Which Team Are You On? - Beshalach On Fire

[Music] most people you meet on the street will know how many Jews left M right 600,000 but what is far less known is how many people did not leave mitz how many Jews didn't make it out so the P says that only one of the Jews in MIT made it out alive so if you do the math if 600,000 people left that means 2.4 million Jews did not simple math but there are other opinions listed in Med they translate the word Kim to mean 150th meaning 29.4 million Jews did not leave MIT so you got to wonder why what happened to those people why did some Jews get a ticket out of MIT while other Jews didn't so the medress gives the following seemingly bizarre explanation the medress says that the people who were able to leave mitzraim were the ones who spoke Hebrew dressed in the traditional clothes and referred to themselves by their Jewish SL Hebrew name and those who perished in mitzraim did not now what's bizarre is that these people otherwise seem to be good people they may have kept they may have come to show it does not accuse them of going around worshiping Idols or murdering people just because they dressed a little Egyptian and spoke a little Egyptian and went by Egyptian names they were permanently removed from the Jewish people forever doesn't that seem a little harsh and when you look at Jewish history with a bird's eye view you would seem to see this phenomenon repeating itself the gamar mill explains that the reason the Jews were destined to be annihilated during the times of hamon was because they participated in the party that AOS threw but not one was compromised they went to sh three times a day they ate three meals every sh sometimes four sometimes five because they went to a party could that be the reason enough to wipe out the whole nation because they went to a party again it seems a little harsh the r in page n he says that there was a decree in the times of Thea story forbidding the Jews to close the front door of their house he says that is what prompted the to lead the nation into war with the Greeks and the eventual miraculous Victory isn't that odd open doors we were keeping we were keeping shabas we were doing because we had our doors open is that what almost destroyed us the second B was famously destroyed because of baseless hatred ever wonder what was so bad about that we were following we were Shas we were not idolators we're adulterers okay so we didn't like our neighbors they were a little loud for us we didn't like how they flavored their chent that's what destroyed the B mikdash if idolatry and adultery and murder were what brought down the first Bas of mikdash this seems to pale in comparison in the times of Rika there was a plague that decimated almost his entire student body almost all his T them died thousands upon thousands died why because they didn't treat each other with as much respect as required now I'm not saying respecting one's friend is is not important but to Warrant the mass death of 24,000 people seems a little harsh no overt sin was committed they kept all 613 mites why was there such a huge Calamity why is it that whenever we as a nation were collectively threatened it came about from a seemingly insignificant offense is there something fundamental beyond the 630 mitzah that's required of us and if so what is it so the b in brisk from the years 1820 to 18 92 he offers the following powerful explanation if you look carefully throughout our history you will find a pattern whenever a national lack of pride in Hashem is demonstrated disaster strikes whenever we as a people act in a way that is demonstrative of disinterest in our nationhood Calamity ensues in simple English if you're into Hashem he's into you if you're not into Hashem he's not into you one can follow the Mitzvah to the very letter of the law and yet not feel passionate about being on hashem's team there is no fire in his heart he's just a Jew doing Jewish things because that's what Jews do you might even daydream about being a non-jew he just does it because that's what his parents do out of wrote or perhaps due to fear of the social consequences that would occur if he dropped what his parents and Community held dear such a Jew has says I don't need my midst I want Jews who are on fire I want Jews who love me I want Jews who feel passionate and pride Hashem didn't see Jews in MIM who were proud of their Jewish Heritage but happened to wear Egyptian clothing or adopt Egyptian names Hashem saw Jews who wish they were Egyptians he saw Jews who saw the Egyptian culture and were enamored and secretly wished they could be Egyptian whether they would dare admit it to you or not Hashem knows what's going on in the inside so they were wiped out in Egypt Hashem didn't see Torah observant Jews in Persia who happened to be going to a Persian party he saw Jews who wished they were Persian he saw Jews who were too afraid to shed their Judaism but were closet Persians there was no passion in their Judaism therefore until they cried out in Repentance they were destined to be annihilated Hashem didn't see religious and God-fearing Jews in the times of the Greeks who happened to have opened their front doors all day he saw Jews who wanted every new wants of Greek culture to flood their homes they brought the street into their houses they looked at the Greeks with wide eyes loving every bit of their culture their music their Sports this enraged Hashem so much that the Jews were moments away from spiritual destruction Hashem didn't see God-fearing Jews in the times of the who happened to not get along with their Jewish neighbors he saw people who didn't view their neighbors as teammates on hashem's team but rather as competitors in The Game of Life if you truly believed you were on hashem's Team every Jew would be a teammate and you would cheer them on with Glee our baseless hatred revealed that we weren't Brothers on hashem's team we were enemies in the rat race of Life Rea students were not merely disrespectful they too were demonstrating that they viewed their learning as a personal quest for knowledge and wisdom rather than a itive furthering of hashem's mission in this world it showed Hashem that they were to a degree in it for themselves and not in it for him this Marshall teaches a Titanic lesson it's not enough to have a big giant clipboard with 613 mits of son it checking them off one by one one is to passionately feel that they are on hashem's Team One us to genuinely feel a loving need for each member of Cl for each and every one of us are teammates on team Hashem for many years I was a counselor in a Sleepaway Camp and naturally I had kids in my bunk who didn't always get along this boy socks around the other boy's bed and this kid can't stand the other kid pet salamander this guy can't stand that he sleeps next to someone from Brooklyn the typical childish squabbling but every single year without exception a phenomenon took place when the camp entered color War the camp was divided between two teams and half of the bunk was on one team while the other half was on the other suddenly these kids who literally moments prior couldn't stand each other's guts would now cheer each other on they would slap each other on the back they were lifting each other up and laughing and bonding together what changed the desire to win color war was so intense that it smoothed down all differences all differences were so petty in comparison it made all differences seem so pett suddenly they weren't competitors fighting to have a good time in Camp they were teammates who both desperately wanted to win color War his home run was my home run his three-point shot was my three-point shot his win was my win I need him if we truly felt proud of our yish kite we would feel the same about our neighbors and our friends we need them their win is our win their loss is our loss but if we are here merely to enjoy life our neighbors and Friends pose a threat to our enjoyment [Music] writes that the degree in which we love Hashem is measured in the degree that we love other Jews for if we don't love who he loves then to a degree we don't really love him because a friend of a friend is a friend we are grandchildren of people who stared into the faces of Egyptians and said I will not be like you we are grandchildren of people that stared into the face of the Persians and said I will not be like you we are grandchildren of people that stared into the face of the Greeks and said I will not be like you we are grandchildren of people who stared into the face of the Romans the Spaniard the Frenchmen the Germans the enlighteners the philosophers the re the revolutionaries and said it loud and said it proud we will not be like you may our grandchildren be grandchildren of people who stared into the face of modern day Billboards and front pages and movies and sports stars and said proudly I am on team God I will not be like you I am a Jew and I am proud May the holy words of the basaly live on if you're into Hashem then he's into you [Music]