Incredible Stories of TRUE Success

I think we're quite familiar with the fact that we go through many ups and downs in life. Many sporadic different type of occurrences that we go through from day to day. [clears throat] And as we know that many of us are interested in navigating our life to those dreams and aspirations that we had when we were younger. We usually have something settled in our mind what we intended that life would look like. Whether it's the occupation I have, whether it's the spouse I have, the children or the background that I live in, what country or place that I necessarily live in, all of us have those that specific square, that specific picture, that picture perfect place that I planned on it being. But as the majority of the cases usually come out where suddenly we find that things don't always turn out exactly as I expected, for the good or for the bad. not necessarily telling you which direction we're talking about, but most of the time it usually takes some type of different degree if it's going to be 90° or 180° or go to a different angle to completely to the place that I was having in mind. A person was born with a quick compreh with a very good intelligence a very good quick comprehension or a good memory and he knows that oh I'm going to be one of the next future deleador big if that's the direction that he is or if he's in a certain type of school where his aspirations go a different direction I'm going to be one of the big millionaires in the future I know that I'm going to be one of the impressive people are going to know my name people have a certain type of realm in mind of what kind of facility or what type of place that he is going to be. And suddenly he finds that classmate of his which he never would have dreamed that would happen. This is something I'm specifically thinking about. I remember a classmate of mine specifically who was a guy who was just always around in this and nothing specific. And he ended up being the big billionaire, the big millionaire, the one who made it, the one who made it big. And that other guy that you knew in class that you thought, oh, the validictorian, this is the one who's going to make it big. And suddenly he's barely scraping ends meet. He's barely doing it at all if that. And the truth is this because in the end of the day we know that takes us in the direction that he decides to take us. Usually we understand that we are the ones in charge of life. But sometimes as time goes on we slowly start to realize that life is the one that kind of takes us in his charge. We kind of are following his lead. Of course the decisions are ours. Of course, we all have free choice and we're meant to go in the direction that we feel is correct and the way that we take our free choice. But oh so many times all those decisions don't necessarily take us to the place that end of the tunnel that I thought I was going to get to. A woman went ahead and she learned many years in university to get a very good highle degree in order to understand that she's going to be one who's going to take this type of degree and go somewhere with it. And in the end of the day, what happens? She finds that she ends up being a housewife. A fantastic job. In my opinion, it's one of the best jobs as we know. Something very something very much to to give a tremendous approbation to. What are you kidding? The one who can stay home and actually raise their kids instead of leaving it by Emily. That's a tremendous thing to be able to go ahead and do. However, this woman specifically, she was interested in going ahead and taking her own career and being something special. And suddenly she finds herself in a place that she never expected herself to be because put her in that place. In other words, the I'm trying to say is none of us have real prophecy as we all know. We're never there and we're not we're not we're not we it's very hard for us to know what our is what is the purpose of why I am here intricate puzzle. But guess what? There is a time in your life and here I am speaking with a number of whites in my beard already. But there is a time in your life when suddenly you do have a certain type of prophecy, a certain type of nuvo. You know what? You know when that is when what we call in English 2020 hindsight. When you're able to look back into the into the past, look 30, 40, 50 years back into the past into the life that you lived to the experiences that you went through to the decisions that you went through and where, as I said, life kind of just takes you. When you go through that experience, you suddenly start realizing in retrospect that, wow, this is where I was meant to go. In other words, maybe I didn't think this was it. And maybe I expected differently, but was speaking to me and telling me, "No, no, no. This is the path you are going to be taking in life. This is the clog that I need to fill in the puzzle." Is intimate and very intricate creation that we have in this entire world. The intricacies of all of the 6,000 years of history, every little piece is very subtle. Every atom and cell and every universe is put in a specific place that it is supposed to be put. And you are a very important piece in that important puzzle. And like I said, we don't always know what that piece is. But we come in retrospect when we get to the upper ages, when we go ahead and we start looking back in life, maybe I'll call it midage crisis. If you don't mind me calling it, don't get all uh don't get all nervous about it. Because suddenly, yes, some people can get depressed, but the person who looks back and realizes and says, "Wow, this is what my mission was about, how settling, how soothing, suddenly he's actually in a good place." For some of us, it's a crisis. And for some of us, it's benevolence. It's enjoyable. It's happiness. It's bliss. It's a place of understanding and realizing, "Wow, this is what I was meant to do with my life. I never would have expected it. I never saw myself play there." Trust me, when I was a teenager, I know exactly the intentions of what I thought I was going to do, the investments I would be making, exactly the type of job and definitely in America and here I am in Erit Israel playing in a rabinet position and having Israeli kids. You think I expected this? Never. I never never would have expected. But when I look back in perspective and go, "Oh, Hashem, I understand now my piece in the puzzle of where I was supposed to go." Let me give you a few very good examples of this idea in order to make us realize how important it is. I remember a couple decades ago in kao that there was a discussion in the ko amongst theim because there was a certain who was a very strong learner but he was very fatult and busy and very up in arms about something that was going on in his own personal family business family needs and things that were pulling him out of kil and he wasn't able to be there for a good few weeks maybe even months for a long period of time and he was very depressed about it very very fat. So some people are saying, "Yeah, I understand him. I feel bad for him." But on the other side of the court, they're saying, "Why do we learn Tyra? We're doing it for our void tells us that we're here to do what is what the will of God is." And that will of God is to learn. But when when when duty calls when it becomes my responsibility to go ahead and take care of my family needs of what is necessary for me to do whether it's for my spouse or for one of my children if it has to do with an health issue. So that is now my responsibilities. I am doing equal of what is hashem to when I'm in the base mid. And as you can understand this caused a big fat in the base mid. There was a big disagreement in this until someone found a beno yoga that's a benkai that actually says pretty clearly the second side the latter side and that is the opinion this idea that yes learning Torah is everything and that's what we're trying to do we want to create a a connection a relationship with but sometimes Hashem tells me it's this way and sometimes Hashem tells me it's in a way that I didn't expect a way that maybe I would have preferred it not to do it that way but Hashem says no don't worry That's your avote in this case. Take those few months, do what's needed to do and go back to business as usual. And that is a beautiful lesson, a beautiful idea to make us realize this intention, this idea. I'll give you another example for my own life also. I was in a yeshiva a few decades ago also. And uh at that time, this is going back in uh when I was still a buck in the early 90s. And at that time they came out with two newarim brand newarim that just came out. Beautiful covers. They were called al- hashas. The kushim of dress of the great mikt of as we are familiar with the [clears throat] incredible man of that laid down most of for the Jewish world as we know it. And they came out with a safer of his on shas a and the same company came out simultaneously with another safer alas from Rafal the man who is the mafar on the man who is the incredible types of pirushim which we are so familiar with and had many talim in that school of thought of hers how to understand the came out with his pirim also on and being a young bakra I was saying wow what an interesting say for maybe it's kaida buy it the yeshiva just bought about it. I remember my rasha looking at these twoarim and he was very very perturbed very upset very uncomfortable about the whole and I'm like what's the big deal another safer more in the world he says this is the problem with our d they decided that the only way you're called is if you wrote a safer on everybody has their everybody has their place in the world was the ishaf was the man of the and other hashkafas of course that we receive from the great and that is what they deliver to us to the world. You don't need to squeeze out a shas and in order to make you feel good that they are also called no has his facet in his and each one has their and their level of where they are placed by in this world. What is their avoid? What is their tim what are they the ones who are going to be giving over to the rest of Israel to the rest of all of us and therefore it is a mistaken way of thinking and he was also right because those did not succeed at all it did not continue at all because that wasn't the purpose of it they're incredible for they were great but delivers each person for his goal his mat what he is supposed to do and never try to squeeze it out and put it in a way because you see it different. I'll give you another example. The great al-shik was one of the greatest darim who was around his farim. It's known as mohe that was written by the uh that was written by the al-shas [clears throat] invat during the highest of times in the 1500s when Ariza was around the big joseph mor of cairo. It was in the time the bal you can understand this was the dar of the century. He was the one who used to give over the sermons and he was the king of drush. In partis we have reis and sod. Now the al-shik really really wanted to learn sod. He didn't know the cababalistic ideas so well and therefore he went to you'll never guess the real source. He went to the in order to ask him to please fill me in on a little bit of the I want to know a little bit of sod of kabala. Can you teach me some of the kavanas in this? Guess what theel said? N O no name he did not teach him why not big the alikesh is known and he's a great person why not he said because your is in not in that's not the place now of course the Arizal went in his direction he said the gilgul that you had a tikun already in the previous you already took care of the sikun you now have to fill in the drew tikun you have to go ahead we don't know these So I don't want to go there. But in other words, a person have to know if his is there, if his powers in I'm not denying that you shouldn't learn kabala. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not theel and none of us know. But if you see your there you see your powers there. If you see you're able to give that over in a certain way, go ahead and go for it because that's exactly where a person's is and that's where his tikun is. Take your capabilities, realize that's my and utilize it. Yes, I didn't expect it. Maybe I thought I'm going to be a man of chat like Rashi. Maybe I thought I was going to be a man of sword like the Arizal. No, it ended up that he went in this direction of being a man of of of Drew. And therefore, gave him those talents, those capabilities and took him in that direction. In 2020, hindsight, you look back and you realize, oh, this was my matim. This is what I was here for. One more story. The Malb. Does everyone know who the Malb is? One of the great perushim on Tanakh the Malbim. Who doesn't know the Malbim that everybody learns that even in Bakov they learn the Malbim. [clears throat] You know what he has a safer called which is on. And it's so funny because it's an incredibly lumbish incredible safer piler on the first and it just drops in the middle of the first 15. It doesn't even make it to sim. It doesn't go very far at all. and you look at the and you go why not why didn't he continue? So there's stories behind why he didn't continue. It could be the stopped him. It seems to be that there was a certain idea that happened that he was always running from place to place. He never had any time to himself. He was always on the run, always being chased from place to place and as a result of that he was not able to finish his writings on in and and be and learning in so instead he went to Tanak and he wrote us on Tanak because of the circumstances that he was surrounded by. Was he crying? Was he disappointed? Was he depressed because of it? No. This was his and we were to the is one that is beyond that. We don't have anything similar to it. There's nothing tantamount to such an incredible sent us this matan is present because of the circumstances that was left with the malim. I guess is our will be filled by someone else's by someone else's shoes. But the Malb was irreplaceable and therefore left him in that direction. And this oh so collects and finishes and I conclude with Jacobu in our para when we finish the last para in safer bracius in pari we discuss the passing away of this incredible man known as Jacob Aenu. It's so interesting 130 years he lived a very very difficult life basha. He wanted to live in peace and what happened it never worked was another he lived a very difficult life I don't have to transpire you already just went through the book of braces you know what I'm talking about but the last 17 years of his life were if I could say zer gishmak he was living next to his beloved son Yseph together with his other sons and he was living in tranquility no parnasa issues he could just sit and learn comfortably for the last 17 years of his life things were good he lived in a That was absolute tranquility. The says in our portion the in the beginning it's painful but in the end they end up getting in a place of bliss in a place of comfort of shalom of peace that they're go ahead and and and in place the par is called from he was alive he was with it he had his last years even though he's about to die it's still called being alive And the question is why? What happened? Why before like this and afterwards not like this? What changed? What transpired that suddenly at the end of a life of things seemed to be more peaceful as opposed to in the beginning says the exactly the we were just speaking about and it's exactly the same. It's so it's it's such a perfect understanding of what we were just trying to to to bring out and that is that during the time when Yakob was living his life he was living a lot of half-hazard and occurrences every time he finished with one event he was hoping it was over. I finished with Asov and I thought, "Oh, now he could just live a peaceful life." Moved on to Lavan, back to Asov again, of course with Yoseph and then Binyam and Shiman. Yeah. And all these sorrows that happened one by one was hoping maybe this, maybe that, maybe that'll stop. Each one was living its own individual tribul that happened. Only when we finally got to the final stop, when we got to home base at the end of life, now we can look in 2020 hindsight and being sadik that Yakov is knowing that everything that happened to me was he lived in absolute shelva. What a peaceful way to live. What an exciting way to live. He realized, oh, I look back and say, "Oh, this was my mission. This was where I was supposed to go." when he was missing Ysef, he was he lost a son, but he wasn't only crying about a missing son. He was crying because his mission was aborted. I was meant to have 12vatim and I messed up. I obviously made a mistake somewhere in the way. It was very difficult. I thought my path was one way and it forked and took a different direction. That was a very depressing type of way of understanding until he realized that no, no, no, Ysef was in the process of turning family, the family of Yakov into a nation. He was coming to transform Israel into Ben Israel. He was coming to make a metamorphosis. Yakovu thought I'm going to die in init. Where else is there better to die? I just left the Shiron about the idea of living in Israel and dying in Israel. I thought I was going to pass away in Israel and now I have to go to Mit and pass away my last years over there and maybe be buried there. What a painful experience. But don't worry. told him, "I know you thought this is your path in life. I understand that this was your direction and what you expected, but you know what says don't worry over there. You're going to become a I'm going down with you. Don't worry, you're going to come back." Sometimes our path looks like it's going in one direction and tells us, "I love you. you're great but you should know I'm in charge. I thought that you the person thinks that he's leading life but sometimes we find find that life is actually leading him. I found a beautiful drasha when the says when we say that don't call it your sons but rather the builders what that means is that many times we think that they are my children because I'm being I'm the one who's going ahead and telling them what to do I'm being but you know what sometimes the educator is actually the one being educated he's the bonai he's being built on top of because when we look back in 2020 20 vision suddenly we realize everything I thought was happening was going one direction but it really was taking a turn in a totally different direction for the good or for the bad but when we see it in a perspective of knowing was taking me this way he was leading me from the beginning until the end we will lead a life of absolute such tranquility could you imagine to have prophecy in your life one time in your life you have the opportunity to have prophecy to look back at those 70 80 90 years and start realizing, oh, I never realized, but look, was speaking to me. Was leading me and Baraki took me in the way that I was supposed to go. Shabbat shalom.