Resurrection and the Eternity of the Soul: The 13th Principle of Faith - Rabbi Lazer Brody

[music and singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] >> Good evening from the south of Israel. This is Laser Brody with our number 213. Tonight we'll learn the 13th and final principle of Emunah, revival and consolation. We've got a special dedication for tonight's lesson. It's dedicated to the loving memories of Hannah, the daughter of Ferguson Susie Kellan from Scotland, and Batya, the daughter of Igor and Elena Berkowitz in Safed. And both beautiful young ladies who left this physical world at a tender young age. And today's lesson is a consolation for them and for everyone else who lost a loved one. I'm a special dedication to a third young lady, my own sister Gila, who when I was 15 and a half she died at at 17. She had lupus then. They didn't know what to do with lupus, there's no cure for it. And so just preparing this lesson was a big comfort for me personally. Okay. Previewing today's lesson, the 13th principle of Emunah is our belief at that death, as we know it, is just a passing stage. It's not a terminal stage. Definitely not terminal because we believe in the resurrection of the dead and this is an integral principle of our Emunah. This principle is so very important that we allude to it six times in the initial three benedictions of a section of our Amidah prayer. And we recite every day, weekdays, festivals, we write it Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur all year long every day. We mention it rather than seven, very important. Okay, but since this is the final lesson on our 13 principles of Emunah, we're going to go into a quick review of the first 12. So I have everything compacted in the replay of all the 13 principles of Emunah. So we'll go back before we elaborate on principle 13, go principle one. Principle one, our main principle of Emunah is our belief with a complete belief that the creator, blessed be he, is creator and director of all creations and he alone did, does, and will do every deed. And this is our belief in the existence of the creator, that he is the life force beyond behind all of creation and nothing can exist without his will from the mega galaxies to the tiniest parts of the atom. And the creator makes everything happen and nothing could happen or exist against his will. We say ain od milvado, there is nothing or no one but him. As in right out of Deuteronomy. Our second principle of Emunah, by the way, the first principle of Emunah, if anybody's got any doubt, this is for the all universe. We're they were not talking we're talking about this for all of humanity. So if you want this is also the first of the Noahide Noahide. Really the first Noahide commandment this principle is one and principle two combined. Okay, but this is the second half of the first Noahide can't and that commandment and the second principle of Emunah, I believe with complete belief that the creator, blessed be he, is one and there's no unity like him under any circumstances and he alone is our God past, present, and future. Not having any other God but Hashem. This is our belief that the creator is the one and only God and who is perfect, inseparable, unified whole with no co-deities whatsoever, independent of everyone and everything. As we say in our most important prayer, the called the Shema prayer, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Principle number three, I believe with a complete belief that the creator, blessed be his name, is not a body nor can any physical entity comprehend him. He is incorporeal with no image whatsoever. The creator defies any description nor can a mortal understand him or his workings in any way. Because in Kabbalistic terminology, refers to Hashem as Ein Sof. Ein Sof is the infinite, infinite, beyond the end. There's nothing tangible or finite about the creator even though the Torah uses imagery, it's flesh and blood language that we can hear and you hear about the mouth of the eyes of Hashem, the hand of Hashem, the arm of Hashem. This is all metaphors. So metaphoric. Hashem has no physical properties. Principle number four, I believe with complete belief that the creator, blessed be he, is first and last. This is our belief that the creator defies time and space. He's infinite and eternal. Way before the beginning of the time and existing forever and to the end to the end of time. What if we can't understand that as long as our souls are trapped within a human body, we can't fully understand, we can't even partially [clears throat] understand divine wisdom. But this is something that the Gemara in tractate Hagigah tells us not even to investigate something that we're incapable of understanding because it can make a person crazy. Literally make a person crazy. Principle number five, I believe with complete belief that the creator, blessed be he, is the only entity to whom it is befitting to pray and it's not the fitting to pray to anyone or anything else. And this is the foundation of monotheism, belief in one God, forbidding idolatry and false gods and thereby precluding worship or submission to anyone or anything other than the creator. Only the creator. Principle six, I believe with complete belief that all [snorts] the words of the prophets are true. We believe in the prophecies of the 48 prophets and the seven prophetesses and mentioned in the Tanakh and we don't doubt that these prophecies are the word of Hashem and therefore truth. Hashem spoke through these very high spiritual level people, the the prophets. Principle seven, I believe with complete belief that the prophecy of Moses, may rest in peace, was real and he was the foremost of the prophets, the ones before him and the ones after him. So we believe that the five books of Moses, as we call them, that's the Torah or in Latin the Pentateuch, was given to Moses from Hashem and that every word is absolute truth. Whereas prophecy was Hashem's way of speaking to the prophets, we believe that Hashem spoke to Moses directly. Directly, not in a dream or not in a vision but directly. Principle number eight, I believe with complete belief that the entire Torah we have in our possession today is the one given to Moses, may rest in peace. Hasn't been changed on the way. This is our belief in the divine origin of the Torah. So with Moses received on Mount Sinai, for the Torah we read and learn today is the same one that Hashem gave to Moses. Now Moses spent three times, three periods of 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai. First time he got the the written Torah and as he went up he learned Hashem taught him the oral Torah, the elaborations. Because the written Torah was written like a telegram. It's a very staccato and we can't understand just what there's maybe one paragraph says that you should remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. What does that mean? What what are the ramifications? What how do we observe Shabbat? For that we need the oral Torah that gives us that gives us the particulars of a mitzvah. The Torah tells us for example to put a mezuzah on our door. How many mitzvahs there's 5,000, excuse me, 4,588 laws connected with a mezuzah and this is that we learn this in the oral Torah. Okay, so we now proceed to principle nine. I believe with complete belief that this is the Torah, Torah we have. This is not be this shall not be replaced by the creator, blessed be his name. He won't give us a different Torah. In other words, the Torah won't become outdated or invalid and all of a sudden Hashem change it. No, this is our belief the Torah we have today, it's for posterity and it's unchangeable and irreplaceable and it's relevant for all of posterity. See the Torah is still very relevant as it was the day that Hashem gave it to us. Principle 10, I believe with complete belief that the creator, blessed be his name, knows the actions of every human and all their thoughts and every human every creation. Because he as King David told us in Psalm 33, he produces the hearts of them and discerns all their doings. This is the belief in Hashem's omniscience since his divine providence determines everything, no thought or utterance or occurrence in the universe is unknown to him. Principle 11, I believe with complete belief that the creator, blessed be his name, rewards those who observe his commandments and punishes those who transgress transgress his commandments. This was our lesson from two weeks ago. It's also good preparation for Rosh Hashanah. You can go back and see. By the way, the lessons of each one of the 13 principles, they're posted on laserbeams.com and on amunahbeams.com and there you can download them, review them whenever you want. And get put them on your own your own phone or your own MP4, whatever you have, whatever gadget you have and won't cost you a thing. It's courtesy of amunahbeams and laserbeams. Principle 12, I believe with complete belief in the coming of Mashiach, last week's lesson. Even though he tarries, I will nonetheless await him every day whenever he comes. We believe that the Messiah has not yet come but we eagerly await his arrival at any given moment and this will bring in the advent of the Messianic era and the Geulah, which is the final redemption of our people, which includes the ingathering of the exiles to our holy homeland here in the land of Israel and rebuilding our holy temple in Jerusalem. This brings us to tonight's lesson, the 13th principle of Emunah, resurrection, revival of the dead. Principle 13, and this is just as strong a principle as all the other 12. I believe with complete belief that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the prescribed time that the creator wills, blessed be his name, and may be exalted forever and ever. This is such a fantastic consolation for anyone that lost a loved one. It is not goodbye. It's a see you later. It's like you say in Hebrew that it's shalom, and that's a goodbye. It's also mean peace, and there's lehitraot, I'll see you later. I'll see you later. Okay, so we believe that death, as we know it today, it's a passing stage, and it's not terminal. For we believe in the resurrection of the dead. And that the the soul the soul is eternal. The 13th principle is so very important that we allude to it six times in the initial section of our Amidah prayer that we say, not only once a day, every three times a day. And we even though we have a different Amidah prayer with 18 blessings during the week and seven blessings on Shabbat and holidays, we the revival of the dead appears all year long, every single day, weekdays, Shabbat, festivals, high holidays. Okay, where are these six mentions where are the men the the men of the Great Assembly, on Shaikness Gedolah, that they codified our liturgy, and they put six mentions of revival of the dead in our prayers. The first one, you are forever mighty, my Lord, you resurrect the dead. M'chaye meitim atah. Okay, and number two, he sustains, he Hashem, sustains the living with loving kindness, resurrects the dead with great mercy. That's the second. Three, he fulfills his promise to those who slumber in the dust. What's Hashem's promise to those who slumber in the dust? The people in the grave, that they're going to be resurrected, they're going to come back. Number four, the king who brings death and restores life. Brings death, it's it's it's a cycle. Person dies, comes back, dies and comes back. Number five, you are trustworthy. Atah ne'eman, you are trustworthy. The word for trustworthy is the same word root word is Emunah, in Hebrew. You are trustworthy to revive the dead. Just as we believe in you, you're trustworthy to us, and you promised to going to revive the dead, Hashem. This we believe, we have no doubt whatsoever. And six, blessed are you, Hashem, who revives the dead. Baruch atah Hashem m'chaye meitim. Now, this is really significant because the third of the 10 Commandments is you shall not take Hashem's name in vain. So, this it it we can't if we're not a thousand times sure of something, we can't make a benediction over it, a blessing over it, using Hashem's name. Now, Halakha places a critical importance on the initial three benediction section of the Amidah prayer, that one cannot add or detract a single word. In other words, in the middle, there's three benedictions at the beginning, three benedictions at the end. During the week, there's 12 in the middle, and on Shabbat or festivals, there's another one or two in the middle. Okay, but if your mind wanders in the beginning, you have to go back to the beginning. If you're not sure whether you said the middle benedictions, or maybe skipped some, but as long as you did the first three, and you're okay. And last three, you're also okay. But this is this is very very very important, and the Shulchan Aruch in the Code of Jewish Law, in Orach Chaim, chapter 112, explains the importance of this. Now, in the elaboration of this law, the Chofetz Chaim, that he wrote the Mishnah Berurah, this was a commentary on our daily law, explains that the initial three benedictions are like a servant praising his master, whereas the later benedictions like a servant requesting his needs from the master. And this is what the Gemara tells us. We begin our prayer like a servant praising his master. What's the what the open up the master's heart so that our prayers will be acceptable. And then we ask for what we need. Okay. Now, in light of the Chofetz Chaim's teaching, we have to ask ourselves, of all the initial praises that we could possibly praise the creator, and there's so many praise we could praise why did the men of the Great Assembly, once again, on Shaikness Gedolah, and this was Ezra and his court, Ezra, Nehemiah, Mordecai, is with the men of Great Assembly, and they codified our liturgy, why did they put such an emphasis on resurrection of the dead? You say, "But what about all the things Hashem does for us when we're alive, that are healthy, gives us our income?" Talking about resurrection of the dead, you're not only talking about resurrection of the dead, but resurrection of the dead six times. Not mention six times. Why is that so important? Well, if we look at one of our great Hasidic rabbis told us, this is uh Rabbi Akerman, Rabbi Rabinowitz of Radomsk in Poland. He's nicknamed the Tiferes that's the book he wrote. In the Torah portion of Chayei Sarah, he writes that the blessing of reviving the dead was first codified by our forefather Isaac. Isaac's second forefather, Abraham, Isaac, he was the son of Abraham and the father of Jacob. Now, when did Isaac codify that? When his father Abraham bound him to the altar in what we call the Akedah. Akedah literally means binding. In this section of Torah, this we remind us on high holidays, this invokes tremendous divine compassion. Still, what Isaac did nearly 4,000 years ago, we still depend on it today to open up open up the divine compassion. And this was Hashem's command to Abraham in the 10th 10th test of Abraham's faith. Abraham fasted on the side, this is the most difficult test, the to to bind Isaac on the altar and make a sacrifice. And as difficult it was for Abraham, he didn't question. Hashem commanded, and this is what he's going to do. So, when the angel came and and said to Abraham, "This is just a test." And the angel grabbed Abraham's hand, and wouldn't let him would slaughter his son, Isaac's soul it it it left. He was it was so ready, he was he was ready to give his soul to Hashem. So, it's really literally before Abraham slaughtered Isaac, Isaac his soul was so left him. His soul left him. Uh why did his soul leave? There's different interpretations that it was he was so clinging to Hashem, he couldn't cling to his human body anymore, or maybe extreme fear the moment before a person dies, even though it was it's in sanctification of Hashem's name. Okay, but Isaac's soul left him. So, when the angel stopped Abraham, then Isaac's soul, another angel took Isaac's soul and forced it back in the body. So, this is the first NDE, the first near-death experience in history. Go to we did and you can see but then every all the the whole world did look at people that that aren't Jewish and don't necessarily believe in Hashem, but they all describe the same near-death experience. Going through the scene, the good loving white light, and going through this tunnel, and leaving this existence, and even if they had suffered pain, person that suffered clinical death, we had interviewed uh on on our podcast that I'm really being so the two occasions priests the people that had that had uh NDE, near-death experience. And you can Google this, NDE, and you'll find that people that have the same description, the same description of what happens. And and we see this is Isaac had the first near-death experience. So, when Isaac's soul left him and it came back in the body, Isaac knew, boom, Hashem can revive. Hashem can take a person's life away, and Hashem can give it right back. So, the Tiferes he continues to describe Isaac's anguish when his father Abraham died. He had more anguish when he lost his father than he had anguish when when he lost his own life, when he would his soul left him prematurely. So, all the generations from Adam to Abraham, we say from Adam to Abraham, uh they were created solely for the purpose of bringing Abraham into the world, because Abraham was the first monotheist, and before that they were they idolaters. So, his knowledge of Hashem was so prodigious that he knew and practiced all the Torah even before the Torah was given. Abraham is that if if completely uh nullified himself, and attached himself with its tremendous cogent powers of observance, Abraham wrote the first book of of of first of Kabbalah knowledge, the Sefer Yetzirah, the book of of of creation. It it it um a phenomenal. But the Gemara tells us we have one tractate about idolatry in the Gemara, the the tractate Avodah Zarah. Abraham and his collection had 400 tractates himself wrote, but we lost some of them on the way. Okay, to Abraham, he knew secrets of creation and he knew the the names that Hashem used to create certain animals and then this it's a certain creations and he it just knew all this. And Isaac was devastated. Isaac says now I'm left to who do I learn from? My father was my father was the representative of of divine knowledge in this world. He was a representative of Muna. But I learned Muna of my father everything I know now of my father. Now who am I going to learn from? I didn't even scratch the surface where I learned from the father. So Isaac he didn't have anyone else to learn from. And Abraham was such a giant of an individual and kind that they can't even begin to describe his kindness. So Abraham's departure from the physical world it devastated his son Isaac. So Isaac found no no consolation. And the Tiferes explains until he recited his own blessing. The only he consolation he had was he recited his own blessing. When he got his own soul back he said blessed are you Hashem who revives the dead. Baruch atah Hashem mechayei meisim. Then I said wait a second. If it's good for me then let me say it over my father's soul. He said blessed are you Hashem who revives the dead. Cuz if it'll be hope other than I exist that I came back Hashem will eventually bring my father back. And Isaac realized that that moment Isaac's his mind opened up to a wellspring of divine knowledge. So our sages they teach us that Abraham's leading trait was the love of Hashem and Isaac's leading trait was the fear of Hashem. So logically wait a second. Logically the Akedah was a more test of Abraham than it was of Isaac. Because how could Abraham the pillar of love and compassion and loving kindness? How could he slaughter his own son? But Isaac he's the archetype of God-fearing individuals who'll do anything. He'll stick his neck out. He'll take the sword for for his his love of Hashem at any single moment. He's willing to sacrifice for Hashem. But little did Isaac realize at the time that what the Tiferes is teaching us and and it's in his classic book that the near-death experience where he tangibly tasted death when his soul left his body this would be his greatest creation great greatest consolation. Because it said if it cons could sold me for getting my own soul back it could console me that I lost my father because we'll get him back too eventually. So as we said it's not uh goodbye it's see you later. So Isaac in his prodigious spirits of holiness he came to the realization that the physical life as we know it it's temporary. It wasn't the same it's the one thing our sages tell us. And this is the same thing that people testify after their NDE after their near-death experience. After the near-death experience when they exposed to that divine light that white light they don't know how to describe it. This caressing sweet light and if you all a love that they never felt anywhere and it's a sublime pleasure. Nothing in the world give that pleasure and and really they they didn't they didn't want to they didn't want to come back. But they they had to. They had to. They had a job to continue doing. Okay, so they're not the same after the near-death experiences they are before. Uh so too so Hashem will revive the dead and they won't be the same. Cuz they'll be coming back to us after they've been upstairs but they will be on a much higher level of spiritual awareness than they were before. And you'll see their eyes change their speech changes their vocabulary changes they're at a much higher level. In other words don't think that if your your buddy that used to drink a schooner of beer at the pub with and he had a near-death experience or or else he left this world altogether he's going to come back. He's not going to be your drinking mate at the pub. He's going to be something different. So the realization that Hashem revives the dead this is a a great consolation. But they're going to come back at a much higher level. So Isaac realized that his father would also come back even though it was a prodigious level but it would come back uh even on a bigger level than he attained in his 175 years on Earth. And this filled Isaac with immense joy. This was his greatest consolation. Greatest consolation at the loss of his father. So as a nation our suffering ever since the wicked King Nimrod uh pursued and persecuted Abraham it's been unprecedented. No nation in the world suffers like we do. Exile suffering torture occupation destruction cur- crusades inquisition uh pogroms holocaust and they did did holocaust I have to look look two years ago. Two years ago what the UN is condemning us now but what the world doesn't mention the world doesn't mention the babies that were slaughtered and that we were attacked with no reason and the the the the the the the the the the Hamas the Hamas attack on on October 7th 2023. Nobody mentions that. And it's it's what they say in the UN for everyone it's it's it's a for them it's the greatest pleasure they want to kill Jews. And if I'm not mistaken that the reason the men of the Great Assembly put such a huge emphasis on resurrection of the dead not once but six times uh because they know we we just couldn't we couldn't continue without it. We just couldn't continue without it. We'd see in uh in Israel today there's not a person you know that hasn't lost a loved one doesn't have a brother-in-law cousin someone they know at work a good friend and this is the foot we've lost and and October 7th 1200 people and since then another 900 soldiers. It's a small country everybody knows someone. And just the revival of the dead revival the this is this is our consolation. And it works. So the men of the Great Assembly once again Ezra Nehemiah Mordecai Daniel Haggai and Zechariah they were also prophets. They were the last generation of prophets and from them after them the men of the Great Assembly then it begins the age of the the of the Tana'im. They knew that the Jewish people would need massive daily reinforcement of emunah not only emunah but consolation too. They knew we needed and with the with all the with everything that we would have to go through. And otherwise there would be such trying times couldn't handle the trying times and so and suffer breakdown of faith. This 13th principle of emunah this is really the anchor of emunah that anchors us in emunah and it keeps us going when everything else is lost there's going to be a revival of the dead. That encourages. And it's not that one and second that the death is not terminal. It's not terminal it's like changing your clothes and going into putting on a new suit. We're going to the next world we take off our physical clothes and then come back again put on a new set of physical clothes. So this reminds us that Hashem's will without the slightest doubt Hashem's going to revive the dead on his own time schedule. And that's why our men of the the the Great Assembly the Anshei Knesses Gedolah who codified our liturgy they renewed Isaac's benediction and they put it in our prayers. Blessed are you Hashem who revives the dead. Baruch atah Hashem mechayei meisim. The benediction in writing listen to this. In writing it uses the ineffable name. This is very very serious. It's not just a like the the GOD this is the ineffable name. The Yud Ke Vav Ke. And orally we're not allowed to say it. Orally we say the name of our Lord which is A D O N O I. And we're not allowed to say the the way it's written the ineffable name. Okay, but we're not absolutely true without an iota of a doubt the men of the Great Assembly they couldn't put it they couldn't make a couldn't make a blessing like that. Because it would be taking Hashem's name in vain. And if this were not absolute truth that they would say think of the they would say let's make a plan that for the next 2350 years everybody that says everybody will will both transgress the by praying we transgress the third commandment. Because this we're going to put in the liturgy heaven forbid put in the liturgy blessed are you Hashem who revives the dead. And if it's not true if it's not 100.00% true it's if only 99% true like what the military always tells me 99% truth is 100% lie. If it's only 99% true then only a 99 out of 100 cases does Hashem revive the dead. Okay, now let's say it now let's say Hashem's name. Cuz how could anybody fathom that the men of the Great Assembly great prophets Daniel Daniel was thrown to lions then he came out alive. Ezra, Mordecai. Mordecai, he had a showdown face-to-face with Haman. We learn about it every year in in in in the the Megillah of Esther on Purim. And that they would not only violate the 10 Commandments but they would make us violate the 10 Commandments. Not only once a day, three times a day, all year long. Can't think about it. There's some blood that'd be crazy to say something. Nothing could be a bigger absurdity. So if they codified a benediction for the resurrection of dead, we could be a million percent that it is true. And this is a promise. Okay, this is a promise from the prophets the men of the Great Assembly. They tell they tell Hashem and they tell us why they could so confidently codify the Mahaya Maytim that's the resurrection of the dead benediction with Hashem's holy name into our liturgy. Well, a promise precedes the benediction. Before we say this benediction, blessed you Hashem who revives the dead, we say a passive passage like this, you are trustworthy to revive the dead. Before we make the blessing, we say Hashem it's your name and reputation. You're trustworthy, you promised. You trust you made a promise. It's like a person that doesn't keep a promise. A person is not trustworthy. Heaven forbid. Heaven forbid that Hashem should say something that's not true. And we know that that that the the prophecies that that they all come alive. There was that once when Rabbi Akiva and three other sages, Rabbi Tarfon and and Rabban Gamliel and they walked in they walked into the Holy of Holies after the destruction of the Temple and they saw a fox coming out of the Holy Temple. And the three other sages, they cried. Rabbi Akiva laughed. And they said, Akiva, why are you laughing? And they said, well, why are you crying? He said, we're crying. They said, a fox, a wild animal comes out of the Holy Holy when only the high priest on Yom Kippur could go in there and we shouldn't cry? He said, why are you laughing, Akiva? He says, because this the prophets told us. The prophet said Jeremiah the prophet told us surely the after destruction of the Temple foxes will walk in there. Foxes will walk in there. Jeremiah the prophet also said that there's going to be resettlement and revival and a return of the exiles. So if this prophecy comes true, this prophecy comes true. And we know that this is if the whatever our prophets tell us even that they have a very many Jeremiah had very many negative prophecies. We say his prophecies before the during the three weeks before Tisha B'Av. But then also we have the the prophecies of consolation and the consolation the promise that we're going to have an in-gathering of the exiles and real rebuilding of the Holy Temple. So this is a promise. Promise that's going to be kept because Hashem is faithful to keep all his promises. So this is why the men of the Holy Assembly said Hashem, we're not taking a chance because we trust your faithfulness. You made this promise and you're going to revive the dead. So the Meiri the Meiri was one of our 14th century scholars we call a Rishon and elaborate on the whole Talmud. He has a discourse in Teshuvah and he explains that Hashem's trustworthiness is Hashem's reliability in fulfilling his promise. Hashem has absolute reliability in fulfilling his promise. There's no time schedule on because Hashem is above time but he fulfills all his promises. Now most noteworthy in Hebrew this Hebrew is a spiritual language. English is a very physical language. In Hebrew the word for faithful is Ne'eman. That comes from the root word of Emun, Emunah. Faithful comes from the root word of faith. I mean this Hashem's promise of redemption and resurrection, they're so trustworthy that we believe in them without the slightest doubt. And just like our belief in Hashem is the first principle of Emunah, our belief in revival of dead is the 13th principle of it. Just like we believe in Hashem, we believe in his promise in revival of dead. So this promise in itself, it's a great consolation for anyone who has ever lost a loved one. And this is very timely. It's very timely that revival of the dead with right here before Rosh Hashanah Hannah Kallen her Yahrzeit that we're developing we're devoting tonight's lesson to. It is on it's going to be on Sunday. It's the eve excuse me Monday Sunday night Monday the eve of Rosh Hashanah. So this special soul Hashem took her out right before in the evening of Rosh Hashanah. Well, walk in heavenly throne for Rosh Hashanah and they this the coronation of Hashem. This is a very invitation only. So this promise it it that that's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer what I tell Hannah's parents that our our our cherished friends Susie and Fergus that Hashem's fingerprints are all over the place. Right? Just let's see he took Hannah away right on Rosh Hashanah eve. He could be it's going to be a special occasion when he brings her back. Who knows? Maybe it'll be on the the eve of the consecration of the new new Temple. But this promise it's money in the bank. We don't even think twice about it. Don't even think twice about it. And this was I remember when first it's not not been long. Not been long since we lost her. This and they're going on on on four years. But but first when they they brought this this is this is a consolation. This is a consolation. Not that and every every day is a day closer to Messiah. And every day a day closer to Messiah is a day closer to revival of the dead. And it's a promissory note from Hashem that's co-signed by the men of the Great Assembly. So we can all go to sleep even though we have that our our pain and our yearning for the one love loved one that we lost. We go to sleep with a smile on our smile on our face because they're going to be back. So Hashem declares like this. He says, see now that I I am he, there is no God with me. I cause death and I shall revive. I cause death and this is what Hashem says in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 39. And Rabbeinu Bahya Rabbeinu Bahya is one of our our famous Rabbeinu Bahya was a student of the Rashba who was a student of Rabbeinu Yonah and these are our greatest Spanish Rishonim. This are 13th century Spanish Spanish scholars Rabbeinu Bahya elaborate on the whole Torah. And now it's in this elaboration on this passage, see that now I am he, Hashem is talking, there's no God with me. I cause death and I shall revive. Rabbeinu Bahya says that Hashem repeats I where once the Torah doesn't waste language. Why once this specifically where I give life and take it away? Why is it double reason? Well, first he explains that just as Hashem knows about our current exile and diaspora, he knows about our imminent redemption. Hashem knows Hashem sees that everything is like a right a thousand years a thousand years it's like a minute to Hashem. And he sees everything is Hashem is above beyond time and transcends time transcends nature and that's the Hashem sees that just as we have down that that the spiritual Newton every action has an equal opposite reaction. Just as our really strong pendulum down, the pendulum goes back up. And the what ended people say, well, how could the Holocaust possibly be good? When Messiah comes and shows us that all these suffering hasten hasten the the coming of of Messiah rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Okay, we can't see this now. Now is when we need Emunah because now is darkness. Now is spiritual darkness in the world. But when everything becomes apparent, we don't need Emunah. But then we will see we'll see in retrospect everything is the is for the best. Okay, so just as Hashem brings death, Hashem revives the dead. So this is a Torah promise, a promise right in the Torah. Not even a promise. It's more than a promise. It's a statement of fact. The the Torah says it just as a matter of fact. Hashem cause death and resurrects. There's not this there's not even a promise. This is a fact. Hashem lowers one to the grave and then raise him up. So words of Samuel the prophet. And Samuel the prophet then in Samuel 1 chapter 2, he lowers a person to the grave and then raise him up. So after death and burial, the body overcomes a natural process of decomposition. And that's what the Torah says in Genesis chapter 3, for you are dust and you shall return to dust. And many times in history a cemetery is plowed up into a potato field and the ashes of the deceased are scattered in all four winds. So when I used to go to to Uman, many times I would go to go further west to in the direction of Meziboz where the Baal Shem Tov came from where my father's family came from Yanov. And we discovered the old cemetery in Yanov where great great grand grandparents are buried and it was only a third of it left. There was a third of it left because the the locals, the Ukrainians, they turned it into a potato field. And in this also the the same cemetery has two common graves from the Holocaust, one of 2,500 Jews and one of 1,300 Jews that when the Nazis came into Yanov and slaughtered all the Jews. But there was a lot of times in history that there's no more graves left. And they they plowed up the locals plowed up and you could see they've done this in the communist countries, take Jewish graveyards and and build high-rises on them, all types of things. So So what happens then? What happens then? So even worse, what happens when a deceased person dies at sea? And the captain doesn't keep a dead body on the ship, he throws him overboard and buried in the sea. And what happens to the Holocaust martyrs? They're they're burned to ash in a crematorium. So what about them? But I often pondered these questions. I didn't have answers to questions. I look for answers to questions. And I found the writings of a renowned Baghdad Iraqi rabbi named Rabbi Shimon Agassi. He lived in the time is the generation of Ben Ish Hai. And he was a renowned scholar and Kabbalist from Baghdad. And he wrote a book called Yesodei HaTorah, the foundations of Torah. And this I first was introduced to this Rabbi Yisrael Tauber of saintly blessed memory, he introduced me to this book. Tell me about this book. He says if you really want to learn Emunah, then this is a good place to go. So Rabbi Yisrael Tauber showed me his book and citing the ninth chapter of tractate Keilim, about the tractate Keilim talks about the ritual purity of vessels. And this is in in the Jerusalem Talmud. Rabbi Agassi, he writes about resurrecting the dead. He says, "Not only will Hashem resurrect the dead, Hashem will return every single particle, no matter where is ex- scattered to its rightful body." Can you imagine what that is? Hashem knows that some particle in some place of soil outside of Auschwitz, there's a certain person's a cell of a body. Think about it. Hashem's going to bring that back. Hashem will bring back that the part it is mind-boggling. The what and this is a great Kabbalist, Rabbi Agassi was a contemporary of Ben Ish Hai, renowned Ben Ish Hai. Now, after I found that, found similar uh similar ideas in the writings of the other Ashkenazi Kabbalists, the Shlah, the Shlah HaKadosh and the Maharal of Prague. And they say nothing's going to be lost. Hashem is going to return every single cell. And it's also wonderful consolation. Wonderful and nothing gets nothing gets lost. And the one of my great-grandfathers, one of my great-grandfathers was on the way from the Ukraine to the United States and he got to Ellis Island and the person that that that I don't know whoever receives the immigration person, he saw that he had cataracts. He says, "No, we don't take old people with cataracts." They sent him on a ship back to back to He was He was living in the pogroms. And they they sent him back to the pogroms. This was a cruel was the policy back then in Ellis Island in New York. And my great-grandfather Yisrael Tauber was brokenhearted and he died. He died on the way back. So they threw him over. He doesn't have a doesn't have a grave site. He's buried somewhere at sea. And then always always felt like I can't Where where What's What's with What's with Alter Zayde? What's with the great-grandfather? What's with him? But then here through the writings of Rabbi Shimon Agassi and the Maharal and the Shlah, but this this is a promise. This is the consolation. Where something you're worried about What was going to happen? What's going to happen to a person that that's blown up to smithereens in in in in a war, heaven forbid, and they can't even find like the Zaka does it. This was I don't want to be too graphic. But October 7th, uh they and bodies in burnt cars and they have a big monument in the south of Israel. There's a whole right on the Gaza border, there's a whole stack of the monument of these burnt cars. But the And what happens to people that are burnt to ash? This is the answer. Hashem will not only revive the dead, it will return every single particle, every single particle. So I want to conclude lesson on 13th principle with I dimension Rabbi Yisrael Tauber of blessed memory. A tremendous Talmud Chacham, Rabbi Yisrael Tauber was a Holocaust survivor and a story He tells a story about his mother in the Holocaust. This is really strengthening. Uh Rabbi Yisrael Tauber was born shortly before the Holocaust and his four brothers and sisters were born during the years 1940 and 1944 in the midst of the Nazi inferno. Uh miraculously, the first three were saved. But when his mother was expecting the fourth, she was in Auschwitz already. She was in the death camp. And she became a guinea pig for the sadistic Nazi doctors' experiments. Here, a pregnant Jewish woman. Uh that that's great. So under the direction of the arch butcher and murderer Mengele, and after she gave birth, uh the Nazis did all kinds of experiments on the baby, murdered the baby. And it was a precious little girl that became a martyr in her first hour outside in in this world. She didn't live an hour. She was born born a healthy baby, but then the Nazis said that they mutilated the baby, they they died. They wanted to see what the baby what a newborn baby could withstand what it couldn't withstand. So the baby's grueling death uh it satisfied for the time being that the Nazis and they let the mother live. She was just fresh after childbirth. So Rabbi Tauber's mother, she was spared. And after the war, look at this Emunah, she gave birth to five more children. So at one point after the war, Rabbi Tauber asked his mother. He said, "Mama, when you became pregnant during the Holocaust and you gave birth, did you ever dream that your children would survive?" And his mother answered, "No, my son. I knew that I wasn't better than anyone else. Sure, I was afraid for my life. I feared for my life. And I certainly feared for lives of my children. But I gave birth to them with no regrets. After all, we believe in revival of the dead." She told him This was what kept her going. And we According to the principle of our faith, there's no such thing as losing a child for posterity. These are words of Rabbi Yisrael Tauber's holy mother. There's no such thing as losing a child for posterity. She says, "Every child I brought into the world is eternal. And despite the Nazis, may their name be obliterated, our people are eternal. They can come back." So nothing like our belief in the revival of the dead is so encouraging and empowering. It gives us strength to go on despite the worst hardships. Cuz we can look forward to the day when uh Hashem will declare that so what Isaiah writes, "Awaken and sing, you who dwell in dust." So Hashem's going to wake them up. And they're going to say, "Well, okay, dead people, awaken and start singing." So Hashem is going to fulfill his promise of bringing us Mashiach and the in-gathering of the exiles, and Hashem will surely revive the dead as well as keep the other promises of bringing Mashiach, rebuilding our holy temple in Jerusalem speedily in our days. Amen. And this is the termination of our learning of the 13 principles of Emunah. And with that, Hashem should sign and seal every one of us in the book of life for the very best year 5786, the very best year you ever had in your life with full of abundance in material and spiritual blessings and all your heart's wishes for the very best. Amen.