself which is going to be next week will you have it afterwards another woman T very good yud didn't recognize she covered her face she was M she covered her he didn't know who she was he didn't know it's his daughter-in-law yes so by the mountains in you have the mountains covered over by the water that was the physical reality in terms of people covering you have like Rifka the physical cloak and Tamar concealing her identity so that Yehuda doesn't know who she is and then of course we have it when Yehuda decides to sell YF into slavery he says what are we going to gain by killing our brother and cover up his blood he'll die in the sistern and will cover over what are we going to gain from that so therefore Yuda says let's sell him let's not cover over his blood in all these cases what do we see the word K covers over a reality the mount can't be seen during the flood because of the water rifka's face is eclipsed by the by the by the ve veil by the shaw T's face is concealed by her disguise and yep's blood he doesn't want to just kill him and cover it up let him stay alive and be sold into slavery here is one of those times hm uses the word I don't want to cover over this from a that he should not be part of this he should not know any of this a glimpse into the profound mystery of this statement we see in the medish and the truth is this medish is so daunting and so so intense that it really when you read it it it shows us how profound on on a truth is being conveyed here in the tah so let's take a look in the medish if you go back to the first side after the verses the middle paragraph This is now you're going to see here very interesting Expressions this is a verba quote from the medish and I'm just going to translate into englishu yesu said you see a metaphor there was a king who planted a garden a beautiful Orchard to his friend means someone he loved somebody who loved him after a while the king wanted to cut down five trees that were not bearing fruit means trees that don't bear anything they're like Baron trees stra they don't grow any fruits so the king says you know what this beautiful Orchard I want to get rid of these five trees the king says to himself even if I would have asked him to cut down trees that are beautiful and amazing and part of his ancestry he also wouldn't stop me he's so close to me he's so loyal to me even if I would have asked him not to cut down these fruits that don't bear fruits these trees that don't bear fruits but any other tree which he really cherishes he still wouldn't stop me so what so just because he would agree I shouldn't consult him by any consults just because I know he's going to say yes doesn't mean I should do it without him saying yes I want to get rid of these fruits that don't these trees that don't bear fruits I know he would say yes even I asked him to cut down other precious trees but just because I know he's going to say yes I shouldn't ask him that's I ask him I gave this whole land the gift of including these five cities there were five cities they're his it's his garden it's his land I gave it him as a gift if I would have asked him I want to take away other cities that are more important and more precious they don't have trees that are not bearing fruits he still wouldn't say no he's completely loyal to me so just because I know he's for sure going to agree I shouldn't ask him I'm not going to abuse the fact that I know he's going to say yeah not to give him the Dignity of asking him something that belongs to him so therefore God consults with ar he says I can't cover this up from him it's his land I want to destroy Z it's his field I gave it to him I have to first talk to him ah he might say yeah I I know he's going to say yeah so what I still have to ask him of course what's so interesting about this metaphor he doesn't say yeah he doesn't say yeah right it's quite interesting it's a surprising turn of events the son of says it goes much deeper than [Music] this there was a king who had three best friends three beloved friends he did nothing without discussing it with them you know sometimes you have a best friend you don't make a move before you call them I'm going to the dentist I'm going shopping I'm staying home I have a headache I almost have a headache I'm in the mood I'm not in the mood he didn't do anything without their perspective okay they were good friends once the king decided he wants to do something without their opinion he doesn't want to do it with their perspective he wants to do something without asking their opinion but he couldn't these were his best friends they were always with him anything he turned to them this is before the days of WhatsApp so you couldn't WhatsApp them it's even before the days of a telephone or a telegram or a telegraph they're there and he's always talking to them but now he wants to do something and he cannot ask their advice he doesn't say why but he doesn't want them so the first one he sent out of the palace so now there's nobody to consult sh the second one he put him in a prison he put him in a quarantine place and he put the Royal seal on it so nobody opens the door the third one was just too precious and too beloved he says you know what here I'm stuck I can't do anything without him what's the metaphor the first friend was Adam at some point he told leave G leave the paradise so now he's not Consulting with him the next guy is he puts him in the ark and he closes the door so now he's not Consulting him was too precious he said no I can't do anything without his consent sorry nothing and that's this story where he says I just can't cover this up from ra I have no choice I can't send him away I can't put him in an arc I really need to bring this up with him comes and says it goes yet further there was a king who had an extraordinary advisor a brilliant advisor he never did anything without this person's perspective he was his counselor he was his coach life coach once he decided I'm doing this I don't care what he says I'm doing this without his consent and then the king tells himself I don't understand the whole reason I designated him as my advisor was for this moment that when I want to do something on my own I shouldn't that's why I designated him so what am I doing and therefore he decided to go back to him so basically he has somebody that he consults for every important decision once he decided he's not and then he tells himself what he this is the reason I have this person I have this person for this moment when I don't want to consult him that's the reason I have him if I want to consult him then I don't need him just talk to him why did I designate him for a moment when I'm ambivalent this is the moment to ask and that's why he turned to what is the sage is teaching us here this sounds like a very very interesting Med three stages the first person who is the first statement speaks about this Garden you know anyway you're going to get an agreement but still ask him give him the dignity ask him because it's his it's A's land don't do anything without his consent speak to him discuss it with him negotiate with him the second opinion takes it a step a step further with three advisers three best friends but at some point the king says two I have to get rid of at the moment CU I can't move on with them so one he sends out of ganen the second one he puts into an arc he says no he got to stand I got to talk it over with him and then comes the most daring idea in the third opinion who says that at some point he says no I cannot discuss this with him and then he says this was the whole point of having him and therefore I must talk this over with him in order to appreciate this we now come across one of the extremely profound existentially profound teachings of our sages of what they're seeing in this PK much more than just a simple conversation with himself he's such a good guy I want to tell him you know it's like almost you know your daughter is getting getting engaged tomorrow and there's one best friend you have to say cuz if she finds out from the street and not from you you know you're chopped liver so it's almost like Hashem is saying like he's just too of a good guy I can't have him read this in the Wall Street Journal I need aru to know this from me before which is also very cute and Charming but really brings us to a much bigger question since when is God abiding by any laws did he make somebody make a contra with him that he has to reveal secrets that he has to re I mean all these advises I mean you created them like you owe them something like you have to send them away not to get advice from them like you don't want to ask advice don't ask advice I mean think about it in your own life if there's people you ask advice and then sometimes you don't want to ask advice for whatever reason you have to throw them into a prison you have to get them out of this community don't ask advice don't call them I mean it's like so interesting it's almost like is God like in shackles here and he has to figure out all these schemes on not to ask advice and like I'm stuck I can't do anything what is really the meaning of all of this let's go to the next Source the next source is a fascinating fascinating medish that speaks about the fact that the advice that God seek began way way back before anybody imagines it began so way back before there was an anybody to imagine even that there wasn't anybody to imagine so this is a verse in Chronicles one it's one of those strange that speaks about history but it's very not clear it's speaking about the history of it says they were the creators they lived in or G place called G or they lived in near plants and fences they sat there with the king during his work what does this mean what is this referring to says the and it's also in from a place of called the name of God consulted The Souls of the righteous the this is what it means who are when God forms Earth dust from the earth it's called they were those who were part of that formation that part of creation next they're part of the plants in the beginning of creation planted that Garden in Eden called ganen and they were part of that planting process who are these people when were the people there when he formed ad them there was a person there was nobody there next they were part of the fences thei says God says I made sand as a border for the ocean every beach has the sand which represents the border for the water the wave comes with a great w rage and commotion and and and and liveliness and then the wave crashes and Retreats the tide Retreats so the sand is that's like the fence for the ocean not to flood and not experience God forbid tsunamis constantly which wouldn't allow us to inhabit planet Earth so they were part of the is the fences which king were they sitting with when he was doing his work with the king in his work The Souls of the was sitting with the King of Kings with god with it was with them that Hashem consulted before he created the world huh yeah could be that's part of that yeah yeah so the but but the question of course is who's this Adam these sadim are part of this Adam so if they weren't created yet how could he consult with them so he's Consulting with them if he should create them I'm going to consult with you should I create you should I not create you so that means you're there already so I already created you what does this mean if we take a look in the next Source says was created at the end of everyone the last creation on the other hand also before everyone the says ascended in God's thought rash says is B for that was created for who are called raes that means they were there before they the purpose like the med says we just learned Hashem consulted The Souls of thead whether to create or not and when it says it doesn't mean there's a certain group of people called sadim and he consulted them but as the say remember in that state pre-creation every soul is the state of aad so it's a certain group called but it's rather consulted with every single soul when creation happens and Adam is created the famous says says it's not good for to be to be alone it doesn't say with I'm going to create a helpmate forel and that's how is formed on a physical level on a literal level it's talking about on a deeper level it's explained Ines and other places that this is actually talking about Hashem himself not just is the the speaks about the sual who was on top of the COV on top of the throne that's the source of all representing it's called hasem says when he creates the world it's not good for the talking about to be to be alone the famous says there's nothing else outside of him means alone right alone alone but here he says pre-creation everything was it's not good so to speak for to be and therefore there's going to be and represents metaphysically speaking the people the souls this is like the partner like a soulmate like a marriage here the medis is telling us that with these THS he actually consulted whether to create a world as the king is forming dust from the earth planting making fences creating dry land and water you know you're talking about the DNA the Genesis of creation what you would call you know some would call The Big Bang or whatever you want to call it and over there they're sitting with the king and the fruition of this the most powerful expression of this is right here in where he says I can't hide this from a because what does all of this point to all of this points to you would think Hashem created the world he put us here and he says here this is it this is your job here is how life works but I'm the boss I started this whole plan like but the med is saying something else no no no he didn't start this he consulted when do you consult somebody about something you consult you want to start a new project right so you sit down with somebody who you respect very deeply obviously you say you think this is a good idea what does it even mean God is is Consulting anybody and what if the souls would have said no what does it sound like what would have he done okay no is no that's what I'm Consulting so do you realize what our sages are telling telling us about a soul so the soul is actually responsible for the whole story as much as goddess the soul was there in Bo all the way in the beginning now you're going to say but that doesn't even make sense the soul had to be created so who did God ask to whether to create the soul he asked the soul should I create you so you're here or you're not here if you're not here how can I ask you and if you are here how did you get here you created yourself obviously not what are we talking about here and of course what this means is as it says it means that there's something so deep about the soul that it's rooted in the essence itself it's completely Inseparable from The Source there's something about that's what we say One hand the person is at the end but is all the way in the beginning pre everything pre even the concept of time and space and matter and [Music] creation as everything is being formed he turns to the soul so to speak which is of course part of him and he says what what do you think about this project I know I'm using words as though I'm talking to another person cuz we don't have another way of talking about these things and that's how the med says like they're sitting with the King you know where were they sitting in a conference room you know somewhere in Iraq in a conference room in a nice conference room you think it's a good idea you know obviously we uh there a word in English called anthropomorphisms you know when we apply human attributes to the Divine you remember that word it's somewhere in Websters yeah I don't know if anybody still uses it maybe there's a professor somewhere in Oxford who uses it so anthropomorphisms are always difficult cuz that's what we have we have human terms to apply to very Transcendent truth you know it's you got to demythologize the abstractions but kazal are very Vivid here because they want to bring out the idea that somehow in the deepest place of reality and not somehow in the deepest place of reality which is Hashem pre-creation the soul is right there so it's not you came into the picture afterwards you know I did this whole thing and now I create you and like okay Shalom here you are welcome to my garden this is your job okay preserve it it's a beautiful garden don't eat from that tree don't mess up you'll be happy I'll be happy see you later 5 minutes later oh you messed up okay recalculating right you know recalculating okay plan B don't mess up again you messed up again okay plan PL SE and we're still here trying to figure it out right cuz are saying there's something much more powerful happening not that the first is not powerful and that is you were essential to the entire plan so to speak in the deepest place of reality the soul was there and said of course we got this what what does this mean why why is it this way what does this teach us because if the Soul at its core is a if it's a derivative of divine consciousness of infinity essentially when the soul is sent into the world who's sent into the world Hashem is sent into the world and I'm going to use a physical term which I don't want to but I just don't have a choice so it's almost like Hashem splitting himself into two so to speak I know it's the wrong word but I just don't have no other word so to speak splitting himself into two and one part remains infinite and one part is sent into the darkness but it's God being sent into the darkness when says I walk in the shadow in the Valley of the Shadow don't fear cuz you're with me he doesn't only mean you're with me you know you're standing there and you're like yeah you can do it or when he says go up to heaven you're there like go into the abyss and he says he that's you that's you it means that in the deepest space of the Soul there's no separation so it's actually Hashem splitting off a piece of himself I say because I don't mean it literally and it's the part of the Divinity that goes into a place of darkness and in order to go in and transform it it actually touches the texture of Darkness so does Hashem in his Essence remains a remains infinite remains means wherever he is remains Transcendent the soul is the part of God that doesn't remain Transcendent it actually makes a descent as we say in the morning it makes a descent and it touches the texture of the world and it becomes the last of creation to the point that we're just regular people trying to figure out our lives and that's the Paradox of the human soul it's it's on the heart EST highest it's the one who told God before everything we got this and he had to ask of course you have to ask the so the soul is going to be doing the soul is going to the trenches in a way you're not going to the trenches the soul is going to the trenches the soul say we got this we're in of course it's not a real division it's all one it's not the visible but just in conception and understanding on one end is so we got this i got this so you're pre every Darkness you're the one who decided not only that you can handle this that this is the way to go and Hashem says okay wow so without this consultation he's so when the soul said we got this okay so let's do it and on the other hand the soul comes down to the lowest place and it may not even know about this about itself and that that's why we see something unbelievable that writes and it's pretty pretty intense intense statement and before I learn this with you I want I want you to know that a person could learn this and sometimes find it insensitive when they don't understand what it's really saying I'm saying this because I know that people sometimes use these lines and it could sound very insensitive but it's the exact opposite intention if you take a look at the last source and this is a direct quote [Music] all of the created beings were created by Desire by their own desire they desired and nobody no nobody was forced to be created all the creation Hashem notified them in the beginning of creation all their all their means everything about their life everything every aspect of their life and all of the events that they're going to encounter and experience throughout their entire [Music] existence he notified them about the days of their life about their passing when they're going to be born when they're going to die how they're going to live how they're going to pass away some also their food their sustenance what type of sustenance they will have whether they will have Prosperity well they will have challenges will they be supporting themselves will be they needing others help to support them say all of creation was created with their with their consent and which means with their desire in Hebrew means all their Legions it also means means their desire they all desired and they all desired and embraced it before Anything Could Happen what's saying here I want to ask you an honest question look at your own lives look at some other people's lives you think if you would ask people about certain things in their life you wanted this really who are you talking about really you wanted this you agree to this forget about first of all I was never told now you're telling me not only I was told I actually said yeah great awesome give me more give me another one and that's even a regular life certainly life some lives that go through such profound profound challenges on so many different levels that's why it could sound that's why I said before it could sound almost very insensitive oh like you did this to yourself you did this to yourself stop complaining you wanted this stop making a Misa from nothing very good it can even come across callous very callous certainly insensitive even if the person says it means well cuz it's a very very sensitive idea and it's a very it's a very very profoundly sensitive idea this is not delegitimizing pain at all on the contrary it's telling a person that they don't have to fear anything they're dealing with the reason they don't have to fear what they're dealing with not because it's not painful not because it's not big but because as big as it is they're they are much bigger they are so profoundly great there's nothing in my life that I'm holding on to that I need a fear because in the deepest place of reality my soul was completely equipped for this Mission now you might say it doesn't make sense I don't know why anybody would say yeah this is not a logical exp this is not a logical Journey where it's mathematic logic is created this is pre-creation logic is created logic is not logic didn't always exist the says is not called it's called a kades logic is also created time is created space is created rocks are created mountains are created stars and galaxies are created logic is also created we don't worship logic logic is a tool just like you have a hammer as a tool and a stone as a tool and a plier is a tool and a nail is a tool logic is a tool it's a great tool it's a beautiful tool we love it we enjoy it but it's a tool it's not reality it's not the source of reality it's a tool for reality the soul was consulted whether to create even logic so the soul is pre- logic it was consulted you think we should create logic so in the deepest place of the journey it's the soul knowing and the Soul knows it that it was in full partnership fulls now let's understand this when it comes to this situation hasem says I can't cover this up from how could I could I cover it up in the negative like how could I like this is not going to work in other words I really should but like like like it's I can't so he's answering his own question in the negative like shall I do it can I do it but what happens he actually tells aam he tells aam what he's planning to do and what happens a starts arguing he's like no and it's very audacious you know you would think God you say okay duve is best you know like you know better Adam never argues with Hashem and never argues with Hashem they seem like the obedient disciples like what you're telling hem what to do like you know the like you created like stop telling him what to do was like this is [Music] unjust this is a execration he's telling God you're making a it's great like God you're making a you know you're embarrassing the company here it's what what yeah it's my company as much as your company I was there in the beginning this is a serious thing we don't destroy cities and then starts a whole negotiation back and forth back and forth back and forth so there's two ways to read this Jos one way is to say that AR is bronze proves that Hashem was right to hesitate look I decided to speak to him and look he's now arguing with me instead of just saying God I get it do what you got to do another way is to say exact opposite it proves that Hashem was right to sheare it's exactly the point you could say oh look he's arguing of course you shouldn't have told him you know like when you tell your children whenever I tell you where we're going you're going to make a fight I'm not telling you we're going on AA trip and I know you're going to be miserable either way so I'm not telling you and of course you tell them where you're going you know you planned it for a year it's like that's the most horrible experience in the world I'm not going okay next time I learn I'm not going to tell you just do it or it's exactly the other way a argues Ah that's exactly why I shared it with you that was the whole point Hashem wants the argument so the fact that of retorts to God and he he responds unambiguously arguing approves that to be a Jew to be the first Jew is to be the one who stages an argument he puts up an argument against he doesn't only say yes sir we see it later the third Jew's name isob and it's changed to why so he says you quarreled with Elohim with Hashem and with people and you prevailed sisa is from the word s quarreling is that's the name is and maybe both readings are true hasem is hesitant to speak to him it's very annoying or at least challenging to have your plans questioned but he also wants to share because nothing brings him more joy more Nas more joy more Delight than seeing that his Prophet Abu Rises to the occasion and becomes a sparring partner what we call ausaa literally a sparring he's K sparring with God like in a wrestling match it's a verbal wrestling match and they're back and forth and Hashem doesn't say I'm god you're an employee stop arguing with me have a good day of I should have never told you anyway no he's responding and every time of doesn't stop and Hashem has an answer and it's back and back and back and then when AR doesn't have anything to say it's almost like they decide okay the fight is over and a goes back it's almost like I go back you go back and here we see the intimacy and the power of this how can I cover up from a know what I'm doing AR ainu essentially is in on everything and if he's in on everything he must know everything there's no such a thing there's going to be this catac pmic event in andu is in the darku is at the Genesis of it all he's in on everything in the first moment when existence is being contemplated but and becomes that ultimate sadic that first Jew God choses because what is partnership what do real partnership mean what does real marriage mean let's talk about marriage you know when you have a real partner what does a real partner mean there's no part of the business that's concealed it's not like this part of the business let me take care of it yes there's parts that you do there's parts that I do you're good at Administration I'm good in finding investors you're good right brain I'm left brain big picture small picture you work remotely I'm in the office you're anxious stay home I'll manage the employees you don't know how to talk to them I got the social skills you don't you're a computer nerd you stay with the computers it's good make your Millions from your bedroom good partners divide the labor they don't sit at the other person's you know micromanaging the but real Partners means you're in on everything it's not like I have this secret you know they tell they say this old they tell this old joke that this son came back from school and he was learning about ethics and his father was a lawyer if your husband is a lawyer it's not about him it's about someone else your husband yeah it's not about him it's about a seventh cousin it's just an old joke you know there's 500 Jewish jokes 50 of them are lawyers doctors rabbis food so this is one of the 50 and lawyers that get recycled another hundred on God mothers-in-law whatever it is you know the joke so anyway this kid comes home from school he's learning about ethics and his father is a lawyer so he says Dad tell me tell me what does ethics mean like what what does it mean to have a conversation on ethics could you give me an example so he thinks for a moment he says yeah let's say you give a pair of pants to the cleaners and the cleaners is checking the pants and he sees in the pocket a $100 bill so the son says okay so what would be an ethical question says the ethical question is does he share that with his partner that was ethical question you got it okay so the realas real shus is it's not you have 50% of the business I have 50% of business Shas means we both have 100% of the business talk about marriage which is the ultimate partnership what what's a marriage right some 5050 you know you take care of this I take care of this like the couple that came to the rabbi things weren't working out the Rabbi says what's the problem and the husband says you know before we got married we made a condition she told me all the big decisions in life I take care of all the small decisions in life she takes care of and she's not following the rabbi turns to the wife and says Tak my high what's happening she said yeah I am following I meant simple all the big decisions in life for example what should the Democratic party do now big decision what do we do about global warming what do we do what do we do about climate change yeah what do you with Iran what do you do with North Korea seriously what do we do with the economy those are big decisions my husband decides I don't make sin I don't tell him my opinion he could do whatever he needs all the small decisions where we live where we send our kids to school small little inconsequential decisions that I decide he doesn't mix them so it's perfect big decisions small decisions a partnership is not 50/50 you have this part of the life the house I have this part of the house and it's good is the real partnership means we're Partners 100% that means in everything I'm a part in everything there may be divisions of labor every person has their skill their talent that's what Hashem is saying ainu and I the soul and I were Partners 100% it's not like you take care of your business don't get close everything I know there's the part that says is infinite but when you understand what creation was it's the soul that told me we got this we got this together so there's not Ain creation that you're not connected to there's not a part of creation that you didn't agree with there's not a AUD in history that is not part of your domain your interest your curiosity your impact your power your influence and most importantly that doesn't need your courage and that you never ever have to be afraid of Because deep down in theu in each person the each person knows it ainu surrenders at the end of the story at the end he argues and argues he does his job and then it's like good partners he cultivates the frequency of trust and surrender and he goes back to his place but not with the spear he doesn't quit the partnership you know good couples they don't Gaslight each other they don't Stonewall each other like I can't deal with you you're too stubborn for me because there's real trust in the deepest space that's beyond logic but a person then knows this is the moment of surrender this is with a partnership of God he surrenders to you know what you're doing with D amayra I had a different perspective but he's in he's in cuz he was there all the way in the beginning and there's pain there there was grief there but he's never overwhelmed with Dread and fear and paralysis because in the deepest places can I cover anything from Abu when we're totally totally connected in Abu Soul can face everything it's showing because it was part of the entire idea aide of this existence of creating the universe where there seems to be so much separateness and craziness and darkness and the soul is the one who says and I'm going to transform it we are going to transform it we're going to bring Redemption to this world we're going to bring back Heaven and Earth we're going to take the anoid mulv pre-creation and recreate it post creation which only the soul can do because the soul faces Creation with all of its complexities with all of its depth so on one level Adam comes after everybody Adam comes at the end of everything cuz cuz what do we know what do we know we're vulnerable frail limited simple human beings every one of us it says in you're in the back and you're in the beginning one level we at the end who understands creation who understands the mysteries of creation nobody who can claim to even understand the mystery of the Sun or the mystery of one cell or one atom one molecule the mystery of one star or one black hole who can figure out the ecosystem and the food chain I mean this it's Transcendent it's infinite it's Ain that's true and then there's the with his soul knows everything it's in KS about everything it was the one who was consulted for everything before the first DNA molecule before the first cell was formed the pre before the Prebiotic soup as they call it or the Prebiotic chant was formed the soul the soul the soul gets it the soul knows it and therefore the soul has this infinite capacity to face it with such fortitude and depth and courage and resilience cuz the soul is in on everything and therefore it has the power to confront whatever it's confront and not to be afraid and that includes also the gift of surrender and Trust when that's necessary the soul is not afraid when you think in it in terms of personal life and I tread here with a lot of sensitivity and empathy and compassion because it's a very very deep visceral experience and one can't really preach this it's really more about experience you know if anybody looks at their life everybody faces Darkness but some people face a darkness that is very very intense I often get emails and letters from people who especially in childhood went through a lot a lot of difficult things and there was no choice they did not make a choice but they grow up with the consequences of this and it lives inside of them and every day is a struggle to show up and Only Heaven Knows the depth of the struggle people around them don't always know because unless you're really really well-versed and educated in this and it takes years unless you experience it yourself it's very hard for people who don't understand to understand even if they want to they want to they're good people I'm not talking about people who are clueless and insensitive and callous but certain things people know what they know they don't know what they don't know isn't that brilliant I like that people know what they know and they don't know what they don't know I like that I didn't say it it just came through it's such a powerful truth you know we don't know what we don't know yes and what's worse that I don't have a problem with what's worse is when I think I know what I don't know or I don't even know what I don't know that's even worse like I don't even think I know what I don't know because there's nothing I don't know but there's so much we don't know even about ourselves there's so much we don't know and sometimes we can get so exhausted of facing all of these different types of thoughts or emotions or instincts or experiences and what ra is saying is I want you to understand I want you to understand that your soul got us it doesn't mean it's easy it doesn't mean it's not painful it doesn't mean there's no grief it doesn't mean there's no tears it doesn't mean there's no moments of despondency and profound profound pain what it does mean is your soul got this at some point in the beginning of history as strange as it sounds God asked you what do you think about this so you'll say I don't remember this conversation I got it because if I would remember that conversation I would actually not be able to achieve what I need to achieve if I would remember that conversation it means I'm still in heaven we're not in heaven we're on Earth that's the courage of life we Face the Valley of the shadow of death in heaven Souls don't have to do that Angels don't have to do that so you say God had a conversation he didn't have a conversation with me if you can go to the deepest part of your soul he also said is my full partner in everything there's nothing that's covered up from it doesn't mean we won't argue it doesn't mean AB gets it always it doesn't mean it's registered abu's logic but it means a is in is not afraid could look at it could see it he could cry he can grieve but he doesn't run away and I'm not going to run away from him cuz he's not running away from reality because the whole Redemption of reality happens through a within aam as a as a full partner and in every person's life as well when a person can truly truly appreciate that with everything that's happening inside of me your soul is so infinite it is so Grand it is so great it was actually consulted about everything and why did it say yeah why good question I don't have an answer ask your soul but apparently your soul thought about you in a way that maybe you're not thinking about yourself because our conscious thought about ourselves are very limited they're skewed they're sometimes they're sometimes convoluted they're exploited and they're affected by the darkness but when the soul thought about you and about itself it saw itself really from a such extraordinarily Grand Place that it could say he I'm in have a wonderful week thank you this was a class for you I know thank you I went to Reggie's workshop last week and we spoke about you there I didn't even I I was like so like any you know regie not personally not personally cuz I was thinking of maybe going to California but you don't know what no so you spoke to her about me I spoke she came here for workship and I was part of it said I come to I want okay yeah no I don't know her personal to with a lot of have this book oh thank you I didn't get into the personalities part I just liked premise okay perfect thank you so much