Rome, Edom & the End Times: What the Prophets Say - Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff | Living Inspired

Okay, everyone. I'm about to board a flight to Italy. I'll be spending a few days in Rome. And I have a meeting at the Vatican. And I shall be reclaiming our holy menorah from the treasure trove they took from us. I'll be reporting on it. >> Welcome back to the podcast. My name is Aaron Suluki and [music] you're watching Parshah Inspire. Something very strange is happening. Prophecies seem to be aligning. Daniel, Obadiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, all these prophecies are coming together in the end times of Gog and Magog and Edom, Rome plays an important part. So, Rabbi Hedaya, what can you tell us about what's happening right now and the role of Rome, Edom, in history? >> Thank you so much. It's a real pleasure to be back on your podcast, Rabbi. I'm a big fan, as you know. And uh your uh viewers and uh watches and listeners have really responded so well to what we have to talk about. So, I'm I'm very grateful for that. That's number one. Um a lot to talk about. I actually just returned uh from a vacation slap uh trip to Rome itself. I started in Venice and Florence and Rome and I had wonderful tour guides and meetings with some very interesting individuals from the Roman community. One of them connected me to a very interesting person who's actually part of the Vatican. Okay, we're at the Arch of Titus. You can see the original menorah. This was built by the brother of Titus to uh rejoice at the destruction of the temple. And I want to talk to you a little bit about that in a few moments. But, let's just start by unpacking Rome itself because Rome is just a city. Um well, actually it has inside it a country, its own state, people state, Vatican City. Um and that really is a center of power that we cannot fathom. I need people to understand that the Catholic Church is so powerful and so rich. But, let's start by unpacking who Rome is, what they represent, and very importantly, their role at the end of days in acharit hayamim that we're in right now. So, we know, and I'm going to start at a very unusual place, in the book of Vayikra, in Leviticus chapter 11, we know that there are uh, four animals that the Torah speaks about that have one kosher sign. One kosher sign. We know for an animal to be kosher, it needs to have two signs. It's got to chew the cud, right? That means it has to digest its food and bring it up again, like a cow does. And it's got to have a split hoof. Split hoof. Not to say closed hoof, like a horse or a donkey, but a split hoof, like a like a cow or a goat. This is what renders an animal kosher. And, um, the Midrash tells us, fascinatingly, that these four animals that are mentioned, the camel, hyrax, hare, and pig, and these are four animals that the Torah goes out of its way to identify. It says that these four animals actually represent the four exiles that the Jewish people have been in. The first of them, the camel, represents Bavel, the Babylonian exile. The hyrax, this little creature, uh, um, uh, represents the uh, Persian exile. The hare represents the like the rabbit creature, the hare, represents the Greek exile, and there's reasons for each one of those. But, interestingly, the last exile, Rome, is identified as the pig, the khazir. Now, that's very interesting. Why is Rome being identified as a pig? And Rashi tells us in Parshat Toldot, I believe, that actually that's a very apt description because Esau Esau Esau is actually the pig. And we know that he is the ancestor of Rome. So, the Rome and Christianity We see Rome is talking about the whole Christian world, obviously, because that's the center of Christendom and Christological thought today is the pig. What is it about the pig that really identifies as as Rome? So, the pig is a very unique creature. I know we think of non-kosher food, we think pig. There's actually many other non-kosher foods. Some actually are worse eating than a pig. It's forbidden to eat a pig, but actually if you eat a flying little insect, that could actually be worse, according to halakha. But, the pig has a trait that we really do not like. And that is its sign of being kosher is on the outside. It's got a split hoof. So, on the outside it appears kosher, but inside it's not chewing the cud. We don't like that. That is a deceptive hypocritical creature. On the outside it puts out its hooves and says, "Look at me. I'm a kosher creature. I am good. Look at my outside." And on the inside it's something completely different. We as Jews, we don't like that. We like authenticity. We want the outside to be uh commensurate and parallel with the inside. Kosher outside and kosher inside. That's what makes a kosher animal. Let me go a little bit further and then we can open this up for discussion, just so we understand this. So, Edom, the whole Edomite kingdom, that's Esau and Rome and the Papal States that followed, of which there have been many different Popes. Some of them have been good to the Jewish people, and many of them have been absolutely terrible. We're seeing a shift now. Unfortunately, a lot of the modern-day Popes were leaning and use my words wisely over here, leaning towards anti- uh Semitism via the never saying that, obviously, via the form of anti-Zionism and Israel's guilty of genocide and their focus seeing their attention towards that. This idea really goes back historically to many of the early Popes, like the Popes in uh 1555, we see that one of the Popes um over there, that is Pope Paul the uh fourth, were evilly evil anti-Semites, terrible, terrible individuals who really started the whole uh ghetto. I was actually in the Roman ghetto, which now is a very beautiful place to visit, but it was a very challenging place for hundreds of years, and really mistreating the Jews there, and then eventually later Popes uh under the other Papal States. So, if you walk around Rome, what do you see today? I mean, the Roman community, if you talk to the Roman Jews, uh they have an ancient community. I went to the synagogues over there, beautiful synagogues. All right, just the most wonderful, even in Florence, um and in Venice, but if you look at these beautiful synagogues, they're all so ornate and so beautiful, but if you look at them, they have a very ancient community. They say they go back to, you know, but we shall by Shani. You know what I'm saying? They really have this beautiful ancient tradition, but they suffered greatly for hundreds of years under the early Popes. And what we're really seeing is, and this is very much connected to the end of days, is that the present-day uh Roman Christian theology is going to come against us and against Islam, against the Arab states as well. And we've seen this among many modern speakers as well, including Mel Gibson, who rejects the change in the Roman church from the 1960s, and even the Tucker Carlson of this world who, although he's not a Catholic, I think he's an Episcopalian, but even he is now leaning towards um being against us. And this has all been founded upon this idea of, let me get this very clear. There's a lot happening here. I want to just make it very, very clear for your views and listeners cuz I've been thinking a lot about this, especially during my trip to Rome and speaking to these individuals, that Rome represents on the outside we're good. We're kosher. We're ethical. We're moral. But on the inside, they are extremely corrupt. And this goes back hundreds and hundreds of years. And so, when I was walking around Rome, and we see the beauty of Rome, cuz it really is a beautiful city, and I'm not blaming the Italians today government, or the Roman citizens today. However, the idea that we can have beauty and grandeur, and that shows that we're a civilized society, but on the inside, they are morally corrupt. Morally corrupt. And we walked to the Arch of Titus. I'll talk about it in a moment. But I want to talk about the Colosseum. Let's just talk about that for 1 minute. Colosseum is an incredible, fascinating structure that that millions millions of people visit every single year. And for good reason, all right? We had a a fantastic uh Jewish tour guide, actually Israeli, moved to Rome, and he really gives a beautiful understanding, although most of it I'd I'd heard before. I'd been there before, but my family hadn't. But the Colosseum is an incredible structure. You can't just walk around and not feel tremendous awe at this incredible structure. So, on the outside looks amazing. What happened inside to Jewish people and others enslaved that taken from elsewhere is absolutely appalling. So, I'm walking around the Colosseum and the tour guide of people taking photos, taking selfies, and they're looking at the beauty of this spectacle and trying to reimagine what it was like back then. Right? With with the uh the emperors and Nero standing there and putting thumbs up and thumbs down. But, first of all, the amount of Jewish slaves who died constructing this and the amount of Jews and non-Jews as well, and many other people and nations who were slaughtered for entertainment is appalling. It's really a place of of mass death. That encapsulates itself. Itself is the pig. On the outside we're beautiful. Look at the beautiful structure we built. And many of you should know that many Jewish slaves were involved in the construction. I'm sure the death as well doing it at that time as well and the sophistication of the Colosseum with its underground um channels and tunnels and how they would lift up wild animals. Used to bring lions in and giraffe animals. An unbelievable place. But, that's our problem. On the outside you have this beautiful spectacle, but on the inside what are the morals that come with this place? And so, the second temple's destroyed. The Jews were brought into Rome, right? Because that's who the Romans brought them in as slaves. And they were used first of all to finance the construction of the Colosseum with the money they took from our temple that they destroyed. And then they had the chutzpah We spoke about chutzpah before, right? From from Mishnah. That had to use those Jews to build that Colosseum as slaves, many dying, of course, in the process because it's such a, you know, I'm sure a very unsafe environment. So, that really is the essence of what Rome was when it was founded um and the violation of hundreds of thousands Jewish people and Jewish property at the time happens to be that the Roman Jews that were in Rome at that time had to end up like collecting money just to help redeem right, and try to buy back some of these slaves. And there's signs all over the Colosseum itself that talk about how the Rome and the Colosseum was actually built using funds from our holy temple. That's just an example of how it all began. But, we've been dealing with this uh pig exile for thousands of years. >> And the word khazir in Hebrew means, physically means to return. That because the first temple was built by King Solomon, the second was built by uh it was built with the help of Koresh, with Zerubbabel, and the third temple will be built by the king of Edom because he destroyed the first temple. >> I'll tell you something fascinating. The word khazir, pig, which for us Jews like the idea of eating pig, you know what I'm saying, is just so, you know, uh against uh Jewish law for us. Um but, the word for pig is a khazir, and the same word means lakhzor, to return. So, that's a very good question. Why inside this non-kosher animal that represents Rome, Edom, uh the papal states, as a start, why would that uh concept be found inside the word itself? So, there is a concept that the end of days there's going to be a khazir that's going to be returned. Who's going to return? Well, the people are by the pig as the descendants of Esau, and they're going to help us at the end of days to build the third and final temple. What does that mean exactly? So, this is opens a lot of discussion and disputes. Let me be very, very clear to you. This does not mean that at some point they're going to come along and they're going to help us to build this and give us the bricks and start to build it. There's a beautiful idea that even within evil, there's a little bit of good. Tove sheba Esau. There is a good inside Esau. So, Esau, right we know, um the twin brother of Jacob Avinu, he was an evil individual who did many, many terrible, terrible things. But actually, there were some virtues that he had. Just being part of the the family of Abraham and and Yitzchak and obviously the family of of Jacob as well. So, there is a Tove sheba Esau. So, we're going to see that there are going to be elements within the Christian world, which do exist. Again, I'm not talking about individual Christians today who, for the most part, have been wonderful and recent to support the Jewish people today, which we tremendously appreciate. There is a good sheba Esau and there is a rah sheba Esau. The rah sheba Esau, the evil within Esau, we are seeing throughout the world today. Many people who stand against Israel and against the Jewish people. Uh modern examples, as I mentioned already, are like the Mel Gibson, all those people who reject the modernization of the Second Vatican in the early 1960s, who look at any subsequent Popes as being uh rebellious. And the SSPX, this is also group that your viewers should look into, who are definitely against the Jewish people uh and against Israel, of course, and still blame us for the death of uh of Jesus. So, we're definitely seeing that the rah sheba Esau and other iterations of that, the Tucker Carlsons of this world, who really um are against us and have no problem whatsoever of saying that, you know, the Jews killing Jesus is not anti-Semitic at all. They'll say that, you know, they've said it on numerous occasions. Why are we like, you know, attributing the two together? But there is a tov she ba'esav. And we're seeing that our allies in the Christian world are very important to us and very precious to us. And I don't think we should just be like throw out, you know, the baby with the bathwater. We see that. So we're going to see a chazara towards the end of days where there's going to be a level of in a sense teshuvah, repentance, within the entire world for sure, but especially within the Roman Christian world where they're going to come along and assist us in our destiny as a people to return to the land of Israel. I mean, you'd be surprised how many people within the Christian world actually support us. I'm actually very good friends with a few bishops that I've met with and and studied with and have done a vast amount of the Jewish people bringing many pastors to the land of Israel and we're very, very grateful for them. But we have to remember that the heart of it, this return and the help of the of Christendom is good, but in the end every religion is going to disappear, says the Rambam. That's very, very important. We cannot identify with a Christianity per se. We enjoy our friendship and we're always happy some kind of relationship with those individuals, but we cannot identify theologically with them. And we have to rely upon ourselves and our own people to, God willing, rebuild the third and final Beit Hamikdash, temple in Jerusalem. >> Obadiah 1:21 says, "For all who worship at Zion, the people will go up, the redeemers on to the Mount of Zion to give judgment to Esau to give judgment to Esau. Now, Esau historically, even from when we left Egypt we tried to go through their land. We said we'll pay for everything. We just We just want to walk through. And like it was really God inviting Esau. The truth is I always wondered why God us to ask Esau. It was inviting them into the redemption. God said, "I want you to be a part of that redemption." And they said, "No, we're going to come out to you with war." And God said, "You know what? Go around Esau. Let's just avoid them now. We'll deal with them at the end of time. So, are we Are we at that point yet?" >> [laughter] >> We are just at that point. We're well inside it. There's no doubt about it. This is the time, my my my dear friend and and all those who are watching and listening we are seeing the eventual fall. And I I want to just couch my terms in a careful I don't want to offend people and upset them. But this is going to be a world change and a positive world change. Just like Esau Esau himself we said already had virtues. We spoke about Amalek who also came from Esau but I'm not completing right now. That's a different topic. But we know that Esau was a very smart individual. He wasn't an idiot. He wasn't some crazy hooligan who just wanted to you know kill as many Jews as possible. And we talk about Esau we talk about his descendants as well. We said that the head of Esau was good. Right? He had a very He was a very smart individual. And how he portrayed himself to the world as being moral and ethical even to his own father he was able to do that. Which is why when he died his head was removed and actually rolled into Machpelah in Hebron to be together where his ancestors were buried. So, the head of Esau is good. Right? This idea of the external is very interesting. There's a A Gamara tells us that as Rome was founded by the angel St. Gabriel at a certain point days of King Solomon, the idea of Rome was founded and a reed was put into the sea and from that came Rome. It's very interesting. I mean, what's the obviously this is a myth for analogy. So, a reed is solid on the outside and can be very strong on the outside, but it's hollow on the inside. This really represents Rome. On the outside, it looks good and it's strong, but a reed is hollow on the inside. And the Hebrew word for um a reed is a cane. A kuf, a nun, and a hay. Just look at the letter kuf for a moment. If you shorten the leg on the bottom of the of the kuf, it's actually a hay. So, we have hineh, which is behold. That's a good word. I'm about to show you something important from reality. Hineh, right? Anochi. Hineh is also a lesson of something very important is happening, but when you extend the line, it becomes a cane. It becomes a a reed. And that, says the Vilna Gaon, that line coming down from the kuf actually is the hoof of the pig. That's what he says. It turns it into something very very different to a non-reality, to an externality. What we're seeing in the world today, this external world where everything is show, everything is like this like TikTok social media generation, where everything is on the outside, but on the inside it's hollow and empty, that all comes from the Christian world. The idea of visualization of I'm going to show you a world, but on the inside we're empty. It's a very Western civilization. Well, that's what I'm trying to conflate over here. The Western civilized world. Everything's on the outside, but the inside it's it's hollow. It's it's vacant. There's a vacuum inside. That's what we're seeing today. That's going to disappear. We're going to remove, if you will, the leg of the cuff and go back to seeing reality as it is. And that is our job as Jewish people. And it's a complex idea from the Vilna Gaon. But if we remove that leg of the khazir, of the pig, it actually shorten it, it becomes hinei. Let me show you reality. Okay, we're at the Arch of Titus. You can see the original menorah. This was built by the brother of Titus to rejoice of the destruction of the temple and the taking, the sacking, the stealing of our holy utensils brought here to Rome. Just so you know, I'm going to do a full update on the menorah, but this was the original menorah. This is the closest we have to the time of the original menorah in the Beit Hamikdash. Am Yisrael Chai. We, the Jewish people, our job in this world, throughout history, but especially today, is to remove falsehood, sheker, from the world. That's our job, to shorten the leg of the pig that says, "Oh, I'm kosher on the outside. Everything is a spectacle. Everything is outside, but there's no insight to it." There's nothing inside of value, of moral purpose. That is the job of the Jewish people today. Everything we need to strive to do, whatever it is, whether in our Torah learning, in our tefillah, in our building society, and especially the land of Israel, is this is reality. And we're all like incredulous. How could the world not see? I mean, I just saw an article someone sent me, I think, this morning. You know, we are There's this earthquake in Colombia. We could talk about earthquakes another time. There's a lot We know there's going to be a a of earthquakes right before Mashiach comes. This other thing and Israel sent people to help evacuate and help search for for survivors over there. An incredible beautiful thing. Tremendous really is. And Spain Spain right? I mean the Christian connection to Spain of course comes along and says no, you can't fly over our airspace. We don't want Jews or say Israelis but the same thing flying over our airspace. We actually have to go over Morocco. So you Ishmael accepted us but Spain didn't. I know it sounds unbelievable but that literally just happened. I'm giving that as an example so you need to understand that what we're seeing is such a visceral hatred of the raw of the evil inside that world that they can't even accept our help. So this and but on the outside of course we're moral we're against the Jews who commit genocide. It's it's a world of of sheker. Shek shek alma the Gamara tells us before Messiah comes there's going to be a lot of falsehood in the world and many people are going to fall into that trap of seeing the external like the universities in America that are being funded by Qatar of course and by others who they come along yeah on the outside we're moral ethical people. That's the Esau. That's the pig dynamic that we have to shorten and remove. And we have to bring Emma. We are the people of truth. Yaakov and the twin brother of Esau is ish emet a person of truth. Now we have to act with smartness to defeat Esau. There's no doubt about it. It was a very very difficult and with Laban as well. He had to really work very very hard. Right? He was tricked again and again and again. We know how he suffered every day hundreds of times right being tricked and the PR a campaign against him was incredibly difficult for him to to to master. Eventually bought off of him, became very successful and returned with his entire family to the land of Israel. So, Esau, his descendants, Rome, will eventually fall away. The tova of Esau will be part of our redemption and help us. And even the tova of Ishmael, we're going to see the good that's in Ishmael, within the Arab states as well, is going to assist us as well. And they'll be rewarded for this. But the Gemara is very, very clear. Let's not forget this. And this is the Gemara we read in the Yeshivot all the time, that there's going to be a judgment. And those nations that came against us, and those nations who did not stand with the Jewish people, and assisted in our downfall, there will be judgment against them. That's very, very clear. You mentioned Obadiah. Obadiah was a convert. Let's not forget that. Obadiah was a non-Jewish individual, a very, very great individual, who converted. And yet, his very short prophecy, that you could read like 20 or odd verses or something, speaks about the downfall of Edom, of Esau, of Rome, at the end of days. Why was he chosen? Of all the people, speak about the downfall of Rome. It's a very unusual person to choose use a Jewish-born individual, use a convert from that society to talk about the downfall of Rome? So, the Gemara says, "Yeah, because the ax that chops down the tree is made of wood that comes from the tree." That's what the Talmud says. It had to come from him. So, let's just bring that to updated versions. We're going to see that the Rome itself, we're going to see within the Christian world, we're going to have allies themselves who are going to help us defeat the rather evil that is within Rome today. And there is a tremendous amount. I want one more thing that I don't mind if Sasha says a million things that totally rub me the wrong way. So, I appreciate you letting me to do this. But, something else I was involved in one when I was over there. Was speaking to certain individuals. I can't name them. And someone non-Jewish from the Christian world actually reached out to me as well. And we had a fascinating conversation because I went on a quest to find the menorah. And I didn't expect I made a short video in the airport. I didn't expect it to go viral, but it did go viral and receive many, many, many, many messages as well. I had a certain connection over there because I have been informed by a number of individuals that Rome, the Pope and Vatican City has secret chambers and there is a vast amount of Judaica, among which is I may not say the menorah, although we know the menorah from the Arch of Titus was brought from Jerusalem into Rome. And many people say that it was melted down and lost in the 12th, 13th century, whatever. But the we know for sure, I mean, I know this without a shadow of a doubt, they have a lot of Judaica. I believe they have a lot of ancient, for sure, documents, but actual objects as well. Among them is a menorah because there are actually different menorahs that were used in Jerusalem at the time. They didn't just take one thing, they took a lot of things. And that is still there. So, I had certain contacts over there. I learned a lot. It's going to take some time and probably money to in order to get it out. But that's going to happen B'ezrat Hashem. I hope I'm part of that uh redemption of these of these holy vessels. But they're holding on to a lot. So, on the outside they're so glamorous and so, you know, powerful and but they have a lot of of Judaica that actually belongs to us. So, that was part of my mission as well as being a, you know, an educational vacation to visit Rome. But in the days that I was there, I actually took a little bit of a deep dive before, during, and even after in order to redeem our holy vessels that we want returned. >> You know, one of the little-known laws of Judaism is that a Jew is not allowed to hold on to a seven-branched candelabra. That means it doesn't even have to look like a menorah. If it has seven candles, even if like your Shabbos thing for some reason has seven branch even at different heights, there's an opinion that a person should not own this. So, if we do find something with seven branches, we could be certain that it wasn't, you know, an art piece. But, I will mention that, you know, they might have had I think had 10 menorahs. >> Yeah. >> So, so they they and they definitely had, you know, several of them they they would need to clean it. So, there wasn't for sure not one. There may have There may even be as many as hundreds of menorahs over the time. Uh so, it's not clear that it's unlike the ark which would be specific. Now, I just wanted to point out I've been I've been listening to to your you're speaking about this and I just like was overcome with emotion of what we're witnessing right now, what we're doing right now because never in the history of the Jewish people have the Jews been given a microphone to millions of people and right now this video literally can reach millions of of Jews and Gentiles. And this opportunity to spread, you know, the message of what the Jews really are saying because like we talked about Edom having, uh you know, the insides they they didn't chew their cud, which I think metaphoric we're speaking meta metaphorically. We're speaking allegorically. We're saying that there's something about the inside. Now, the insides always remain a connection with God. Meaning like what's really going on on the inside. Meaning is it just a convenience, a social convenience, the niceties of this culture, or is there, you know, a deep fervent connection to God? And prophets do talk of a time uh and I'm not sure if it's prophets. I think there is a measure like this that says that the khazir will be kosher at one time. I'm don't I don't remember the source of that. Meaning that at a certain time that the it will be so obvious to everybody in the world the truth and it will have to come out some way. Meaning it could be an instant moment where everybody just has a switch in their head or it's exactly what we're doing right now. We are being giving a microphone, we're able to speak to people and explain what these prophecies are so that they can be given the choice. >> You know, thank you for that. Absolutely. Um the the truth is going to be revealed. Emet, truth, always wins out. Remember Yaakovish is ish emet. You have to use certain strategies as King Solomon says, "B'tachbulot tasim milchama." With strategy, you have to go to war. The war he was talking about wasn't physical wars cuz he didn't fight physical wars. He lived in a time of peace. He means strategies in order to overcome sheker. You know, the even the word sheker, which means falsehood, lies, is a shin, a kuf, and a resh. Each of them comes to a point. So eventually that's going to fall. Emet, all the letters, aleph, mem, taf, have flat bottoms, they hold. Aleph aleph is the first letter, taf is the last letter, and mem is the middle one. So truth is the beginning, middle, and very importantly, the end. And the mishna we spoke about in the past podcast that I would draw your viewers' attention to after watching this one is that "Va'emet teheneh deret." The mishna tells us in the gemara in sotah that at the end of days there's going to be pockets of truth. It's going to be very difficult to find truth in this world. Sheker is an alma d'shikra, a world of falsehood, is going to be around us. So when we go and we publicize and talk truth to the world, which by the way is not so easy. We Minds have been infected. Minds have been kidnapped by this falsehood that has infected the world and not just non-Jewish minds. Jewish minds, too, unfortunately. In our Amalek podcast, we spoke about this, how this idea of falsehood has infected, like, excuse me saying like a cancer, unfortunately, the minds of even Jewish people who can't appreciate, I have discussions every day. All right, unfortunately, with many Jewish people that I have to persuade and tell them that yes, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. That the Jewish people do have a claim to land of Israel. That we're not guilty of genocide today, you know, in Gaza. And which goes all the way back to, you know, you know, blood libels. All right, from from medieval at times and before. We have to bring emet, and emet is going to is the beginning, aleph, it's the middle, the mem, and the tav as well. It is going to win out. And so, just like Yakov, our ancestor, whose name was added to Yisrael, had to deal with sheker, with Lavan, and there was Esau every single day. So, too, at the end of days, we're going to have to deal with a lot of sheker falsehood. It's our job today, everyone's job. All right, to be able to know how to respond and to go out there and actively bring a light and order to the world, and the menorah represents that knowledge. All right, this it's not just a candelabra. All right, the whole point of the menorah was to bring out light into the world, and light always represents information and truth. That's why, interestingly, the menorah stood, obviously, in the temple in Jerusalem. And the Gemara tells us that the windows of the temple were inverted. Usually, windows were designed actually saw these ancient windows, right? In these buildings I've visited in in Rome, were designed in a way that they would capture the light from the outside to bring the light inside a house. That's how usually windows were designed in ancient times. However, the Talmud the Talmud tells us that the windows of the temple were inverted. So, the light from the inside would go outside. Right? They were backwards windows. What light was inside that would go outside? All right. Well, and that is the light of the menorah. So, people would walk around Jerusalem and even further out and they would see this glimmering light from the menorah that was being projected around Jerusalem and further. And this of course is a metaphor for we have small lights. We're not out there blast, but we have a small light of truth, of Torah, of emet. Torah Torah is light and it's our job to shine that light out. Cuz a little bit of light, says the Lubavitcher Rebbe, can cancel a lot of darkness. And so, I know most people are thinking, "Ah, whatever. I'm you know, I'll just, you know, carry on my life and just hope I don't get killed." It's not enough nowadays. Every single Jew needs to be involved whether themselves or the supporting organizations or whether spreading um positive truth to the world cuz a little bit of light can dispel so much darkness. And there's a lot of darkness in this world. Everyone knows this. We're living in a very dark world of sheker and it's hard to figure out because what exactly uh we're meant to be doing with our lives, but we have a Torah. And Torah Torah and the menorah represents that. That's my obsession and fascination with the menorah that one of my key things when going to Rome was have these meetings because the the menorah represents truth to us the Jewish people. And I like the fact that the menorah was actually used, right, as the symbol of the Jewish people. The Magen David, the star of David is a very nice and maybe an ancient symbol. We see evidence of it, earliest evidence in the synagogue of the Maharal in Prague that I was in as well. I made a video of it there. But the menorah is really the symbol of the Jewish people. Right? That's uh that seven-branched um menorah really represents who we are. Not the beauty of the candelabra, the golden candelabra itself, but the light that emanates from it. The light that emanates from it represents who we are as a people, to spread light to the entire world. You can only do that if you're educated and understand who we are, where we've come from, and where we're going. Because this is the time. And im lo achshav, im lo mati, if not now, then when? So, as you said, all these abilities and chances we have to go and spread truth into the world, although we're a very small flame compared to, you know, the evil that's out there. You know, I I bring out a video, I'll get a few nice comments, and then poof, a whole rage of of antisemitism. I'm sure you have it, too. I know you do as well, for sure. That comes our way. And someone said to me, "Why don't you delete all these bad, evil comments that come with all of your videos and so on?" And the answer is, "Let the world see it." I used to try to do that, by the way. Let the world see it. Let them know what we're dealing with. Let them see the darkness and how a little bit of light from the few Jewish people who exist in this world, this 0.2% population, can bring so much light to the world. >> You know, those comments actually are proof of this, you know, people people comment and say, you know, "The Jews this." Why are you commenting? Why does this interest you if you think if you think so lowly of the Jews? So, why why is this concerning to you? But I think that in itself is prophecy that they will be obsessed with it. There was a Italian, I think, Italian Kabbalist named Ramasha David Valley. Now, he was either the rabbi of the Ramchal or the Talmud of the Ramchal. He wrote a enormous enormous work on all of Tanakh, every single word a it a translation. This was discovered, I think, by Rabbi Milstein. Um and I studied by him 30 years ago in New York. And he has this entire concept of the different parts of the Mishkan, of the Bet Hamikdash. Different parts representing different parts of the body. And he says that the menorah represents the head of a person. And just like we have two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and a mouth, so the menorah represents the two outer ones are the ears. And And this is really the head of Kli Yisrael. This is really the the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. And we need all these functions, cuz when we talk, we need a nose. You know, we can't really talk without a nose. It's very difficult. When you have a cold, you can't really speak. >> Right. >> And uh these are the things that uh are that's the real way that the Jewish people uh spread the light. Cuz God also has a menorah in Shamayim. God has a menorah. And uh you know, the story of Hanukkah was the continuation of this light. And when we're in dark places, a little candle, a little candle in a dark room can illuminate the whole room. >> So, uh we have to mention that we're right now in the month of Elul. And uh Elul, of course, is a time of introspection, a time of going inside and connecting in a very deep internal way. Uh we've, you know, find it challenging nowadays. But if there's one time, the build-up to Rosh Hashanah, and of course, Yom Kippur, and celebration of Sukkot, uh I'm sure we're going to talk about, have a lot to say about the the four species that we use, and how that relates to the Jewish people as well. So, that's a future podcast. So, watch this space, everyone. I have a lot to say about that with you, Rabbi Circle. But let's leave that. But this is a time of introspection. And we said that Esau is not about introspection. There is no introspection cuz the inside is not kosher. The pig, the khazir, that represents the the um uh Esau and Edom, it's not kosher inside. There is no introspection. It's all surface. It's all talk. It's all outside. There's nothing that introspects. And as you said so beautifully, the menorah represents the idea of inner light. Inner introspection. There has to be a little bit I don't we live in a generation, you know, where we're meant to like be freaking out all of Elul, maybe previous generations. That's not who we are. Just a little bit of introspection, a little bit of what am I doing to help my people, you know? Um I got to meet a celebrity, a Jewish celebrity, a very I'm not going to mention who it is, but a very very very big celebrity. Um an individual, a comedian. And I was very sweet man. And I I I had to be at a certain place and I met him and I spoke to him. And he's someone really changed his entire life and and turned it all around, you know? Um I wouldn't say he's a religious Jew now, but he really represents the Jewish people. And I said to him, you know, "How did you as this extremely famous if I mentioned his name, you know, I mean, maybe I will. It was actually Jerry Seinfeld. And I met him at a certain place. I approached him. >> I I If I knew him, I'd want to see his Porsche collection. I I love his He's He has a whole building in Manhattan full of Porsches. People say I look like him, you know. >> So, oh, I can see the resemblance, yeah. So, I I I went up to him at this uh at this event, you know, he was standing by himself, you know, it was a a high school graduation. I was there for another family. And I said to him, I said, you know, "Mr. Seinfeld, I just want to thank you so much for doing so much for the Jewish people." And do you know what he said to me? He said, "What are you doing here?" That's what he said to me. I was a rabbi at this like, you know, non-Jewish high school graduation. And then he said to me, um "How could I not?" And we shared a few words together. He was humble and and and very very, you know, generous at the time. And he's done so much for our people. You see that even people like that, who by the way could be, you know, so wealthy and famous and successful, could just deny any connection to Judaism and their people. And here he came forward and is willing to put his career and the abuse he gets online far surpasses me and you. I mean, it's unbelievable. And he can't even do a concert and a stand-up routine without people, you know, hurling abuse at him. And yet he took he took he takes one for the team. And then I started to think about all the other Jewish, you know, famous celebrities and and individuals in Hollywood and elsewhere who've done nothing for our people who can't just stand up and say one word for the Jewish people. Even leave Israel out of it. Just, you know, the the vileness of anti-Semitism that's come today that's affecting them and their people. Many are. Many are. I know that. But many do not. They're just hiding away. This is people who can't confront a met truth, you know? And this is very very painful. But there are Jerry Seinfelds in this world, Baruch Hashem, who is a generally funny and wonderful individual and many such individuals. And really, if we don't have a voice the size and capability, you know, of, you know, having podcasts and big famous individuals, everybody can do something. And even if we bring guests to our Shabbat table. All right, first we've got to keep Shabbat. We've spoken already how Shabbat is so important in this day and age. Shabbat is going to bring about the Geulah, the redemption. I must mention this because Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat this year, and I made it my mission this year and I every time I give a Shiur or class I I try to mention this at the tail end. Rosh Hashanah falling on Shabbat has potential to bring a wonderful year, but also a very challenging year. The last time it happened was pre-October 7th, 2023. So, we have to really engage Shabbat and not just keeping Shabbat because, you know, many Jews do. Well, not all of them, maybe 15-20% unfortunately, but bringing Shabbat into our lives is so important and Shabbat is emet. It's truth. Right? That's why we stand up to make Kiddush Friday night. Right? We make it's, you know, it's called edut, testimony. And testimony means truth. When you stand in a court of law, you've got to tell the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. Shabbat equals emet. So, in order for everything we're talking about to happen, among everything else, keeping Shabbat is the epicenter of who we are. It is the epicenter of truth and starting to keep Shabbat and I I've seen so many people who've started to take it on Shabbat, if not all of Shabbat, at least a part of Shabbat. You know, putting away social media, putting away their phones, and starting with Friday night. And hopefully, you know, I've seen people really change their entire lives and relationship with Shabbat. Shabbat is really our connection to Hashem. It's It's testimony. It's truth. Very important. And it's not enough just to keep Shabbat, but to bring people to Shabbat table, people who maybe don't know much about Judaism. We have that, you know, baruch Hashem, very grateful. Most weekends a month, we have individuals come to our table who haven't experienced Judaism before. It is the entry point. It's the the portal into becoming a connected, learned Jew. You cannot do that without Shabbat. You've got to make Shabbat part and parcel of your relationship to Hashem. And that's why Shabbat is called me'ein olam haba, part of the next world. We know the Talmud says that one Shabbat brings geulah, right? Whether as as a on a national standard, but definitely individual standard. Right? When we engage in Shabbat, there there's room for improvement when it comes to Shabbat. So, Shabbat is a central feature in bringing emet, truth, into this world and to destroying the sheker of Esav. I I I just must mention I hope you don't mind me saying this, but Shabbat is such an integral part and Shabbat protects us. We said already against Esau. We know that the time when Amalek came to attack us was right after we broke Shabbat. The connection says Rabbi Yona San Ibeshitz, those two events are connected. Keeping Shabbat secures the physical, forget the spiritual, but the physical safety of the Jewish people comes from Shemiras Shabbat by keeping and guarding the Sabbath. And you cannot do that without the learning the laws of Shabbat. So I actually have a whole series online which I give you in Yeshiva University. Every year I go through all the laws of Shabbat with my students because you can't keep Shabbat without learning the laws of Shabbat. It's an impossibility. You can keep many other mitzvot, right? Without learning the laws of them, like giving tzedakah, for example. You put money into charity, you've done it. Shabbat's not like that. You've got to know. So if I were to have this what came to my mind, so I'm sharing with you. This is my Ruach Hakodesh if you want to defeat Sheker in this world, Shabbat must be part of it. And to keep Shabbat, you must learn the laws of it. So I have a whole series online. There's many, many Baruch Hashem today, many ways to learn the laws of Shabbat and we all everyone, even the religious Jews or I have a room for improvement when it comes to their Sabbath, the Shabbat observance. That is the key way we break Sheker in this world and bringing people who um don't have a connection to Hashem Torah. They need to be a Shabbat table. You know, they need to be a Shabbat table. This may be a little controversial, but I see many families who just have Shabbat themselves, you know, and it's just themselves or their kids maybe maybe a neighbor or two. At least one Shabbat a month. At least one a month. Have someone who knows nothing about Torah and they have to figure out according to Halakha whether >> The kids they behave much better when there's guests over. It keeps everything good. Makes it makes everything fun. >> It's, you know, God looked into the world and he saw all the lands of the world and he chose the land of Eretz Yisrael. He looked at the peoples of the world and he chose the Jewish people. And he looked at all the days of the week and he chose Shabbos. But, when he looked at the months, he chose the Jewish people and said, "You the Jewish people, you can decide whether or not I will judge the world on Shabbat or not." And the Jews, even today, we think that we don't have a calendar. There's something very interesting that the calendar that we use right now is only until the year 6,000, which means that it is according to what the Sanhedrin did and they've set it up in such a way. Meaning that we have the power uh to decide what Hashem does when it comes to certain things in the world. He's given us, in fact, Isaiah says, and this is little drash, but I think the Rambam says this, Isaiah b'riah Yaakov Yisrael Yisrael. He says that God looks at the Jewish people and calls the Jewish people his creator. Meaning that God, when he created the world, intended on giving the Torah to the Jewish people. We will have control of the ongoings of the world. So, when we are chosen, we were chosen to help perfect this world and we were given those keys. And incidentally, I think logic would assume that if God gave us the keys to the Rosh Chodesh, he would also give us the keys to Geulah. That means redemption is in our hands. We can tell God that that we had enough. We could tell God we're ready. We could all make a one-time decision. This is like a one It's not like Shabbos is like a forever decision. This Shabbos, I can keep Shabbos. And I can keep in Shabbos, like you said, it's not just following the rules. The rules, that's just, you know, to get, you know, that that It's great. And the Sfas Emes talks about that, just getting in the mode. But, there's so much we can do once we turn off our phone, once we once we stop working and working today we see more than ever working is just being online. Just being online or driving and just like any distractions. Being present, um maybe you could lead us out with a bracha or just you're welcome to comment back on what I said as well if you want. >> [laughter] >> Cuz I said a lot. >> Um I I appreciate words, yeah. I I think that in a in a world today that's so full uh of outside noise, it's just so loud all the time, whether it's online and AI and and we're constantly being bombarded, right? I I don't know how children grow up today. I mean, you know, we grew up maybe saw one or two advertisements a day, you know, watch a little television when we were kids. The average child today sees one to 2,000 different advertisements coming to their their minds every single day. Very very difficult. A lot of noise out there. There needs to be more quiet. Stopping in Shabbat is the perfect time for this. Just to shut out all the outside noise, spend time together with family and friends, whoever you spend Shabbat with, but you with yourself. With yourself just to get into this this quiet time of introspection. And it sounds like, well, that's like selfish. What am I doing? You're changing the world by doing that. That time when your soul is being nourished by inner thought and inner contemplation. It doesn't have to be the entire Shabbat. At least a part of it. You know, an hour, half an hour, 20 minutes, just a time of introspection. Hashem gave us this beautiful gift. It's actually only mitzvah that the Talmud calls a matana tova, a great gift. Shabbat is the only mitzvah called a gift cuz it's the greatest gift given to the Jewish people, says the Gemara in Shabbat. So, we have this gift. We need to utilize it in order to get to a place of inner introspection. And Elul is the month for that as well. Right? That build up, that 30-day build up that takes us into Rosh Hashanah, which this year falls on Shabbat. It's falling on Shabbat this year. And next year, but that's another conversation. So, that this year at least just to try to connect and on a Shabbat level and God willing with Hashem, we will see the Gula and the downfall of our enemies and we'll see the return of the Jewish people en masse to the land of Israel, the building of the temple, and we'll be able to see the light and we're going to see it with Hashem the coral very soon. The light of the menorah shine out not just to Jerusalem and the outlying areas, but to the entire world. The words of Hashem in Jerusalem, the words of God will spread out, which is happening right now. No one can deny that. It's freaking out our enemies. But the light of the menorah, the Torah of Jerusalem, of Zion is going to shine out throughout the entire world. And thank you so much for having you on the podcast. I enjoy every minute of it. Thank you everyone. >> Rabbi Adas, thank you so much. In the words of Isaiah 60 that we read in synagogue this week, it says when the time comes God will hasten it and it's definitely happening right now. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Rabbi. >> [music]