How To Get ReEnergized Like Tzadikim? | TORAH FOUNDATION (21)

[singing] [music] [singing] >> We're going to start in 2 minutes. Sounds good. All right. >> [singing] >> Sounds pretty awesome. What about now? Good. All right. >> [music] >> Baruch Hashem, we're back to the series. Wait, hold on a second. Some of the sound is uh uh microphone issue. Okay, hold on a second. Let me see if I can get something else. Quickly. Sound is cutting out. Uh hold on a second. See, you got to have to have All right. See? Hopefully that works better. Let me know if that works better. What about now? Sounds better? Yep, sounds good. All right, very good. Okay, we're going to start off with a story. I know you guys liked it last time, so we'll do the same thing again today. Years ago, there was a famous chacham, famous dayan, famous kabbalist named the Chida. And of course, the Chida was not only a tzaddik in the chacham, but also was someone that went through an enormous amount of difficulties. When he went collecting for money to help Am Yisrael, the poor people in Eretz Yisrael, he went all over Europe, all over the world to try to collect money, and uh he actually wrote a journal of all the different things that he had to endure. At one time, he actually had to use Kabbalah Ma'asit to disappear from a group of uh bandits that came into the town and uh pretty much killed and uh almost everybody there. But in one of those trips, he was on a boat, and uh on this boat, there was also a Jewish cheese merchant. Now, this cheese merchant wasn't exactly a uh Jewish uh with Yirat Shamayim, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. So, when he heard that the Chida is on the boat, he figured that maybe he could get the Chida to give him kashrut. Maybe he could force him even. Where is the Chida going to run away to? So, he came to the Chida and he told him uh "Rabbenu, I'd like for you to give my cheese kashrut so I could sell it in the Jewish community." And the Chida told him "Okay, well, first I have to see the cheese, and you can explain to me how it was made." So, of course, he brought him to the cheese, showed him everything, and then explained to them the whole process of what they did in order to make this cheese. And after he concluded, the Chida told him "I'm sorry, but your cheese is not kosher." And without skipping a beat, this Jew that had no fear of God, but only fear of money, threatened the Chida and told him "Listen, Rabbi, you see that water over there in the ocean? That's where you're going to go if you don't give me kashrut. The group of guys that work for me have no problem listening to everything I say. So, if you don't give me the kashrut right now, I'm going to throw you over, and that's where you're going to end." Now, the Rambam teaches that you don't need to die for the sake of eating kosher. So, without much choice, the Chida had to write his famous signature on the cheese to give this man kashrut, and in those days, they would also write a verse from that week's parashah to give people an understanding of the date. Which means that anyone that from the Jewish community that bought this cheese would have eaten non-kosher. But that's not where the story ends. But before we get to the end of the story, we have to obviously ask ourselves, how does somebody like the Chida continue going, continue pushing, continue trying to help more Jewish people when you have such evil people among us? There's a famous dayan and posek in Eretz Yisrael that just paskened halacha right before the holidays, telling people to be careful of certain things based on the psak of certain gedolei Yisrael. One of the food companies that was included in that psak decided to sue him for a million dollars. This is obviously an embarrassment, a shameful act, but at the end of the day, it's still a lawsuit. How does somebody continue after having so many problems? This is one of the questions that we all ask ourselves when we hear the stories of tzaddikim, how they did amazing things, but until they got to the amazing things, they had a whole path full of problems. And anyone that reads it says, "How did he do it?" The Chovot HaLevavot takes us a step deeper into the understanding of the path that goes from believing to knowing Hashem. And although the depth of this shiur may be a little bit much for some of us, we're all going to arrive at the same conclusion at the end of this shiur, which is, "I want that." Tonight's shiur is going to be for the refuah shleimah of Rav Ephraim ben Shulamit, Rabbanit Sarah bat Anat, Rabbanit Levana bat Sarah, Sarah bat Levana, Avi Mori David ben Asriel, Immi Morati Doris bat Shura, and also a very happy birthday for my dear Imma. Baruch Hashem, Hakadosh Baruch Hu give her 120 years full of nachat from our children and grandchildren, b'ezrat Hashem. So, the Chida has been teaching us in this series the basic foundation of a connection with Hashem. And in this segment, he told us that relying on the masoret, on the tradition alone, is good for some people that do not have the gift of a clever mind. If you're a simple-minded person, you don't have the ability, the tools, the gift to think deeply about different parts of the Torah, you won't be charged for it in Shamayim. But if you had the ability to get a law degree, a degree in any type of major profession, you were able to learn computer development programming, and all types of high-level skills, then certainly you were gifted with a mind that's above the average. And for those of us that have been, we have an obligation to use our mind in addition to the Mesilat Yesharim in order to understand the deeper matters in the Torah. And one of the things that the Hovot HaLevavot told us is that there are endless proofs in the Torah where Hakadosh Baruch Hu is expecting us to not only rely on the tradition, but to also rely on the gift that he gave us, a clever mind, in order to ask the deeper questions, in order to delve and delve into the Torah in order to get those answers to those questions. And the reason why the tradition and the clever mind are coupled together is because if you only use the tradition, you won't be using your mind to its full potential. If you're only using your mind without the tradition, then certainly you could arrive at heretical beliefs that are far, far away from what true Torah Judaism really is about. But now the Hovot HaLevavot wants to take us on another proof, >> [snorts] >> a proof from Isaiah the prophet of how Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects us to use our mind in order to get closer to him, in order to understand that these difficulties that each and every single one of us is dealing with throughout our time in this world, whether it's while we're doing teshuvah or after we've been doing teshuvah and serving Hashem for many years, the difficulties don't stop. And somehow we're expected to get re-energized. We're expected to have even a higher level of excitement today than we did 15 years ago. Usually, people are excited about things at first. They're excited about their job when they first get it. They're excited about their relationship when they first start it. They're excited about a new toy when they first get gifted this toy. But everyone knows that after a while, it becomes mundane. It becomes normal. It becomes your stuff that you're used to. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says that can never be when it comes to your belief in me. And this is going to explain to us why that's the case. It's not because of a punishment that someone would get like if they violate the Torah, but rather because if we don't have the ability to re-energize our emunah, to re-energize our bitachon, our confidence in Hashem, to re-energize our connection and understanding of who and what Hashem is to us, then those difficulties of today will become impossible. So the Chida, the uh Hovot HaLevavot says as follows. He brings a verse as a second proof from Isaiah in chapter 40 verse 28, where it says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Hashem is the God of the universe, creator of the ends of the earth." The first phrase, says the Hovot HaLevavot, that says, "Do you not know?" is referring to knowledge gained from rational argument. Meaning that you need to get to a point of progressing from believing in God to knowing God through a rational understanding of there can be nothing else. Where did everything come from? And the second phrase, where he says, "Have you not heard?" is referring to the tradition that was passed down to us and what we rely on from tradition. And there's also another verse that Isaiah says in chapter 40 verse 21, which we'll go deeper into in a moment, where he says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Were you not told from the very beginning?" Here too, says the Hovot HaLevavot, knowledge gained from rational argument is mentioned before knowledge gained from tradition and transmission. Now, in order to really understand what the Hovot HaLevavot is saying here, we actually have to dig deeper into what Isaiah said. And the prophet Isaiah wants to get us to a point where we understand that it's all for our benefit. In chapter 48, verse number 17, Hashem says through the prophet, "Koh amar Adonai Go'elcha, Kadosh Yisrael. Ani Adonai Elohecha, Melamdecha Leho'il, Madrichecha Baderech Telech." "Thus said Hashem, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel. I am Hashem, your God, who instructs you for your benefit, who guides you in a way you should follow." So, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is telling the prophet clear instructions of where we have to get to. We have to get to a point of knowing God well enough that we know that the rebuke, the instructions, the experiences, the difficulties are part of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's lessons for us to help us, for our benefit. But before we got there, the prophet Isaiah was telling us about how we had to endure difficulties, the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, and and everybody owns personal situation, their own personal difficulties in their life, whether it be a destruction of financial situations, divorces, health issues, the list go on for all the difficulties that people have to deal with every day. And the prophet says in chapter 40 verse 1, "Nachamu Nachamu Ami, Yomar Eloheichem." "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God." So the sages ask, "Why did Hashem say Nachamu twice, comfort twice, comfort, comfort? To mean, one comfort is enough." So there are many different commentaries on this particular one, in one case saying the first Bet Hamikdash and the second Bet Hamikdash being destroyed these are two different things that Am Yisrael will need to be comforted from when the salvation comes, because these are two difficulties that were each on their own more enormous than we can possibly imagine. He then says about Am Yisrael, "She has received double for all her sins from the hand of Hashem." On that, the commentary say, "We all know that Hashem is just. And therefore, it's not possible that this means that Am Yisrael got more punishment than it deserved. We all know that Hashem is just. And therefore, the difficulties that you're dealing with, even if it's being in the middle of a depression or dealing with a major health issue or financial issue or any type of crisis, the prophet is telling us here, 'It feels like you've received double your sins.' We know we've made mistakes. We know we haven't been perfect with Hashem. And when we're going through difficulties, it feels like double. It feels like a worse punishment than the crime. And this is not unique to you. This is a reality of how people feel. And on this, B'siyatta Dishmaya, I thought, "Why did Am Yisrael, and why do we feel like when we're dealing with difficulties, even when we get to a point where we realize, 'Oh, you know what? That wasn't exactly the most righteous person when it came to praying, when it came to observing Shabbat, when it came to whatever other issues people realized that they need to fix of themselves. If you ever wonder what you need to fix about yourself, then simply just ask your spouse. It's whatever they're complaining about over and over again, that's usually it. Your spouse knows you as as better than anybody else. If she's constantly complaining about you being stingy, or you being arrogant, or you being this, or you being that, then that's usually a good place to start of things that you've done wrong. But needless to say, when a person comes to terms with that, and he realizes, you know what? I did do wrong. But even though I did wrong, Hashem, this punishment that you're giving me, it feels like double. It feels like it's worse than what I did. Why does it feel that way? Am Yisrael made the mistake of going to false beliefs. Whether it was the beliefs of the Greeks, or the beliefs of the Plishtim, or any other foreign belief that was not God. And even though Hashem sent them many warnings through the prophets, all of the prophets endured major difficulties, but continued getting re-energized from time to time, even after Am Yisrael tried to kill them. Whether it was the prophet Isaiah, the prophet Jeremiah, Zechariah, most of which they ended up killing in the end. But when the prophets are giving them the messages, each time you see that the prophet is fully energized, fully connected to the message, and trying to truly help Am Yisrael, even though they hurt them, even though they cursed them, even though they did so many bad things to them. And that's a common denominator among all of the tzaddikim. They get hurt the most by the people they tried to help. But eventually, when the punishment does come, they feel like maybe the punishment is worse than the crime. Did I really do that bad? And that's because when a person gets punished, it's similar to when a person loses a really bad bet. The people that are in the different businesses these days, whether it be jewelry, or selling all types of high-priced clothing and sneakers, and it's become a trend in recent years to end every transaction with a gamble by flipping a coin, or playing cards. Where they agree on a certain price, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, whatever it is, but in the end, after they've agreed to a certain price, they say, "Okay, for the last $500, or last 5,000, or last 50,000, let's flip a coin, and whoever wins wins that extra, or sometimes the whole deal." Somebody could literally say, "Okay, I'm either going to get $50,000 or zero." And literally, they bet $50,000 on a coin flip. How much stupid And I can assure you every single person that loses that bet has the same exact feeling on his way home. WHICH IS "WHY DID I DO THAT TO MYSELF?" And I'm not even sure there's a worse feeling than that. And the reason why is because that feeling is double. Why is it double? Because first you feel the punishment. You feel the punishment that you agree you deserve. You agree you deserve the punishment because you went against Hashem. So, you got punished. That I agree to. BUT THE SECOND, THE DOUBLE, is the most painful. Why? Because you realize that even had you won, that lust you went after, EVEN HAD YOU GAINED THAT EXTRA YOU WERE GREEDY ENOUGH TO PUSH FOR, it still wasn't worth the risk. It still wasn't worth the price. So, you realize you lost for nothing. Am Yisrael feels like they lost for nothing. THEY FEEL LIKE they received double the punishment because they realized that even had they gained something from these false idols, something from these false beliefs, it still was not worth the price that they ended up paying for being wrong and going against Hashem. And Hakadosh Baruchu tries to comfort them because they're still alive. And you can still push forward to get to better times. But the first thing you need to understand is that believing in God is not going to suffice anymore. You now have to know that God runs the world. And therefore, the prophet says in chapter 40, verse 13, "Who can prepare the spirit of Hashem? His man of counsel who informs him?" Here, the prophet is trying to tell us God doesn't need you. No one can ever be someone that can claim themselves as, "You know, I helped God. I prepared him. I COUNSELED HIM. I TELL HIM WHAT TO DO." NO one can do that. "Who taught him wisdom? Who explained the way of knowledge to him?" "Behold, all the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are reckoned like dust rubbing off a scale." Here, the prophet is rebuking the nation, and really rebuking the world, rebuking mankind, saying, "You doubted God. You went to false idols. You went to man-made gods. You went to man-made beliefs and philosophies. You thought you knew more than the Torah. You thought you knew more than God. You were more merciful than God. You thought that his laws are old, ancient, irrelevant. And you were wrong. And now you're realizing it as you wallow in your pain." But have you ever thought about who God is? Do you ever think, "Who taught him all this stuff?" Obviously, no one. He came first. He is the master of knowledge. He's the one that gives knowledge. "Who explained the way of knowledge to him?" Obviously, no one did. He created knowledge, and therefore, there's no way that you could ever know more than him. And he says, "Behold, all of the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are reckoned like dust rubbing off a scale." Here, the Hakhamim explain that Hakadosh Baruchu is trying to give us a perspective that so long as we are against him, we are nothing. The moment we go with him, we follow him, we serve him, we become worthwhile. But then, when somebody says, "Yeah, but I have this, and but I have that." And the prophet says, "To whom can you liken God? And what likeness can you attribute to him?" Meaning that what can you possibly compare to Hashem? And even if you compared something to Hashem, does that really mean that Hashem is in that level that you compared him to? Are you the master of knowledge? Can you really claim to be certain in your beliefs? Did you create yourself? And then he says in verse number 21, "Do you not realize? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? These are the verses that Khovat Halevavot was mentioning. Have you not contemplated the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits on the circumference of the earth, with its inhabitants like grasshoppers, who spreads the heavens like a thin curtain." Here, the prophet Isaiah is ridiculing all of those that continue to go against Hashem or even went against him got punished and are crying about it. Did you not realize who you're dealing with? Did you not realize that he's the creator? He's the master and it's not you that makes the rules. And even if you didn't realize, didn't somebody tell you? Didn't somebody tell you that you can't just do whatever you want? And really Isaiah is baffled at the fact that someone would even dare question the judgment of God. Or even compare him to something else. Speak of Hashem as if he were a physical being whose power is limited. He says, you wonder what he can do and what he can do. What does he desire and what he doesn't desire? And whether he can change his preferences and so on. All of this foolishness is only because you liken Hashem to a physical being. Except that he's much more exalted than ordinary people. And therefore you tried to fashion an idol to represent him. But Hashem is not comparable to any idol. He has no image or likeness whatsoever. He's pure and exalted spirituality. No physical being can be compared to him or can symbolize him. This is the explanation of the Malbim of what these verses are actually trying to tell us. When people say things like God needs you or God needs us that's because they are humanizing God and comparing them to either themself or something else they idolize. Whether it be a rabbi or some type of image, ideology all of these paths are the wrong paths. All of them lead to horrific ends. And the prophet is trying to explain that this is not only the wrong path but the outcome of it won't be what you expected even if you win. Hence the reason why it'll feel like a double punishment. The Radak explains how the degradation of the generations worked in the past and from there we can understand where we are today. And he says no idolater has ever believed that a piece of stone, wood or silver or gold that was created in the world is really the master of the universe. No one is that stupid. This is literally his words. Rather the idols that were made were made as a representation of a heavenly power with the intention of serving that serving the idol is like serving the divine power. This is what happened at the time of Noah. They weren't serving idols as if the idol is God. Rather they thought that this is the way to serve God. But in the course of time, says the Radak things got worse. Because as they became a habit to serve these images without paying attention to the original intention the people began to believe that this stone or wood or metal actually had some type of intrinsic power or aid to aid them or harm them. And they would offer sacrifices or pour wine libations or burn incense for them without paying any attention whatsoever to the actual creator. And they got to a point of thinking that just as their ancestors performed the same actions and were successful the same would apply to them. There was no logic behind what they were doing there was no scientific basis. It became an outcome of habit generation after generation. In essence says the Radak the earlier generation made a mistake in their understanding of how to serve God. While the later generations made even a bigger mistake in their understanding of what their ancestors even did. And they ended up serving the idol itself. When a person starts doing chuvah, starts praying to Hashem, even if they grew up in a religious house every kid starts off excited about doing Shema Yisrael about doing the blessings. And if he just started doing chuvah at 15 or 20 or 30 YEARS OLD, HE'S EXCITED ABOUT SAYING SHEMA YISRAEL AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WHEN HE SAYS IT, HE SAYS IT WITH ALL OF HIS HEART AND HE SAYS IT OUT LOUD EVEN THOUGH it doesn't need to be that loud, BUT HE MAKES IT AS IF IT'S A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT. SHEMA YISRAEL [screaming] ADONAI ELOHEINU ADONAI ECHAD. AND EVERYONE'S looking at him like, what happened? Why is he screaming? And unless somebody's familiar is like, no no, he's just new. Oh, oh. Or when he does a blessing, he's about TO EAT. BARUCH ATAH HASHEM ELOKEINU MELECH HA'OLAM SHEHAKOL NIHYEH BIDVARO. AND HE'S LIKE DUDE, IT'S IT'S IT'S JUST it's just a little piece of candy. You don't have to make a whole big deal, big scene out of it. He's excited. And I wish that excitement stayed with us. In fact the more person learns Torah, the more they become jealous of that excitement because that excitement is something out of this world. Everything is new. Everything is exciting. But with time the blessings become habitual the prayers become habitual and all of the sudden instead of saying the blessing with so much excitement you mumble the blessing. Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech Ha'olam you forget whether you said the blessing or you said some something else where you were reviewing your bills for the day or you were reviewing your grocery list or you were eating an apple. You weren't sure but you ate anyway. Your blessing not so much. The prayer that used to be so exciting, Shema Yisrael, sometimes you end up with Asher Yatzar and you're not really sure if you're in the bathroom or you're actually in the middle of Amidah. Why? Habit. When everything becomes a habit it degrades. It falls. You become more distant from the previous version of yourself and needless to say your ancestors. In fact, what Isaiah the prophet is telling us here even if you didn't realize who God was you could have always looked into the tradition to hear what the truth is. Even if you didn't hear what you were supposed to yesterday, you're always able to hear it today because the books are available. But the problem is everything became so habitual that you allowed yourself to make an even bigger error than the previous version of yourself and the previous version of Shema Yisrael. And everything continues to get further and further. And the further we get the more we become inclined to do things that we'll regret double. And the prophet continues in verse number 25. Again reminding us to whom can you liken me that I should be his equal? Says the holy one. Raise your eyes on high and see who created these things. On this verse the Chovot Halevavot says later on that there's an actual obligation that we have to look at the heavens and realize that Hashem created the world. Hashem created such a big world, such a beautiful world, such a perfect world that only those that choose to be blind, spiritually blind, will refuse to admit that it had to be done by Hashem and nothing else. It cannot be from some explosion or some happenstance. When you just simply look at the heavens, you look at the sky and you see these clouds that one moment they're raining, another moment they're just floating in the air. An airplane can fly through them and nothing happens. And a moment later it starts raining for 2 hours. Where's the water coming from? HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Do you know that the rain starts accumulating in the cloud from a grain of sand? And the more you learn about the creation, the more you realize it is impossible for such a thing to come from an explosion unless you choose to be spiritually blind. So, when you look up at the heavens, you realize that there's a sun, there's a moon. They're all perfectly positioned where they need to be in order to sustain life. While we know what would happen if the sun would disappear or even get further or closer to us, few realize the effects and impacts of the moon of how it could literally turn the entire ocean upside down into a whole big tsunami if it simply moved a little bit further than we needed to. Everything is perfectly positioned in order to sustain life. And when a person looks up at the heavens, they realize what the prophet is yelling about here. Raise your eyes on high and see who created these things. He brings forth their legions by number. He calls to each of them by name. By the abundance of his power and by vigor of his strength, not one is missing. There was a heretic that asked Rabban Gamliel, "What's the big deal that he calls everything by name? Why is that even mentioned by the prophet?" The Maharal MiPrague explains it. Says, "When a person forgets their own limitations, it's very easy for them to think, 'What's the big deal?' or to think that anything could be just given enough time." That's how people come up with the nonsense of saying that everything evolved, you came from some amoeba, it's just a lot of time passed, you came from a monkey, it's just a lot of time passed, all types of stupid things because anyone that has common sense realizes that that if we really came from monkeys, then why are the monkeys still here? They say, "No, well, some evolved, some didn't." Okay, so where's the people in the middle? How come they're the only ones that disappeared? But it's easy to say that things are just supposed to be or things have to be when you don't realize your own limitations. And the Maharal says this heretic that asked Rabban Gamliel, "What's the big deal of the names?" doesn't realize that if he were to look out into the field and he were to start counting everything he sees, he has to look at everything he sees at once, one at a time. Oh, that's a house. And next to the house, he has to look elsewhere. Oh, there's a horse. And then he has to move his eyes a little bit more. He's like, "Oh, and next to there, there's a barrel. And over there, there's grass." And then he starts counting the grass that he can see. And there's so many of them that he has to go slowly and he's not even sure if he counted the ones that he already counted. Forgetting his own limitation that for him to be able to just see what's in front of him requires his complete attention on one thing at a time. Whereas Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not require this limitation. He simply knows where everything is that he created at all times, every time. He's not subject to time and space. But when a person forgets their own limitations, their own lowliness, it's very easy to take away the significance of your creator and minimize him when you compare him to yourself. And that's why the prophet repeats time and time again, "Did you not know? Did you not hear? Hashem is the eternal God, the creator of the ends of the earth." Meaning, even if you claim that you didn't know, why didn't you go to a shiur Torah to learn? Why didn't you open a sefer and learn? You learned for your law degree, you learned for learning who's [clears throat] the best player in your football pool, you learned who is the best player in this baseball team. You learned all of these different things. Why didn't you learn about your creator? Now that you're crying that you're being punished. Now, when a person looks at the life of the tzaddikim, it's very easy to see their achievements that stand out. The tzaddik built this yeshiva. The tzaddik built this community. The tzaddik completed the Shas multiple times. The tzaddik had hundreds of talmidim. It's very easy to look at the accomplishments of the tzaddik. And of course, think that wow, he was created for this. Must be easy for him. But when you read about the lives of the tzaddikim, and usually there's no two books that are the same about even if it's about the same tzaddik. If you read one book about the life of Rav Ovadia versus another, you realize it's two completely different experiences and they both happened. And there's much more that's not in the books because there continues to be more and more books written about their lives and each one of these books is full of the trials and tribulations that Rav Ovadia Yosef and all of the other tzaddikim had to endure in order to get to those prized achievements that everyone knows about. And when you read about these difficulties of this tzaddik who was literally nearly murdered multiple times by people that simply did not want to understand the truth or accept it. There was one guy that tried to kill Rav Ovadia Yosef twice. This tzaddik had to endure the Holocaust, not only himself, but also the fact that his entire family was murdered in the Holocaust. Whether it's the Ponevezher or the Klausenburger Rebbe or many other chachamim that built the world of Torah in the last generation literally had to endure gehennom in this world, but still managed to get re-energized to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu at the absolute maximum. What distinguishes them from everyone else? Of course, the righteous people do things that are more righteous. But when it comes to the frail human being, we all have emotions. We all have different levels of controlling those emotions, be anxiety, anger, other types of things. How do they overcome it? How do they not only overcome these difficulties, these tragedies, these traumas, and not only overcome them, but somehow get re-energized with more power the second time around than they did the first time. And to end the chapter, the prophet Isaiah gives us exactly what they do. Hashem gives strength to the weary and grants abundant might to the powerless. Youths may weary and tire, and young men may constantly falter. But those whose hope is in Hashem will have renewed strength. They will grow a wing like eagles. They will run and not grow tired. They will walk and not grow weary. What the prophet is telling us here is that if a person goes through life either distant from Hashem or turning his servitude of Hashem into some habitual behavior, he does it because he lives in a Jewish community. He does it because he's used to being a member of the synagogue. So, he prays because he has to pray, and he goes to the holiday and celebrates the holiday because that's the way it is. When the time comes and Hashem gives that person a difficulty, it's going to be very, very difficult for that person to endure the pain, that double pain, but also it'll be impossible for them to be re-energized. In fact, they'll become weary. They'll become tired. They'll want to give up. But the tzaddik and those that want to travel on the same path of the tzaddikim have one distinguishing factor. And tzaddik shall not sin. There's no such thing as someone that's so righteous they don't sin. Everyone sins. Everyone makes mistakes. Of course, everyone in their level. The sin of the person that commits immorality is certainly not the same sin as someone that's completely righteous. He makes a different sin, but nonetheless, everyone falls. Everyone makes a mistake. So, the mistake is not the difference. The difference is that those that want to travel on the path to righteousness, those that are already on the path of being righteous, never lose sight of the hand that is pulling the strings to everything. The one that fed them is the same one that slapped them. The one that raised them is the same one that pushed them down. And the one THAT PUSHED THEM DOWN IS ALSO THE SAME ONE THAT will uplift them. Meaning that the salvation the source of salvation has not changed. And therefore, those who hope for the salvation of Hashem will be gathered and will end up having increased strength and renewed abilities like they had when they were youths. Like they had when they were so young that it felt like they had wings. And in fact, this is not only going to be something momentary, but rather that next salvation that Hashem raises them will give them increased abilities than what they had before because now their confidence in Hashem, their faith in Hashem being rewarded is going to give them more strength to do the will of Hashem because they see that their prayers were answered. So, the prophet Isaiah knows that every single one of us will deal with major difficulties, but is also telling us that in order for us to be on the path of the tzaddikim that benefit even from the difficulties, we can never lose sight of Hashem being the source of everything. We're not like the false religions that think that the Satan has a power of his own and he can do whatever he wants. No such thing. Everyone is a servant of Hashem whether they admit it or not. In fact, the Satan is a loyal servant of Hashem that will be turned into a holy angel once the Messiah comes. So much so that the chachamim say that while today we're not allowed to say his real name, he will become such a holy angel after Messiah comes for being such a loyal servant of Hashem that people will call their children after his name. The only things that deny their master are people. Because even the animals, the Torah says, know who their maker is. The donkey knew who its owner So, the Chovot Halevavot is telling us even if you have not heard, why didn't you check in order to learn? And even if you did not learn, why didn't you ask somebody so they could tell you? And this is also what Moshe Rabbenu said in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 32 verses 6 and 7. Is this how you repay God, you foolish and unwise people? Remember the days of old. Reflect on the years of generations past. Ask your father and he will tell you. Your elders and they will relate it. This, says the Chovot Halevavot, is further proof of what we've said. Although tradition is the first thing that is taught to the students, for that is what they need first, nevertheless, it will be half-hearted to rely exclusively on that tradition if a person is capable of attaining certainty by way of rational argument. One should reflect on what is learned by way of the intellect and bring proofs in constructing an argument which careful judgment would support. What the Chovot Halevavot is telling us is that everyone starts the same way. You learn from your teacher. You learn from the books. You learn from your parents. But at some point, you have to also think about it. Use that gift that Hashem gave you and start seeing Hashem in your life. Not just believing in Hashem, but seeing him by looking at all the miracles that he has done for you in the past without you even taking notice. Whether it's giving you a job in the last minute before you didn't have money to pay the rent. Whether it's helping you pass the test when you really didn't know what you were talking about. Whether it's finding you the perfect spouse when you thought that you were going to die alone. Whether it's giving you the cure when the doctor said there was no chance. Start thinking about all of those amazing miracles that Hashem gave you that you forgot about. Document them. Write them in the little notebook. Save that notebook and continue adding to it on a regular basis because you'll need it the next time you forget. The next time that you're down. THE NEXT TIME THAT you feel like you're GETTING BEAT UP TWICE for a single sin. Because at the end of the day, Hashem is just. He doesn't give more punishment than deserved. When we feel like we're enduring more punishment, more difficulties than we deserve, it's only because we weren't paying attention. And we started running after the dreams, the fantasies that weren't the right path to begin with. So, it's not only that we got punished by failure, but also that we realized we were wrong the whole way even if we succeeded. What the Chovot Halevavot is trying to take us to is a point where a person understands yes, you need to believe in Hashem. But at the very least, you have to learn how to know that Hashem is very much real, is very much knowledgeable of you and everything that you do. It's not he just showed up in the last minute. It's you realized it. He was there the whole time. In Parshat Bo, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbenu, "Bo el Paro, come to Paro." WHY WHY DIDN'T HE SAY "GO to Paro"? Why did he say "Bo"? Bo is come. Cuz I'm already there. I'm already there. I'm already in your test. I'm already in the difficulty. Abutaya Karim, the difference between the tzaddikim and everyone else is not that they don't have difficulties. If anything, they have many more difficulties. The difference is that they know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the same hand that raised them or pushed them. And it was all for them, for their benefit. And therefore, they use each one of these difficult traumas, experiences, difficulties, or whatever other name you want to call it, as another way to connect to Hashem on a deeper level. This is why when we hear stories of tzaddikim like the Chofetz Chaim saying thank you to Hashem every time he took a step on the stairs. Thank you, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, for giving me the strength on going another step. Another step. THANK YOU, YISHTABACH SHIMCHA THANK YOU SO much for giving me the strength for another step. To us, it sounds unbelievable. But the tzaddikim, our mindset sounds unbelievable. When I asked my dear Rav, Rav Efraim Kachlon, may Hashem bless him and his family and everything that he does, about different subjects when it comes to emunah, well, how is a person going to do this? And how is a person going to do that? One of the most difficult parts of the answers when you don't know is when the tzaddik gives you the answer like it's simple. It's like, "What do you mean, how?" Hashem's going to help him. Yeah, I understand Hashem's going to But what is he going to do? Well, same thing he did the day before. And Hashem's going to help him. YEAH, BUT THIS TIME HE NEEDS FIVE TIMES MORE. OKAY, so just like Hashem gave him one time, he'll give him five times. And in their mind, they literally work on themselves day in, day out through difficulties, not through great, wonderful times and being on vacation, but through the difficulties, to get closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and to have a clear understanding that he and only he is in charge of everything, of the test as well as the salvation. So when they're going through a difficulty, they know where it came from. They know the address. There's never even an inkling that makes them think, "Oh, maybe I'm alone here." They know they needed to pray to Hashem beforehand. They know they need to pray to Hashem now. There is no me. There is NO I. I CAN'T DO ANYTHING. I AM NOTHING. IT'S NOT JUST A STATEMENT that Moshe RABBENU SAID, IT'S A REALITY. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOSHE RABBENU AND THE REST OF US IS MOSHE RABBENU REALLY KNEW IT, WHILE THE REST OF US PRETEND LIKE WE'RE ACTUALLY SOMETHING. WE PRETEND LIKE WE'RE SMART. WE PRETEND like we're beautiful. We pretend LIKE WE HAVE POSSESSIONS. WE PRETEND LIKE WE'RE SOMETHING. Moshe actually knew we're nothing. That's the difference. He didn't just say it. He knew it. He really knew it. So when someone gets a big test, even though they worked their whole life to serve Hashem, they don't look up and say, "Why did you do this to me, God?" They simply know, "I did what I had to do according to the Torah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to do the rest." The Chida was on a boat. He wasn't on the boat because he was going on vacation. He went on the boat in order to go on a multi-year trip to GO COLLECT TZEDAKAH TO HELP POOR PEOPLE in Israel. He was leaving his wife and children at home. He's not going to see them FOR YEARS. FOR WHAT? TO GO HELP the poor people in Israel. Meaning, the trip itself is for the benefit of others. But yet, he's on a boat and this corrupt Jewish merchant threatens his life and says, "If you don't give me the kashrut on my cheese, I'm going to kill you by throwing you into the water." So the Chida follows what Torah says, which is not to sacrifice your life. And he writes his signature. And he writes the verse on the signature next to the signature, as was common to do in those days. But he was also relying on the same God that put him in this circumstance. How so? When the boat eventually reached shore, the Chida left the boat without a second thought, without going to the police. He simply went on his way. The cheese merchant also got off the boat, very happy that now he's going to be able to sell his cheese for at least 10 times the price, because not only does it have kashrut on it, but he could sell it for a high price to the Jewish people, but it has the kashrut of ONE OF GEDOLEI HADOR, THE CHIDA. And as soon as he gets off the boat, one of the dayanim of the city was there waiting for someone. And the cheese merchant says, "Oh, RABBI, NICE TO SEE YOU. Would you like to buy some of my cheese? It's kosher." And the rabbi says, "Sure. Uh who gave you the kashrut?" He says, "The Chida." "WOW, THE CHIDA GAVE YOU THE KASHRUT? When did he give you the kashrut?" HE GOES, "JUST NOW. I WAS HE WAS ON a boat with us." "Oh, the Chida WAS ON YOUR BOAT?" "YEAH." "WHERE IS HE?" "I don't know. He left. I don't know where he is, but he gave me the" "Let me see. I know the Chida. He's my friend." "Well, sure, Rabbi." And he brings him the certificate. And the Chida's signature was very beautiful. It was like a work of art. It's a very beautiful signature. We'll put it on the screen when everyone watches this shiur tomorrow. It's a beautiful, beautiful signature. It's a work of art. Very distinguishable. And quickly, the rabbi says, "Yeah, that's my dear friend the Chida's signature. Wow." And then, he sees the verse that's under it. And that's unusual. And he asks the cheese merchant, "When did you say that the Chida gave you the signature?" "It was just yesterday." "Yesterday? How could it be?" "What do you mean, Rabbi?" And the rabbi's thinking, "How could it be that the Chida gave him this signature yesterday, when we are in Parshat Va'etchanan, but the verse that the Chida used is FROM PARSHAT BO, NOT EVEN CLOSE." And then, the rabbi was also an extraordinary talmid chacham. Without books, just like the Chida didn't have HIS BOOKS. WITHOUT BOOKS, he's thinking, "What is the Chida telling us here? WHY IS THE CHIDA" THE CHIDA OBVIOUSLY knew what parsha we're in. He obviously knows the entire TORAH BY HEART. WHY did he use this VERSE IN PARSHAT BO UNDER THIS KASHRUT? A verse that says, "Because of all of them at night I'm going to lie down here." So shall you eat it, your waist girded, your shoes on your feet. This is TALKING ABOUT PESACH. WHY IS the Hidda using the version of Parshat Bo for kashrut that's today in Parshat Va'etchanan? And then the holy rabbi thinks, "What does the Onkelos say about this verse when he interprets it? The clothing around your waist should be tied, ready for travel. Your shoes should be on your feet." But the word "your waist" also means "your cheese." Your cheese is not allowed. Here the Hidda secretly relied on Kadush Baruch Hu himself >> [snorts] >> completing the story. He saved his life, gave the guy kashrut. AND HE DID NOT WANT AM Yisrael to eat non-kosher cheese, but what could he do? So he said, "Okay, I'm going to put a hint. A hint that certainly the cheese merchant is not going to be able to tell. I'M GOING TO PUT A VERSE CUZ HE'S EXPECTING A VERSE. BUT I'M GOING TO RELY ON KADUSH BARUCH HU SENDING A TORAH scholar to see that THIS VERSE DOESN'T MATCH this parasha and then think why and then know that that verse has words in it that could be interpreted two different ways. One, clearly what is referring to the verse. One, clearly not what's the verse. But identifying what the situation and what the secret is. Your cheese is not kosher. This, Rabbotai Yekarim, is how tzaddikim use each and every single one of their opportunities, whether it be through the salvations or through the difficulties, to connect to Kadush Baruch Hu by relying on him and realizing that yes, he is the one that put me in this situation. He pushed me into the hole, but he's also the same one that will raise me out of it. If we want to go on the path of the righteous, then we have to start realizing that the difficulties are part of the greater lesson that giving us for our benefit, for our betterment. Thank you very much for learning with me. May Kadush Baruch Hu bless each and every one of us to succeed in serving Kadush Baruch Hu on the greatest path there is, which is the path of the holy Torah, the Torah of truth. Anyone that wants to support, please donate on our website bhtorah.org or bezoshashem.org. As I told you guys in our last year, we have extraordinary projects that are in the works right now. Some major, major news coming very, very soon and it's not going to be just one thing or just two things. A bunch of big things are in the works, so anyone that supports is going to be a very, very happy camper when they see the rewards they get for it. Thank you very much and Baruch Hashem and we'll learn again later this week. I'd like to introduce you to your new best friend. We did it. AI Rabbi is here. The AI model that is based on kosher Torah sources, 30 different languages [music] that are available to you. So if you want to ask it in Spanish, in Chinese, Portuguese, whatever you want to do, it's available for you. Can you tell me [music] about the Akedah? So it's timestamped to this year. Press the [music] screen button. AI Rabbi on your WhatsApp. You have the ability to ask questions at will. You'll be provided sources and most importantly, you'll be able to know the truth and be able to rely [music] on the sources.