Shavuos On Fire - Why Should I Celebrate Torah When It Seems To Only Get In My Way

[Music] what how are you how are youc so so it's a great honor and a privilege to share some words of welcoming to Bas Med BMG the largest Yeshiva in North America the second largest Yeshiva in the world and one of the largest yeshivas in Jewish history and it is an honor my name is H Eisenberg in addition to learning down there every single morning I also give classes in pron University I teach Nuclear Physics I'm joking I do not teach Nuclear Physics I teach the fundamentals of Judaism which by the way is far more complex and far more nuanced than Nuclear Physics if anyone is trying to get into pron you could uh speak for me after I might have some tips screen but anyway it's a great honor and privilege to share some words of with you and I I I want to just explain a little bit why there are a thousand people who by the way are not 18 they're 25 and 35 and 45 and 55 who took the prime earning potential years of their career of their lives and instead of going to Wall Street and making a lots of money and instead of going to Manhattan are in there crammed like a sardine in a room meant for 200 people they have a th000 people why are these people doing that why are the people there foro the life of making a lot of money these are not sort of lowlevel you know brainless or quasi mediocre brains some of the sharpest Minds in North America are sitting in that room right now speak to them Afters why are they foregoing in the middle of the day when they could be banking it in Wall Street yet they're here why is that so I want to share with you an idea that I think not will not only explain a little bit what why the heck they're there doing that but give you a little bit of a fresher perspective in Judaism in general and learning Tyra specifically so I want to begin with the following how many religions can you name in world history how many religions can you name anyone like between 10 15 okay 10 and 15 anyone else can name some religions Hinduism chisanity Christianity so how far do you go list between 10 15 yeah so most people I think know around 10 and 15 religions now if you ask historians historians will give you the number of religions in world history between the number 5500 and 6,000 religions have crept up on the face of this Earth and out of 6,000 religions do you know how many have been around for over close to 3700 years continuously that is correct there is only one that has been around for 3700 years continuously and that is the Jewish people longer than the Hans Chinese far longer than the Eastern Mongolians far longer than the Incas and the azex and the Mayans don't even exist anymore far longer than any African tribe which are not even continuous the Jewish people are the longest continuous religion and ethnic group and group of people on the face of the Earth the question is why how every 75 years or so throughout Jewish history there has been a villain Who Rose up and made it his business to wipe out and Destroy and annihilate the Jewish people in the last 150 years alone not 500 not 300 in the last 150 years more Jews have been killed than any other religion combined how are we still here they they say a funny story there was once an evil King who decided to make new evil decrees for his Empire and he gathered all the Jews and he started listing off all the new evil horrible decrees that the Jews were going to have to subjugate themselves to and you know there's some women who are crying and there's people who fainted but there's this one old man in the B who just cannot stop laughing he can't stop laughing so at first the king just ignores the guy but eventually he just can't ignore it and he says yo guy in the back what's what's the deal so the old man he turns to this King and he says you really think you're the first person to start this up with the juice you really think so you're not the first person there was a guy his name was pyro you know what he wants to do to us he wants to annihilate all of us you know what happened to him he's gone you know what he did to him we turned him into M there was a guy his name was hum you know what he want to do to this he wanted to annihilate every single man woman and child you know what happened him he's gone you know what we did to him we turned him into hum there was a guy name was you know what he wants to do to us destroy all of us you know what Happ him he's gone you know what we did him we turned him into lotos so this old man turned to the king and said when I hear you right now make new evil horrible decrees I cannot help myself but think that when you are gone and we're still here what food will we want one day make you into now it's a little bit of a judgment but how are we so sure what gives us such confidence how are we still here you want to know the answer it's because the people in that room it's because the people like you who take time out of your week to come and take inspiration of people who no matter what and a matter when learn with a gun to their head they will continue learning put us into gas Chambers Exile dungeons it makes no difference they will forever keep on learning now the new question becomes why what is their drive to continue almost to the in the face of death why just close your G make a lot of money on Wall Street don't be so loud about your jewishness every 75 years there's some villain who attacks us anyway why why is very nice these people are the reason we're still here what's their drive so I want to answer you with a question that I'm not allowed to ask I'll ask you anyway Politically Incorrect question but I like asking Politically Incorrect questions because I teach in Princeton and if you don't ask Politically Incorrect questions in Princeton how else am I going to survive so a politically incorrect question why should I do dedicate even an ounce of emotional space to something written 2,000 years ago called detective called gamar which by the way only gets in the way of my life it only gives blockades and roadblocks and hurdles it tells me what I can and cannot do constantly every single day when I wake up in the morning one of the 613 mitz come screeching to a halt in front of my face and it takes out a megaphone and it starts screaming you can't do this you could do this you can't do that you got to eat like this you got to walk like that it tells me how to think it when to think it it tells me what to wear and when to wear it it tells me what to say and when to say it whoa settle that I should sell this maybe at best at best I'll tolerate it I should celebrate it I should count down the days of SPO the we're going to get it again I should dance with it on SRA not only that we weared cus which is like a constant reminder you know the gatri and the spring 613 wherever I go I can't run away my tis are always reminded me beware the ti is watching get out menion I told you where you guys you guys where you from everywhere so today when you go back to everywhere imagine I told you that all the lights are going to be red all the traffic lights just going to be red and I'm glad you got listen you're not going to celebrate that maybe you'll tolerate it every single day we wake up in the morning we say thank you has that I didn't make you didn't make me a good what I look at my 12th grade non-jewish friends they can eat whatever they want they can look at whatever they want they can do whatever they want they got a million girlf I can go on internet do whatever H why why am I celebrating this I'm grateful for this why why should I goate even one additional emotional energy to this the answer is that it's complete philosophical mistake it's a complete philosophical error because is not a long list of can and cannot Hashem gets nothing out of us following his th out of us not eating lobster he gains nothing he is perfect you know why he gave us this book because it's the road book it's the treasure map to living the most Blissful harmonious peaceful existence on the face of the Earth every single one of the 613 Mitzvah every single one and we can challenge you debate we don't have time every single one of the 613 Mitzvah is designed to make your life better in this world in this world forget abouta does anyone here know how many timesh is explicitly mentioned in the T how many times Isa zero times because the t is a road for road map for this world a blissful existence the best marriages the best kids the best careers the best emotional equilibrium you better believe these people are going to spend a large chunk of their day exploring it it is a treasure map to a blissful life we live in a world not sure if I'm breaking news to you that's a little bit crazy you know that 51% of marriages in America end up in divorced 67% of second marriages end up in divorced you know that according to the CDC 18% of people are diagnosed with anxiety do you know that 29% according to John Hopkins are diagnosed with clinical depression do you know the most sole drug in North America is anti-depressants you know that 47 million people in America have what's called occupational claustrophobia which means that they hate their job and they can't move on and they're stuck imagine you're going to Disney World anyone here visit Disney World okay so imagine you're going to Disney World I was in Disney World recently went to epot imagine you going to Epcot it's really big place okay and the day before you go to Epcot there's a letter in the mail from the owner of Disney World and he says what's your name Bam Bam my man I know that you're coming to Disney World and it's this huge massive place and you only have one day because you don't want to spend $900 a day going five days so you just are dishing out $900,000 just for that one day to go to Disney World and you only have around 10 hours so the owner of Disney World says included in this letter is a list of tips for you to maximize your time in Disney World and it says don't go there not worth it that ride over go this way make sure to avoid that go here Don need at that hotg stand you're going to get go this way go that way avoid that whole situation that there's a worker there she's nuts just avoid it go there don't talk to that person he's bipolar go here there are you going to read this letter and be like Fu you're telling me what to do or not to do I got I got this bro I got this and you're just going to crumple up the letter and throw it out is that dumb the whole letter was written in order for you to maximize your time in Disney World the same exact thing is true with the it's offering you a life of bliss an amazing marriage amazing kids an amazing time navigating often a crazy chaotic world do you know the city in America that has according to the FBI with at least 100,000 people the city in America that has the most violent crime anyone take a guess that's take a guess Chicago also good gu newe what is it newe okay so these are all good guest you have to factor in that when it's a big city true there's a lot of people doing crime there lots of millions of people not doing crime so it won't get the title of most violent city in America the most violent city in America with at least 100,000 with 100,000 people is Mobile Alabama do you know the city in America with at least 100,000 people according to the FBI's list that has the least violent crime Lakewood New Jersey is that a coincidence oh this city that has the highest concentration of Torah Learners in all of North America also has the lowest level of violent crime of course it's not a coincidence because of these people they commit themselves to studying how to live a harmonious Blissful pure honest lifestyle and you better believe they're going to spend time out of their day they might even forgo that really lucrative job was just demanding them to come for 26 hours a day yeah I'm sorry I don't have time I Got 5 hours in the day where I have to learn because that's my life because that's a roadblock it's a road map a guide book to living a blissful harmonious life I want to read to you a quote from the New York Times sometimes it's good you quote from the New York Times because you know don't don't take my word for it just listen the New York Times listen to this the New York Times wants did a study they want to know like who are the happiest hypothetical happiest people in America they can be pretty cool to study that if you call a gazillion people and you ask them like are you happy you're not happy and then if we can make a common denominator between those people and publish it in the front page in New York Times that'd be really helpful for Americans right cuz like here these are the heal happiest people and go follow what they do okay this is a quote you can look it up yourself New York Times March 6th 2011 weekend review Section 1 page 3 quote the New York Times research staff called thousands of randomly selected adults each day for several months and ask them about their emotional status their work satisfaction their eating habits their illnesses stress levels and other indic of their quality of life it's part of an effort to measure the components of the quote unquote good life okay the responses are then plugged into a formula called the Gallup healthways well-being index and the results show quote from the New York Times it's a quote okay I'm making the results show that the single happiest person in America is an observer JY you Times March 6 2011 we can review section one page 3 obviously once they realized that two it wasn't the front page it was buried in the middle of the few section on the bottom is that is that a shocker to anybody we are consciously studying how to live a harmonious lifestyle all day every day it's an honor and a privilege to be able to dedicate part of our day even a small part to constantly studying I want to give you another quote and then one more idea a story and then I want to end with a magic trick here's a quote this is an unbelievable this this doesn't knock your socks up I don't know what will this is a quote from a man a non-jewish man living in 1943 who was living in Warsaw everyone here familiar with the Warsaw Ghetto right a really bad time in je history this man was a journalist who wrote in his journal his observations of the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside listen up I found a crack in the Warsaw Ghetto wall the other day and I stole a glance I expect to see humans in their lowest State riddled with hate violence and abuse I was expected to look out the poles outside the ghetto and I'd see light and while inside I'd see Darkness what I saw shook me to the cour I stole a glance and I saw light I saw love I saw virtually zero domestic abuse I saw virtually zero domestic violence I saw children loving their parents I saw families holding on for dear life I saw homes filled with Holiness and Purity I saw the sanctity of their Sabbath and the joy of their sukot I saw the purity of their yipper and the sheer happiness of their purin I saw people maintain their respect for human life in one of the most horrid places on the face of the earth I walked away from the crack in the ghetto wall back to the supposed brighter side of humanity back to the streets of wara now rid of its Jews back to the homes with not even half as much life as the Jews behind those walls back to the domestic violence and abuse back to the city where our utopian Bliss has been promised to us by the third right I am not sure what true happiness looks like but the Jews from even behind the ghetto wall seem to be a whole lot closer to it than we are I'm going to read that again I am not sure what true happiness looks like but the Jews from even behind the wara ghetto wall seem to be a whole lot closer to it than we are if that doesn't change your perspective all about the importance of these people the importance of you dedicating part of your week or day or month exploring an unconquerable ancient wisdom that has survived longer than any other peoples on the face of the earth I don't know what with I want to share with you one more idea and then a story and then a imaginary here's another idea imagine instead of going to Orlando to to Disney you wake up in the morning you he in the news there's a meteorite and it's crashing it's going it's zooming right to Earth and it's going to blow up the whole world and unless some astronaut guy goes up in a rocket ship and shoots that bad boy down the whole world's going to explode okay and your uncle is an astronaut okay and being that he's your uncle he was he he was the one selected to go into this astronaut and shoot this meter right down it's going to save the world okay and he asked what's your name Yak he said Yak can you come with me and just watch it's pretty cool experience right you're like you better believe I want a lan so you go with your uncle to Kennedy Space Center and as he's walking up to the spacecraft the uh spaceship he says yko why don't you come and take a peek inside of the spaceship you know what I mean it's pretty cool and you're like you better believe us you go and as you're looking inside there's like this cold red flashing light emergency we got to go right now in that exact moment your uncle has a stomach AE he can't go he says y this is crazy the astronauts aren't here they didn't realize it to the emergency you got to do this so he grabs you and he says it's no big deal here take this this instruction manual it's not complicated just listen to it and he shuts the door and you're flying off its face and the whole world rests on your shoulders to somehow navigate the spaceship and destroy that beor okay are you going to take a look at this instruction manual and start leafing through and be like it says I can't press the red button it says I have to press this I can't push that I can't go near those wires I imagine you just crumble it up you I play Call of Duty I got this okay imagine you would have said that you idiot the whole world is going to blow up imagine I told you that the entire natural world relies on oxygen you know what the spiritual World relies on no Ty this is a nerve center pumping spiritual energy into the world and it saves the world from spiritual meteorites and you can tap in you are part of that Army task with not only gifted with reading and exploring the most Blissful life on the face of the Earth but also pumping the world with spiritual energy literally saving the world from spiritual meteorites in 1943 a German ubot you know what a German ubot is a submarine it got a telegram from an island off to Japan and it was said we have a Jew would you like him and the German y were like yeah and they travel this German you traveled 1,000 miles and picked up this Jew and an random is into Japan and they shot him in the head and they threw him into the Pacific Ocean and they traveled 1,000 miles back these people traveled 2,000 mil for one Jew you want to know why because they knew the secret because even one Jew has the spiritual capabilities to spread spirituality in the world that they wanted nothing to do with spirituality okay here's one last story any don't into Spain no I recently I was in Spain I had privilege of going to Spain highly recommend going there and in Spain there's an area of Spain called terona Spain terona was l it's here Granada and Barcelona and malago if that means anything to you and it was led by a man named RIT AR was more famously called the a one of the giant philosophers of Jewish history up there with the r the the ran and he lived in the 1400s in the height of the Spanish Inquisition and his 12th grade class or whatever came in one day and said like Grandma we out like we're becoming Christians we're not asking you were telling you we becoming Christians we just have one question when we become Christians are we like no longer Jewish like are we going to get punished one day for not eating matah and not shaking Lulu or like we're not Jewish we're not Jewish basically what they were asking was is judism a intellectual religion or it's a genetic religion meaning some religions you just intellectually subscribe to that religion you sprinkle some water on you and you're part of that religion and then you changed and you become part of another religion blah you're part of that or it's not you can You Can't Hide so he turns to and he says Sorry Charlie you can run You Can't Hide You Are Forever a Jew and they turned to him they said excuse rabbit why is that fair like my great great great grandparents accepted the toor and ouri so therefore I have to suffer so therefore I have to deal with it why is it fair I never chose this so he said you're wrong you're making a mistake he said you your soul was ated hearten and it too chose to S so they're like we heard that before Rabbi very nice how did my soul have the right to choose something for me my soul standing next to mosha and Aon and Miriam the Giants of Jewish history how does it have the right to what does it know anything about he doesn't know anything about Spain in 1491 and in Austria in 1882 and Berlin in 1933 and America in 2024 what is my soul how's my soul have the right to choose to for me so he turns to me says you're making a mistake you guys are making a philosopical ever your soul stood in our Cena and it knew everything about you it knew everything that would ever happen in your life it knew about Spain in 19 in 1491 and it knew about Vienna in 1555 and in Czechoslovakia in 1666 and I knew about berin in 1933 and America in 2024 I knew about everything you would go through all your problems all your struggles all your self-doubts all your anxieties all the pills beond and knew about Mr Beast and June perfect and knew about everything I knew about your abusive mother and the divorce and what went down one day behind the school and knew everything and nevertheless it got up and it shouted loud and it shouted proud I want in because this is the best existence on Earth and second place is in another Stratosphere I want it and right at that exact moment Yama got a very perfectly tailor made dose of holy is perfect for you and your upbringing and the camps that you went to and the school that you go to and the struggles that you have and the strengths and the weaknesses and everything about you you're got a tailor made dose of kadha and by the way you know how we nurture that little spark of kadha inside of you you know how we nurture it and develop it by learning it is nurtured and developed and it comes down and we pump spiritual energy and we rewind remind the world of morality and ethical behavior and Holiness and San when we learn over when we connect oursel in a world of infinity in a world of insanity to Infinity a pip line to Heaven is established right above the head of anyone who learns I want to just end with AAG how many Ms are there in the th how many organs and Senus are there in the body count all them up organs and Sen organs and amazing right that's not the best that's amazing is that cool think about that for a second okay you ready for this Princeton level you a phone I can borrow a calculator more here's a calculator remember this how many hours are there in a day 24 hours in a day how many days are there in a year 365 anyone take a guess how many hours that makes a year if you if you can get this okay ready the BR that's a lot of 8,760 hours in one year okay the average lifespan of a man according to Jewish tradition is 70 [Music] years the average lifespan of a man is 70 years and if you look historic it's pretty much accurate because there have many hundreds of years where people live till 300 or 400 or 175 and there were a solid thousand years when people live till they were 20 so the average according to Jewish tradition say is 70 years that means if there are 24 hours in a day and there are 365 days in a year there are 8,760 hours in a year do you know how many hours there are in an average lifespan of a man times 70 you ready for this 63,000 hours in the average lifespan of a man right here is that a coincidence of course not there are 600,000 there are 613 mitzvas in the there are 613 organs in City in the human body and there are 63,000 hours in the typical lifespan of a man why because the Tyra is our everything it's our every hour of every year of every month of every week of our existence and you bet your bottom dollar that we will be here studying it no matter what we will learn it we will dance with it we will cherish it and I implore you as you spend some time in BMG observe it the inspiration and takeaway should be I got get involved on a small scale I got to get involved I want in on this I want to be part of this life I want to be part of the proud Army of Hashem that is the last remaining people on Earth who are holding up the torture of morality and Purity and Holiness in on our planet and I uh thank you all for listening anyone wants any questions I'm happy to answer but if not all critiques comments and to be the ref in the B than [Music]