Is Another Purim Happening Before Our Eyes?

of your source sheet. It begins with the words operation raising rising actually operation rising lion. And that is that uh the Baal Shem Tov says that everything that a Jew sees and hears is a lesson in life. In other words, nothing happens randomly in the world. And anything that I encounter, you encounter, we encounter, whether it's individually or collectively we're not just uh detached observers and bystanders but rather we are active participants. They say there are three types of people. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who want to know what happened. I feel that always in life we have to ask that question, in which group am I in? Do I make things happen? Do I watch things happen? Or do I turn around and like, can anybody tell me what happened? So, what the Baal Shem Tov was really saying is that in every situation I make things happen. And what that means is I'm never just a bystander because there's an active message, there's an invitation by the creator of the world to be involved in it. In fact, there's a beautiful teaching from the Maggid of Mezritch and the Baal Shem Tov and it says in Pirkei Avot histakel bishloshah devarim you should look at three things and the first thing is da mah l'ma'alah mimcha. Know what is above you. Literally it means you should always know that there's something above you. We're not alone in this world. There's a bigger plan, a bigger picture and Hashem is with me and above me and that's the reason why men wear yarmulkes. The word yarmulke comes from two words which is yarei malka, yarei malka or kippah. Kippah means a dome and it's the idea that there's something above, above our mind, above our ego. That's what the yarmulke, the kippah represents. So, da know mah l'ma'alah mimcha, there's something what is above you. But the Maggid of Mezritch said, I'm an incredible interpretation, a spin on the words. He says, "Dah, you should know, mala maila mimoch." Whatever happens lamaila is mimoch, is from you. In other words, you're a partner. You're not just an observer who watches things happen. Dah, mala maila mimoch. Like partners, the Gemara calls us The Gemara calls the Jew shutaf l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'maaseh bereishis, a partner in the work of creation. A real partner is not just 50/50. You take care of part of the business, I take care. Real partners is 100% we're partners in everything. We have different strengths. So, k'vayachol Hashem says, "L'maaseh ad d'chadei shamayim, I have my strength, but I need I want your strength, what your contribution is as a human being, the ability to choose, the ability to trust, the ability to connect, the ability actually to make a choice. That's the human The human uniqueness. And we have to remember the only reason we could make choices is because there is concealment. Pre-creation, when there was only oneness, the oneness of Hashem, it wasn't a choice. Of course, there's trust. There's nothing outside of Hashem. It's in this world where I need to be able to choose trust, choose love. I can Whenever you say choice, it means you could choose the other way, right? If there's no If you say, "Choose this," but you can't choose anything else, it's not a choice, it's forced. So, the idea of choice really means that I can also unchoose, I could choose something else. That's the power of choice. We often don't think so, you know, you say you have to choose it. That means also you could choose something else. That's what gives choice its beauty. That's what gives choice its virtue. That's what gives choice its depth. In our world, we have the courage and the ability to be able to choose, to choose love, to choose trust, to choose attachment, to choose surrender, to choose connection, to choose resilience. That's the partnership that the human being brings into the relationship. So, da mala mala, what is above you is me mach. It's so much connected to you. There's an old a very good, powerful anecdote. It's very funny, too. About uh this Jew who needed a job, and he had a darker complexion. He came from a Sephardic family, and he thought he can get into He saw an ad that the Indians are looking for a new chief. The Indians always appoint a chief. So, he thought he can apply, and he would have room and board and a nice place to live among the Indians. So, he applied. He said he comes from the Indian tribe, and it worked. They said, "Okay. But here's the deal. The Indian chief always looks up at the stars and predicts what the winter is going to be like, so they know how much wood they need for fire and warmth and all that." But he didn't know that. He was a Jewish kid, you know, from Brooklyn. He didn't know how to predict weather from the stars. So, uh he looked up, and he thought he'll give a parve answer, right? A quintessential Jewish answer, which is called parve. Nobody still knows what that means. It's just something in the middle that's not clear. And he said, "It seems from the stars that it's going to be somewhat of a cold winter." You know, when people say that, it's like almost like somewhat, whatever that means, you know, it can go both ways. But he was curious, and he wanted to give a more clear answer. So, he sneaked out at night, and he went to a nearby town where there were still public phones. You remember the public phones? Aliyah mashalom, he puts in a quarter. He calls the weather bureau in Washington, and he asks them about the winter, and they say it's going to be cold. So, he goes back to the Indians, and he says he looked up again in the stars, and it's going to be cold. They said, "Oh, wow, the chief really changed from somewhat cold to cold." So, they really started to frantically collect a lot of wood for pending winter. He goes out a week later, he calls up the weather bureau, and they say it's going to be very cold. Comes back, he looked in the stars again, it's going to be very cold. Now they're gathering wood mamesh enthusiastically, eagerly, day and night. The week later, he goes back, calls back, they say it's "It's to be excruciatingly cold." Comes back to the Indians. Now, men, women, and children mommies are just collecting wood. They realize they're going to need a lot a lot of lumber to be able to heat their cold bones during a excruciatingly cold winter. Finally, he goes out a week later, he calls the weather bureau, and they tell him it's going to be the coldest winter in the history of the US. He plots us. He's like, "You guys are driving me crazy. I call you, you tell me cold, then you tell me very cold. A week later, it's excruciatingly cold, and then now it's the coldest. Come on, make a decision." The guy says, "You want me to be honest with you?" He says, "Sure." He says, "You think we know anything about the weather? We know nothing. What we do know is that this year the Indians are collecting wood like crazy." Now, it's a it's funny, but it's also a very deep joke because it really tells us about the story of the Jewish people. Da mala mala mi mach. He was the one responsible for the answer that he thought he was receiving from them. Very often we don't realize how powerful we are in creating situations. And then we're like just standing there receiving it, not realizing the depth and the power and the creativity da mala mala mi mach. And the possuk says in Koheles in Ecclesiastes, a beautiful possuk, "Gam asah oilam nosson belibam." Melech says, "The whole world exists in the heart." That means the heart is a microcosm of the universe. And what that means is that when I change something in my heart, it's not just my own personal experience, which is also very powerful and important. But it actually there are wires, there are hidden wires that connect our electricities with each other. Because ultimately everything is connected, it comes from oneness. Like we learned about the menorah, it's miksha achas, it's one piece of gold that then branched out into seven branches representing each soul, but it's really mixture. So, therefore, that relationship changes. There's no such a thing I do something with one part of the body that doesn't affect the rest of the body. Everybody knows if I exercise one part of the body and the circulation is increased in one place, the entire body is affected cuz it's one organism. The world Khazars say and others there are the is a good God. Our planet is a super organism. That's what they call it in science. It's a It's a large organism. Just like I have my own organism on a more global level, we're all part of one organism. Like where does the oxygen that I inhale end? And the oxygen that you inhale begin? You want to fight over it? Like on one level we're all separate, but on another level we're all sharing everything. I mean, the ecosystem, the the the the food chain, the food web. It's true scientifically, physically, economically, and so forth, even more true energetically and spiritually. So, the internal of weight of a person internally is not just luxurious or voluntary, but it acts It's like that Indian chief. It has an impact beyond what a person imagines. And I give this introduction because I want to address a little bit what is going on now in the world, especially with the Jewish people. Very, very historic and dramatic times. From a Jewish from a Torah perspective, but also apply it to our own lives. So, if the says everything is by divine providence and everything we see and we learn is a lesson, it's fascinating that this war that Israel declared against Iran it was was given a name. And the name of the war is Klav Yakum. Klav Yakum. Operation Rising Lion. Lavi is a lion or a lioness. And Yakum means rising, like standing up. It's a lion rising. And that's what the operation is called in Hebrew, Klav Yakum. And uh this name is not just uh you know, plucked out of a hat in a vacuum. It actually comes from the Torah. It comes from Parshas Balak, which we're going to which going to read only in 3 weeks. This week is Shlach, then you have Korach, and then Chukas Balak. So, it's three parshas. And it's a pasuk in Parshas Balak, and it comes from the words of a great anti-Semite, which makes it even more significant. We all know that Balak hires Bil'am to curse the Jewish people. He's considered the great prophet of the day. And instead of cursing the Jewish people, he blesses the Jewish people. And his blessings are so have some of the most beautiful, beautiful praises that were ever uttered about the Jewish people. Cuz you know, when Jews talk about other Jews, it's always like, "Yeah, but." Right? But uh what sometimes when non-Jews talk about the Jewish people, you actually get to hear uh some interesting stuff. And it's interesting if you go through Sefer Bamidbar till Parshas Balak, every parsha spells more disaster and calamities and tragedies for the Jewish people, and they're creating all these tsaris and problems. Literally, I have last week Balak and then Shlach and Korach and Chukas, revolts and rebellions and despair and panic and hysteria and trauma and everything. And it's like, "Wow, these people are really messed up." And then you go to Balak, and you say, "So, now let's hear what the have to say." And suddenly, Balak speaks about the Jewish people. Wow, wow, wow. Ma tovu It's such precious verses that we open up our davening every day with Balak's words. Ma tovu ohaleiha Yaakov, mishkenotecha Yisrael. Really, Bil'am? Which Jews are you talking about? If you look at what happened till then, which criticism and criticism, but it's a very profound point here. And that is with all of the complications within the Jewish world, when Bil'am looks at it from his perspective, he's like, "Ma tovu ohaleiha Yaakov, mishkenotecha Yisrael." And it's some of the most beautiful words that were ever uttered about the Jews come from Bilam, that's why you could trust them. And there's something very sweet when your arch-enemy says these words. Furthermore, all of the prophecies about Mashiach come from Bilam. And that's exactly the source. Most of the details about the future world of Mashiach come literally from Bilam's prophecy. One of the words that Bilam uses is literally this word, this expression about the rising lion. As you could see, you could see operation rising lion. It's rising lion. The war of Israel against Iran has been named based on the verse in Balak which the prophet Bilam declares about his enemies, the Jewish people. Perek Chof Gimmel, pasuk Chof Daled in Bamidbar, chapter 23, verse 24. Hen am kilavi yakum v'chareis nasa. Lo yishkav ad yochal teref v'dam chalalim yishta. Behold, this is a people that rises like a lioness and raises itself, exalts itself, yisnasa from the word kisa, like a lion. It does not lie down until it eats its prey and drinks the blood of the slain. Now, this is very strange. Bilam was a prophet, he didn't know that Jews don't drink blood? So, you could say it's just an expression, but why even use that expression? We're not allowed to drink blood. In fact, one of the great blood libels, I don't have to tell you, one of the greatest things that Jews suffered from in the Middle Ages was the fantasy, the horrific fantasy that we put blood into matzos. It's not only long ago, if you're familiar with the Mendel Beilis trial in in in Ukraine in 1911, Beilis was arrested, Mendel Beilis near Kiev, and he was accused of killing a Christian child and using the blood for matzos. It was a few days before Pesach, he was in prison for 2 years, and then there was a huge trial that consumed all of Russia until Beilis was exonerated. Maybe many of you know this story, Mendel Beilis. Ultimately, he left Russia, he came to New York um with his family, his wife and his five children. And this was 1911, it was hard for Jews to believe that in the 20th century so many millions of people would believe that we use blood until today in Muslim countries there's still this idea that Jews use Muslim blood for matzos. And of course we know that eating blood is absolutely forbidden in Judaism. I don't have to explain that to this audience. So how did that happen? The answer of course is when you hate somebody you can invent stories. But it's interesting that Bilam uses this expression dam chalalim yishte, drink the blood of the slain and it's put into Torah. What does that mean? Also interesting is he doesn't lie down until eats its prey, yochal teref. V'dam chalalim yishte. Who's this yochal teref? Again, teref, actually the word treif comes from the word teref because of the devoured animal you're not allowed to eat. Teref means something that's devoured. Taraif, taraf, Yosef. Yaakov thought Yosef was mauled by a wild beast cuz he saw his tunic drenched in blood. You're not allowed to eat treif. You're not allowed to eat an animal that was devoured, an animal that was that he even an animal that's sick and it's terminally ill is called treif. Even if you shacht it you're not allowed to eat it. You have to it has to be a healthy animal. But it's interesting that Bilam uses these words. So we could say it's just poetic, you know, he wants to say basically they're going to destroy their enemy completely like a lion. But unlike the lion they're not going to physically eat it. But it's interesting that this is what the Torah records from Bilam, drinking the blood and eating the teref. So based on this possuk this war was dubbed. Now whoever chose the name I don't know, but since the Bal Shem Tov said everything is by providence and you could learn from it I think it's very very significant that this is the name that was chosen. In fact um if you follow the news a little bit, the day the war broke out it was Friday morning 3:00 a.m. Yud Zion Sivan tafshin peh heh, the 17th of Sivan 5785 which is going to go down into history. The English date was June 13th, right? Friday, June 13th, 2525. Nobody he about it obviously because surprise was an essential element. Even among the IDF, even politicians in Israel, besides very, very few who were responsible, nothing could be leaked out because God forbid if such a thing is leaked out, you can literally jeopardize an entire war that was planned for 30 years. Which basically Israel felt that its very existence is at stake. You're dealing with a Haman. Just like Haman in the past, it's fascinating that Iran is same place. Haman had an agenda. La hashmed la'areg la'abed es kol hayehudim minar v'ad zaken v'etav v'enashim b'eyam echad. We say in the Megillah, I want to exterminate every last Jew, man, woman, and child in one day. The difference between Haman and the ayatollahs today in Iran is they didn't say b'eyam echad. They said b'dakah achath. Bishniyah achath. Not in one day, in one minute, actually in one second. Nuclear energy, send an atom bomb, chalilah chalilah, and wipe out, not in one day, in one hour, in one minute, maybe in one second. B'sha'ah achath, bishniyah achath, la hashmed la'areg la'abed es kol hayehudim. And uh after 30 years of preparation, if this would have been leaked, it could have been spelled catastrophe on every level. So, this was literally a top top secret, and if you're familiar, Israel was extremely deceptive. They announced that Netanyahu was marrying off his son on Monday, b'sha'ah tovah u'mutzlachath, so you don't go to war, right, when you're preparing for chasanah. You got to go get make sure that the dress is fine, and there's a shape, whatever it is. Okay, we're not going to get into the chasanah preparations. And then he's going on vacation to the north, and Trump kavayachol told told Israel not to attack Iran, to continue negotiations, which was all part if you know of a deceptive strategy, a brilliant deceptive strategy, to have the Iranians believe that this is not the time that they're going to be attacked. On that very day, Thursday, the president of Argentina came for a state visit from Argentina to the prime minister. Prime Minister spent a lot of time with him. Now, usually when you're in war, you don't have time to meet dignitaries from other countries, but this was all part of the of the sham, of the of the deceptive strategy to deceive the Hamans. Exactly what Esther Hamalka did, you got to deceive Haman, invite him to a party, and let things play out. I have an older brother, his name is Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Um he wrote some very interesting swarm books, some of you may know. And he is the president of Argentina considers him very personal friend. President of Argentina is not Jewish, his name is President Milei. But he read one of my brother's books called Towards a Meaningful Life, and he was completely blown away. So, he's like my brother's like his mentor. He's not Jewish, he's very interesting person. And he's a very very spiritual man. Like usually, you know, with leaders, that leaders are politicians, it's just the way it is. And politicians have mylist and they have his heinous, right? That's But he is a very very he's a politician, he's a leader, and you know, leaders are leaders, but he's a very very moral and spiritual person. Like he doesn't doesn't just see history as all about economics and money and control, but he sees history as a divine gift that we are responsible to take care of, to enhance life, to bring goodness to the world. He really sees it, and that's why the book touched him. So, uh right when he was elected, you may have seen, he went with my brother to the Lubavitcher Rebbe's ohel gravesite in Queens. So, now he went to Israel to meet the Netanyahu, so he invited my brother and my sister-in-law to join them for the stately visit. So, so he was there with them. This was this Thursday, literally this past Thursday, yeah. And uh Thursday afternoon, uh President Milei says he wants to go to the Kosel. He wants to go to daven at the Kosel. Again, he's not Jewish, but very very spiritual. Now, he was there in the beginning when he came, but it was packed, with of people. He said he wants to go privately. So, he invited my brother. They went together to the Koisel and then who shows up at the Koisel? Prime Minister Netanyahu. Now, nobody knew why. Netanyahu is not a Yid who spends days at the Koisel. But Thursday afternoon, he decided to go at the Koisel. Nobody knew why. Of course, my brother didn't know why. The Argentinian president didn't know why. The real reason is cuz it was hours before the surprise attack on Iran and Netanyahu understood that we need God's intervention. And he went to the Koisel and he was there probably had to clear out the whole place security. My brother was there with Netanyahu and President Milei. And Netanyahu put in he davened there. He asked for a tallis and he davened. And then he put a note into the wall. And they looked at the note and I saw there's already a picture of it. And the note said Yid Zion Sivan Tofshin Pey Hey, the 17th of Sivan Tofshin Pey Hey, which is the next day. Hein Am Beis Amach Dalid, Hein Am Ke'Lavi Yakum Ve'Chari Yisnasa. This nation rises like a lion, exalts itself like a lioness, exalts itself as a lion. And will be victorious. This is like Of course, this is the name with which the operation was named. And a few hours later, the war broke out. My brother's flight was actually the last flight leaving Israel. It left around 12:30, right after midnight, I don't know, 12 or 1. And that was it cuz 3:00 a.m. 3:00 a.m. uh they closed down the airport and no other flight left and no other flight came. In fact, I met last night a a Rebbetzin from Israel, Rebbetzin Canton, and she told me that she was on the way to Israel Thursday night on the way and in middle little in the middle she felt that the plane turned around. She felt you know, she's on the plane and she felt that it made it turned around and she went to the back and she said, "I think there's a mistake." And everybody looked at her like she fell over the planet. 2 hours later, they admitted and they said, "No, it wasn't a mistake. We're going back. We're going back to New York." So, those were very very fateful hours. It's time another interesting thing, you know, everything is by Hashem Pratis. President Milei, it was a beautiful visit and he you have to also understand Argentina has been extremely hostile to Israel. You know, they weren't allowing any flights from Israel to Argentina for years, since 1961, when the Mossad infiltrated Argentina and captured Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, completely illegal, defying all of the laws of Argentina, but they needed to do it to catch Eichmann. This was such a sore point that for years and years, you told me since 1961, Argentina and Israel have had very, very impoverished relations or almost no relations, no flights. Yeah, no flights, no visits. And Argentina also harbored so many Nazis, so many previous Nazis like Eichmann found hostage found refuge, not hostage, found refuge are in Miklat in in Argentina. So, this is a very big thing that President Milei like really transformed everything. And uh and he told my brother, you know, he said, "I see I see the world from the perspective of the Torah. There's a war of good against evil and either good is going to win or evil is going to win. Like he's very, very aligned with Jewish Jewish values. A very, very special person." So, he decided to give Netanyahu a gift before he left. Of course, he didn't know what was coming. I doubt that he knew that, you know, you can't share this information with anybody, certainly not with the president. What did he choose to give him as a gift? A very interesting gift. This is Milei's choice. He had a painting drawn from a blessing that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave Netanyahu years ago. When he came to him for a blessing, so he had a picture of that bracha that the Rebbe gave Netanyahu when they met and that's what he gave him as a gift. And I realized that probably Netanyahu, in the last hours before this war was happening, you know, you're looking for every sign from Hashem that this is the right thing. And he literally gave him this painting of a bracha that the Rebbe gave him years ago when he told him you may have to stand up against 119 people and remember to be a very find the inner strength to be able to do what you have to do. So, this was all, you know, so to speak from the back end of what happened before that. And this was the note that he put in from this pasuk. Hain am k'lavia yakum naso, and that's what they're calling it. Am k'lavia yakum. And therefore, I want to go in a little bit into this pasuk and see the profound treasures here including learn what the Or Hachaim and the Ramchal say on this pasuk and be able to delve a little deeper into it and see the amazing relevance and divine providence that this war was named with this pasuk. It's fact a few verses later Bilam goes back to this theme. So, you see even one time would be enough, but you see it's completely not random. Just a few verses later the next chapter Balak Perek 24:9, what does Bilam say? Kara shachav kari u'khalavi mi yakimenu. The Jewish people crouch. Again, he uses the word ari like a lion and like a lioness. They crouch. First, he just calls us k'lavia v'chari when we rise. We rise like a lion. We rise like a lioness. Then he decides to talk about us crouching. You're familiar with lions and lionesses? If you ever watch documentaries, National Geographic, if you went to Kruger National Park, if you like safaris, I was once in South Africa for a lecture. So, on the way to the airport the rabbi said, "You know what? We're going to go by a safari in Johannesburg. It's a beautiful safari and you drive through the lions." And we did that. And a pride of lions decided that they really like me and they really like our car and they began chasing us. Oh my God, the lions were literally chasing the car. It turns out that there was meat in the trunk. So, they didn't like me so much. So, my flattered my feeling so flattered lasted only a few minutes. But I did not what fear is. Literally, you know, in lines I would chasing the car. My driver got so scared, he veered he veered off the road and went into the grass. It was a disaster, but Baruch Hashem I'm here to tell the tale. So, first he speaks about the lions rising. And then the next chapter, he actually goes the opposite. He says kara. Kara means when you kneel, shachav means when you lie down, when you're sleeping. Bashach bachah, right? Lishkov is to lie down. Vayishkav is sleeping. So, here he speaks about he crouches like a lion and like a lioness. And that's interesting. I understand Bil'am is referring to the rising lion. They didn't do Operation Crouching Lion. They did Operation Rising Lion, because a crouching lion, you ever saw a crouching lion? A lion sleep most of the day. When they rise, you want to get out of their way. But, shachav is they just hang out. They're very social with their prides and families, and they enjoy each other very, very much. And they don't have smartphones to distract them. So, they spend time with each other, and they scratch each other, and they nudge each other, and they play with each other, and the cubs have fun with mommy, and when tatty is not in a bad mood, even with tatty, because lions are very, very interesting in terms of their moods. And Bil'am here though compares the Jewish people the second time to the kara shachav kari. And then he says, "U'chlavivi mi yikimenu." And who will dare ra- re- re- uh rouse him? Like when they're sleeping, don't rouse them. Let them sleep. And then he continues, "M'varechecha baruch u'm'kallelecha arur." So, from all the animals, he decides to compare us to the lion. First time to the rising lion and lioness, the male and the female. And then the second time, kara shachav, to the crouching one. What is the significance of this? What is the meaning of this? What is the depth of this? The Or HaChaim has a very, very powerful interpretation on this. He gives three different interpretations. And it seems like very, very relevant to today. And actually a Jew in Israel sent this Orh Hachaim to me yesterday. And I'm very grateful. His name is Rabbi Baruch who sent it to me. This morning somebody sent me an interpretation from the Ramchal, Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, also on this pasuk. Also a very, very fascinating interpretation. Before we get into there and then and then we'll see the relevance to our lives as well. Before we get into their interpretation, I want to give another interpretation that was once given by the Rebbe, by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It was the parshas Balak taf shin tet zayin, 1956 in the fabrengen. Also a very deep meaning what Bilam meant here. Not just he chooses a lot chooses a lion because a lion is a strong animal and the king of the animals, but there's a very specific mention here, especially in the crouching lion. Sometimes, if you know how nature works, you know how jungles work, the Gemara says the aryeh is melech shebechayos. The lion is the king of the chayos, the king of the beasts, of the undomesticated beasts. And that's its reputation. There's something very, very powerful about that. We'll soon see why the lion is called the king. The lion is not necessarily always always the most powerful. I mean, if you know a rhinoceros, the rhinoceroses, the lions are scared of. They don't start up with them. The hippos, they don't start up with. Even a giraffe can give a kick with its leg and the lions stay off, stay away. The elephants, too. You don't start up with an elephant, especially when it's protecting its calf. Now, lions sometimes do and they often regret it. Yet, the lion was chosen to be melech shebechayos, melech. That's its reputation. Of course, its roar is something special. You can hear it 5 miles down. And if you're an animal, maybe much more. Aryeh sha'ag mi la yirah. But there's something specific about the quality of the lion. But then you have kora shachav kari. You have when the lion is crouching. And when the lion is crouching, it seems very calm. It's lying, it's in one place, its eyes may be closed, it's sleeping. And that's really the hidush of what Bilam is talking about here. You know, every once in a while there is a news item that makes an appearance in newspapers. It's basically a story about a wild animal that was supposedly docile, submissive, trained, a pet, and nonetheless, it lost its cool and decided to attack. You remember a few years ago in Connecticut there was a chimpanzee that was raised by a family and they loved this chimpanzee. And then one day this chimpanzee, 14 years old, lost it. And the damage was horrific. The police came, they actually killed it. Every few years you hear a tiger raised in a Brooklyn apartment or in a Bronx apartment from vice versa, but okay. A trained circus lion, you know, losing it in the ring. For those of you who remember the old Chol HaMoed trips, you remember in the brown station wagon your father would put you in and the the the best thing was to be in the back so you face you don't face any you face the road, you remember with the with the aluminum foil hard-boiled eggs and the chicken, everybody took out the eggs and the chicken and the oranges by that circus. Oh my god, you didn't know what smells worse. This is be This is the days when on Pesach you didn't eat pizza, you didn't eat bagels, you didn't eat ladyfingers. You squeezed the oranges and you ate hard-boiled eggs, the only kosher food for 8 days. And if you were lucky, a tomato, unless tomatoes not cuz you can't peel them. Of course, yeah. Yeah. So, every few years there's a story. It's basically a large cat. It really belongs in the savanna. It belongs in the jungle. It belongs in Kruger's. It was, however, you know, trained. It was raised. It became a performer. It became a personal pet. But then suddenly, it sheds its domesticated persona. It sheds its pleasant layers of personality, and nobody wants to be in its way when that happens. And sadly, we read about it every few years. And then you look and you say, "Wow, some animals really just can't be domesticated. They're not dogs. They're not cats. They're not sheep. They're not cows. They're not goats. They're not horses." What is fascinating is that the Gemara, which was written almost 2,000 years ago, and the Shulchan Aruch, 5-600 years ago, brings this la halacha. This is important in Jewish law. Why? Because basically, we have in halacha, in parshas mishpatim, the difference between shor tam and shor muad. A shor tam means what's called an innocent ox. And if it damages, if it causes damage, say it gores another animal, the first three times, you pay only half the damage. And the reason is because the owner couldn't expect this. His ox or cow usually behave very in a domesticated fashion. You have a dog. The dog attacks, but the dog is well trained. You have dogs that are made to attack. But you have dogs that they're pets, and they behave nicely. Or you have a sheep. You have a goat. So, for the first three times, the Torah says it's called a shor tam. Tam, innocent. After three times, it's called shor hamuad. Muad means it's prone to disaster. Now, you can't you can't trust that everything is going to be fine. Now, you're fully fully responsible. You know, you made a mistake once, twice, three times, but that's it. Third time, it's over. Now, you have to pay nezek shalem full damage. And this is true about all animals that are domesticated, but they can sometimes get wild and hurt another animal or hurt another person. So the first three times you're responsible to pay 50% and then afterwards you're responsible to pay nezek shalem full damage because you had to know better. So if my ox or my goat goes berserk and inflicts damage, there is this stipulation, the difference between the first three times and the other times. What about a lion? What about if I have a lion as a pet? Right? Or similar animals that are not domesticated. There's no such qualification in halakha. You don't say, "I raised this lion. It was so nice. When he was a cub, he was the cutest kid in the world. She's a loving lioness. They hug me when I come home." Great. But these are animals that don't lend themselves to be essentially domesticated and therefore even the first time I am fully fully liable without any any compromises. Why? Because a lion remains the halakha says essentially a free, uninhibited, undomesticated creature. It will not accept the yoke of domestication even if it deluded you for a while that it did, don't trust it. It's doing it because it wants to, not because it needs to. It's very different in animal psyche. Hazal makes this distinction. Sometimes the animal feels, "I need to." Sometimes the animal feels, "I want to." If I want to, I can also choose something else. And that's why there's a Mishnah in tractate Bava Kamma page 15. And the Mishnah tells us that there are animals like a lion, a wolf, a bear, a leopard, a cheetah, and a snake. That's the list. They are always mu'ad. They are always prone to damage and therefore you're fully fully responsible. It's true that Rabbi Elazar says this is only true by a snake not by the other ones but the Halacha and Shulchan Aruch and Choshen Mishpat 389 is that this is true with all of these animals. Why is this so important? Cuz now we can understand Bilam's words. When Bilam compares the Jewish people to a lion including a crouching lion he's saying something very very significant and saying something very profound. Because basically for much of our history Bilam here is describing a lot of the history of the Jewish people. The Jewish people have seemed like a crouching lion. The lion is in one place. The lion is fashlaffen. The lion may look weak. The lion may seem submissive etc. Much of our history exiled from our homeland enslaved by other nations subjected to alien cultures trained often trained quote and quote to perform following the dictates of what the world expects from us and at times the subjugation could seem even to the Jewish people quite real. It seems like the subjugation is so real. Why? Because it's been a long and long exile. And some people have claimed in fact we have at last domesticated the Jews. We have brought them under our full control. They are under our tyranny under our dictatorship. At times they felt we managed to cause them either to be slaves or to be assimilated even if not physical slaves but spiritually to give up their identity. Because indeed that's the law of the world. When you're a minority you're persecuted you're expelled or there's so much pressure to assimilate that's what you do. You surrender. You want to fit in. Who doesn't want to fit in? People want to fit in. So if you're in your own land and you have your own power physically spiritually military politically you have your independence you have your sovereignty great. But for most much of Jewish history that did not exist. That's what Balaam is saying, be careful because this subjugation is not real. It's not innate. It's not essential. The lion can crouch and seem very docile, but it has not been conquered. It remains free at its core. It's docile by choice, not by nature. You didn't impose on it a new nature. It's choosing right now to crouch in a deep deep place. How do you know? Because in an instant its true colors emerge and when it rises, you'll see a completely completely different creature. So in other words, a lion is an animal that will never allow itself to have a true master over it. No one can ever become a real boss over it, even if it looks like it's been trained to be submissive. It remains fiercely independent even when it seems confined and therefore you can anticipate a revolt and it breaking free of all its shackles despite the circumstances. May be captive, but you're not you didn't own it. Maybe you're trying to suppress it and pressure it, but it was never fully defeated. It remains free at its essence. What is Balaam really saying here about the Jewish people? He's saying here something about the Jewish people collectively and about people individually. And we can relate to this very much what this means individually. Everybody knows there's times in your life when you feel strong, empowered, confident, resilient, you have clarity, blessed moments. There's other times in our life when we feel downtrodden, confused, sad, dejected, overwhelmed, anxious. Kora shochav. The lion is crouching. The lion is down. It doesn't have its full majesty and power. Balaam, whose curses were transformed into blessing, is saying something very deep. And that is your neshama, your soul, remains royal. Maybe it's going through a hard time, but it's never, ever defeated. It could never be obliterated. It could never, ever be destroyed. Korah shochav. And we know this from people individually who often endured a very grueling journey on many different levels, each one in their own way. But you see, when you go deeper, deeper, deeper, there is a part of us that can't be defeated. I mean, I individual- I personally know quite a few people. One one story stands out in my brain, in my heart, constantly, and gives me tremendous tremendous empowerment, chizuk, and inspiration, cuz I know this person so intimately well. A person that in their life story, they went through very, very difficult challenges. It very hard even for others to conceive the levels of of pain that they endured. As a result of people who were perhaps very emotionally sick on many levels. And the toxicity that this person experienced is profound. And because this person is such a sensitive soul, it was absorbed in a much deeper, deeper way. And it affected this person's entire life. They literally, literally had to shut down their heart, shut down their emotions, literally. Because if somebody is stabbing me every day, what do I do? I can't remain with an open heart. You know what I do? I take my soul, I take it away from my body, and I say, "Here, do with my body what you want." And the body becomes like a shell of a person, like a wax museum. You know, it's like a wax. So, now the body stays safe, and the person is not there. They shut their heart, literally. And now they get older, and there's no heart. They do the right thing, but everything is through the brain. Everything is academic. Anybody relates to what I'm saying? Everything is academic. It's all in the cup. The heart is simply closed. And this is a unbelievable copy mechanism that this person needed to do. Closed their heart in order to be able to survive. And they thought it was so deep, they didn't even know that emotions are real. It's a fascinating thing. It could be so deep. And if those who relate to this, relate to this, cuz it's a very serious thing. They don't know that emotions are real. Emotions are just another brain experience. Which means there's no life. You're not living. You're just like it's literally a person becomes like artificial intelligence. Now, artificial intelligence is brilliant. Just one problem. Don't marry artificial intelligence. Because you're not going to get a heart. I mean, you could program the artificial intelligence to say good morning, I love you, you're amazing, you're incredible. But at the end of the day, it's artificial intelligence. It doesn't have a soul. And some of us become literally artificial intelligence. This person did a lot a lot of work. A lot a lot of healing work. And shared something so moving and powerful. That at some point they realized that there is an there was an eye that observed it all. And the fact that there was an eye that can really observe it all means that there was something that was never broken. Because if you take a machine, you take a phone, and you break it into 100 pieces, there's no eye that's going to remember it. The fact that there was an eye that can feel all the pain means there's an eye that remained whole. This person told me that's the first time they actually experienced them in their body. Cuz they realized the only eye that can't be destroyed is the coming now. It's like a divine piece, you can't destroy it. Indestructible. Well, that's why Arya is Isis Yira, and it's Isis Rea. It's a part that sees reality. Like you cannot make it deaf. You can't make it numb. You can't destroy it. It just may be Karashaha. It may be crouching. It may be sleeping. It may be dormant. It may be latent. I may not know about it. But Bilam says, "When that rises, when that core rises, there is such clarity, checkmate, game is over." So, I could sometimes live my entire life in a bubble, in a shell, numb, frozen, detached, alienated, until you trigger that lion. Cuz that lion cannot be hijacked. It cannot be put in a cage forever. You think you put it in a cage and you go away and it's going to be nice and a year later it's trained, it remains essentially free in a very, very deep in a very, very deep place. And therefore, even when ducking, lying low, seemingly docile, confined in a cage, did not lose its ferocious, infinite, divine power. It did not lose its touch. It never loses its touch. It remains a free spirit. And this is true also collectively with the Jewish people. It's true individually, but it's true collectively with the Jewish people. Throughout galus, enemy after enemy after enemy said, "We will destroy this lion." Physically, emotionally, spiritually, and many came close to succeeding. I don't have to elaborate. Until today, there are millions that this is their greatest dream. You know, when you think about Iran, it's mamash understand Amalek. The Jews left Egypt, they were going into Eretz Yisrael, Amalek was 600 miles away. Why would I attack you if you are 600 miles away from me? You're not even getting close to my territory. At least Sichon and Og, the Jews were coming near Edom. Paroh, they were living in Egypt and he decided they want to take over. Okay, he was wrong. But Amalek, where comes to It's like I never had business with you. I never looked at you. You never looked at me. Why do I hate you? That's the hatred of Amalek. It's not rational. Amalek is evil and evil is allergic to good. You could be 6,000 miles away. What does Israel have with Iran? Iran is more than a thousand miles. It's not on the border. It's not close. They're not competing over oil. They're not competing over gold. They're not competing over silver. They're not competing over territory. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Why do you have an agenda to destroy every Jew? 7 million Jews in one moment. The answer of course is you talk about the embodiment of evil in the world that is allergic to goodness in the world and it senses it. It senses it. Something I cannot sleep at night as long as there's a Jew in the world because if there's a Jew in the world it means God is alive. It means there's truth. It means there's justice. It means morality. It means there's ethics. It means a lot of things. The Jewish people by definition were created to hold up a mirror. The frequency of oneness. I'm going to tell you something unbelievable and I heard this from a non-Jew. Just like Billam was a non-Jew. Sometimes from a non-Jew you hear the deepest things cuz they're not enmeshed in our guilt and shame you know and traumas and all that. So a non-Jew from England. A non-Jewish woman. Very very actually born born in Turkey. Moves to London. And uh my wife and I know her quite well. Very very profound and spiritual very spiritual person. Hasidic almost Muslim. And uh she said something about anti-Semitism that was so powerful. She said as follows. She said what is anti-Semitism? What is it? What do they want from the Jews? You know we're only 14 million people. That means we don't even constitute 1/4 of 1% of humanity. Did you hear what I said? People think Jews are like 50%. What? 10%? 5%? No. You're not even a quarter of 1%. Okay? The number of Jews is smaller than a statistical than a statistical error on a Chinese census. Think about what I just said. Yeah. There's around 3 billion Christians. 1.9 billion Muslims. 1.2 billion Chinese. As I'm talking another million were born. Shalom Zachar this week Friday night in China. And Jews are like 14 million. We're like a match on a football field. Israel is the size of Dallas International Airport, for heaven's sake. How is it that Dallas Airport is the headlines every single day? For years and years and years thousands since Abraham Avinu, right? It it it it it's crazy. Imagine there's a football game and all the cameras zoom in on a match that fell into the football field. So, you can barely find it on the map. So, you're talking about an incredible phenomenon here. And yet, the obsession with the Jewish people and with Israel is like beyond proportion. It's been this day this way since Abraham Avinu was born in the year 1948 from creation. 1948, it's an easy way to remember when Abraham Avinu was born. Modern Israel was born 1948. 1940 Abraham Avinu was born in the original, the Jewish 1948 since creation. 1948, few years before 2000. Shnei Alafim Tayar. And this is the situation. So, this woman said, her name is Susan, she said as follows, I'll explain it to you. She said the Jewish people were chosen by God to hold up to the entire world a mirror. And the mirror basically is mirroring the frequency of oneness in the world, which we call Achdus Hashem. The frequency that Ein Od Milvado. There is oneness in the world, and that oneness is the source and the life force of everything. That requires surrender. It means there's a truth, there's authenticity, there's goodness. All anti-Semitism is the world trying to break that mirror. Crush that mirror. You know, when you look at a mirror, if I look at a mirror and I don't like what I see, so what's the right thing to do, right? Yeah, go do a face job. I don't mean go for I mean go clean my face. But what do I do if I don't like what I see? I break the mirror. If you break the mirror, I don't look dirty anymore. Break the mirror, crush the Jews holding up that frequency, and everything will be good. And that's what it is. And sometimes they seem successful. They don't realize the Jews bounce right back because they're just mirroring the frequency of oneness. How do you kill God? You know, Titus tried to stab the paroches and he decided he killed God. How exactly do you kill God? What do you do? How do you do that? You can't. It's truth. How do you kill truth? So, they come right back and they try again and again and again and again. And then she says, "And what's the Messiah? What's Mashiach? What's redemption?" She says, "When they look at the mirror and they say, 'We surrender.'" We surrender. V'haya Hashem l'melech al kol ha'aretz bayom hahu yihyeh Hashem echad u'shmo echad. It's true. We surrender. That's what geulah is. What a powerful powerful depiction of truth. That's the idea of Korach shach Korchi. The lie in here what Bilam is talking about is that there's an invincible spirit that's defiant in the most beautiful way of the world. Not defiant in the sense that I have to disagree with my husband and my wife every 2 seconds. They they call it defiant personality disorder, right? I think there's such a condition. Any Any psychologist there? What is it called? Oppositional defiance disorder, yeah. Yeah. Sometimes it's not a disorder. Sometimes they just need more attachment from mommy and tatty. But, let's go back. It's not that the the lion wants to be oppositional cuz I want to be a defiant person. We're not talking about that. We're talking about a defiance of lies. A defiance of cruelty. A defiance of immorality. A defiance of something that robs the world from its true bliss, from its true love, from its true power. That's what exile really means. So, Bilam says, "Watch out. They're a crouching lion. But, hilvi miyakimenu. You don't want to raise that lioness. And over here it's the lioness. B'sichus nashim tzidkaniyos. Because, when you raise it, you're going to see it was always a lion even when it was crouching. Vayikatz kayashein Hashem. When Hashem, so to speak, wakes up from his slumber, so the Tanya says in chapter 19 that Hashem inside of us Vayikatz kayashein Hashem. That says in Tehillim. It was like he was sleeping. And when that wakes up, suddenly it's like wax in a frying pan. It just melts away. All the klipahs melt away. Because it's so clear what's real and what's not real. And when you build shells and shells and shells and Ponzi schemes, the moment you light a candle of truth, it all melts melts away. I actually once heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu, and I was actually present there, but I didn't hear the conversation. When he was the ambassador of Israel to America Cut to New York. Council of Israel America, New York. This is 19 Tav shin mem. 1984, I believe. So, the second day of Yom Tov, they don't have to observe cuz they're in they're from Israel. So, it was Simchas Torah at night. I remember Netanyahu then, he was far from being Prime Minister, came to 770 to be by the hakafos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe the night of Simchas Torah. And he was a new politician. He wasn't well known. And it was fascinating to me cuz I saw it. I was a kid. The Rebbe stopped the hakafos for 45 minutes and spoke to Netanyahu right there in front of 10,000 people. It was very surprising to me like you could do it after Yom Tov. Like it's the middle of hakafos. It was late. There were thousands of people. And his he had an a gabbai, Rabbi Groner, was trying to and it was like 45 minutes. And and and recently, when he spoke at the UN about Iran, so after that he went to the 90 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, and he told the story. And then I realized, "Wow." He said that the Rebbe then told him that you're going to the United Nations. The United Nations, he says, is a house of lies. What do you do in a house of lies? You kindle every day a flame of truth. Because light dispels darkness, and one flame of truth will dispel a lot of darkness and lies. Every day kindle a flame of truth and don't be scared. And it was obvious that the pressure that this man had, especially in recent times, he needed that special empowerment. So, he had in the middle of it, that was the time to do it. That's what I think today. And then when the president Malay gave him a picture of a blessing he received, probably for Netanyahu it meant so much as a sign from Hashem that he's going to be that, you know, the Jewish people will be much and you saw missing in the flyers. So, when a Jew when when when the lies are exposed to truth, like this person, when the person realized that there was an eye that saw it all, all the pain, all the abuse, it's there, but it falls away because you know it has no power in the face of MS. That's the depth of what Bill is saying. Hey, but even still me you can know. And by the way, the says wanted to initially put all of the words of Bill to we should do that whole partial every day in you know why they didn't do it? They didn't do it they said because it's a very long partial and diving is long enough and some people have a job and therefore you got to let them go also. But the question is why do they want us to read the partial of every day? So, the says because of these words. That hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey The answer of course is because by says we read twice a day. And what's the words? We should not be able to come back over here. What can I means when you lie down. The Kamacha means when you stand up. Now there's an argument about this of course. Bashamai says that the Krias Shema at night you actually have to do when you're lying. That's what he holds. The Krias Shema in the morning you have to stand. That's the view of it says Bashar Kamacha. Lie down on your bed and that's how you say Krias Shema. Beis Hillel says no, it's just a time frame. Bashar Kamacha means when you go to bed which means at night cuz in those days people used to go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning. You could tell your teenage son. But today of course Thomas Edison ruined it for us because he gave us light at night so it's a problem. There's something called night life. But then at night life was schlaf and when the sun came up everybody was up with the roosters. An ice in the sack we vena la have a young and Isla. So Beis Hillel says Bashar Kamacha is just a timeline. When you go to sleep and when you stand up. In fact the Gamara says Rebbi Tarfon was traveling and he had to say Krias Shema at night and he lay down. And thugs came and wanted to attack him. And they told him afterwards he says you're supposed to listen to Beis Hillel. Halacha is like Beis Hillel not like Beis Shammai. Not like Beis Shammai. What's the idea that Beis Shammai holds that you say Krias Shema lying down? Like it doesn't doesn't even seem respectful. Stand up. What's this idea? But of course there's a very profound message. Because that's the idea of Bilam. Kara shachav kari. There's times in life when I'm standing. I'm erect. My head is on top. My legs are on the bottom. What's the difference between a human being and an animal? An animal the head and the legs are on the same level. Everything is uniform. A human being the head is above the heart above the legs. When we're asleep we go into that space of semi-unconsciousness. Yeah, I don't have that ability to be fully present and conscious. That's when the dreams become very very interesting. The subconscious comes out. So Krias Shema is not only the Kamacha it's also the Bashar Kamacha. You're a lion not only when you rise like a lion. Even when you're crouching, you're also a lion. There's night and there's day. Everybody has in their life times when the sun is shining and times when the sun sets and there's a darkness. That's like when the lion, so so to speak, was submitted or the lion was repressed or the lion was confined or the lion was subjugated. But even then you say Krias Shema. What's Krias Shema? Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Even then the lion says "Karah shachav kari." Holds up the frequency of oneness and knows that it's still in oneness. It's just now the journey may be a different journey. Sometimes I sit, sometimes I stand, sometimes I lie, and sometimes I get up. And in fact, if we don't sleep, we can't get up. People need to sleep cuz that's part of the journey. It's called ratzo vashuv. It turns out in life even the moments that we're down, it's part of rejuvenation cuz it's something I have to work through. It's like if somebody says, "I'm not going to sleep. I want to stand the whole time." They say Napoleon used to sleep very little. He says, "I don't like to be in a position where I'm not a king. I don't like to be in the position where I'm not a king. I want to be a king. When I'm asleep, who am I? Who's Napoleon?" Nachash nacha nacha garnished. Lehavdil, it sounds rough. The Divrei Chaim used to sleep very very little and they said, "How do you do it?" And he says, "Mizuktaf mir chabash melakup." They say that I have a fast brain and I catch things very fast. What it takes other people few hours to understand, I understand in a few minutes. So with with sleep, it works the same way. Some people need a few hours, I could use less. But the point is, sleeping is an essential part of life. In other words, the downers in life are not mistakes. They're journeys that the soul goes through in order to be able to achieve its ultimate mission and become the person it's supposed to become. So that's why they wanted to do it in middle of in middle of Krias Shema. Now, I want you to look at the Orach Chaim. Parshas Balak. His three interpretations of what this pasuk means and how relevant it is today. Orach Chaim Balak. Very very powerful. Of course, this was written by the Orach Chaim, the Rabbi Chaim ben Attar who lived in Morocco and then he moved to Yerushalayim. And he gives a very, very powerful, powerful interpretation here. Just opening. I had a summary of it. Okay. Says there are higher. What I mean is love it. Can muscle us. Very often, people who just start the process of fighting, you know, you don't become a black belt in one night. It goes through training. It come do it. You don't right away become powerful. He says that's with others, but with a lioness, boom. They have that courage that right away they do wonders. Come on, share it. The seeker in the oak. Usually, it takes an army years, years, years, decades, sometimes centuries to be able to become the power it is. He love you come means we have a Jewish history. I guess he's talking about my share. He was It says that he was in he was his father-in-law imprisoned him. He was shoved in the base of boy. You also have it with Joseph. And nonetheless, they emerged immediately to do wonders. It didn't take time. I'm all The first is he says the lavi, the lioness, rises to engage in war and even without years and years of training, it's immediately apt at this job. So he's saying about the Jewish people that right in the beginning they will be able to inflict damage on their enemy beyond estimation. You don't need years and years of experience and achievements and building and building and building. You may have to appear but you'll achieve incredible results swiftly. That's the first thing Kilavi Yakum. The second thing is a lion he says they get older and they get stronger and more powerful. So he says the Jewish people will go through so much persecution and wars you think at some point they're just going to get weak and depleted and just give up and despair. You know, you become old, leave me alone, I will not. So he says no, no, no. K'ari Yisnasa, it's Hilchum Misgabrim. Hilchum Misgabrim means it won't get weak. Rather, even after a long, long, tedious and difficult history it's going to remain young, vibrant and fresh. That the the the the the the the Or HaChaim says. And then he adds something, I have to add it here in the text, but I'll just Or HaChaim says something else. He says Kilavi Yakum means rise like a lioness represents the true power of the Jewish people. K'ari Yisnasa means the way they're seen by the enemy. And the Or HaChaim says that the awe and the dread and the fear that the enemy is going to have is going to be far beyond the true power and the capability that their armies have. That's what Bilam is saying. Hinam Kilavi Yakum V'K'ari Yisnasa, the way it's going to be exalted and uplifted by others, they're going to see in it something far beyond what they even see in themselves. These are the three interpretations of the Or HaChaim. Immediately reach tremendous results swiftly. Number two, not get old from many wars, but rise in full power. Number three, its power even perceived disproportionately to what it really is because there's a dread that overtakes the enemy. This is what the Or HaChaim says. Now let's see what the Ramchal says. Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in Balak. Many wars the Jewish people are going to go through until they rest from their work in this world. The last war is called Gog and Magog. The Jews will rise like a lion and lioness to to uh obliterate all of the negativity that came from the nations that suppressed them and pressured them and persecuted them in their exile. At that time there will be many who will want to surrender to the Jewish people. And be under the Jewish people. This is what Balaam means when he speaks about a lion. Let me tell you about the nature of a lion. When a lion sees a person, like a corpse, like a dead animal, a person, it it leaves him alone. But when he sees that you want to provoke him, you want to fight him, ooh, now his instinct of royalty will come out and he will fight till the end. You would think it's the other way. If you have something over there on the floor and it's not fighting back, that's the best prey. No. This is where the lion becomes a king. Sometimes you have in the jungle a lion is attacked by a group of rhinoceroses. You would think that the lion would surrender. You're not strong. You're going to You're going to be defeated, but lions have this instinct that they will fight back mommish mommish sometimes in incredible incredible ways even though it doesn't make sense anymore. Like lion like animals instinctively are smart. They know what's good for them or not. But this is something inside the animal. So he says, "If it's a dead corpse, the animal the the lion goes right there." In fact, animals are smart. They freeze. I don't know if you know, but sometimes they freeze and antelopes or impalas huh? They play dead and this is what the Ramchal says. And sometimes the lion falls for it and it's like, "Okay, I'm gone. This is not for me." But wait, see if he sees you really want to provoke him. Ooh, he goes and fights. So he says as follows. The war Bilam is referring to is the last time that the klipah the samach mem wants to dominate kedushah and this is the last birur. So the lion knows that everything is at stake and therefore it musters its deepest courage and resilience. And then will be known the oneness of Hashem after this birur. And the Jews can't rest until they finish their activity which is elevating all of the sparks that unholiness stole from kedushah. This is called the blood. Blood is what gives us life. The blood of the klipah is kedushah because there's nothing that has life outside of God. Then it cry and halolim, they're called halolim, the slain corpses may atsmo ain lam shum dover klal because on their own they're dead. So he's saying now an incredible interpretation in this whole pasuk. We asked in the beginning, we don't drink blood. What does it mean? They're going to rise like lions. It will not lie down until it eats its prey and drink the blood of the slain. Hadam hu hanefesh. Blood is the soul. We know that blood and the circulatory system is responsible to bring the oxygen and the nutrients into every single cell of the body. And God forbid if that's compromised, there's no life that's transported to the body. Hadam hu hanefesh, that's why we don't eat blood. And nefesh habasar bedami, the soul is in the blood. So blood in Tanakh is the symbol of the life force of any organism, the blood of of a human organism or an animal organism. What's chalal? Chalal means slain, a corpse. A corpse is called chalal. Like it says by eglah arufah, motzei chalal badama. Vedam chalalim yishta means they will drink the blood of the slain. Chalal also means empty. Chalal, libi chalal bekirbi. Huh? Chalalim chalalim hipilah. That's what you mean? Oh, that's hollow. Chalulim, yeah. Chalulim, yeah. Chalulim chalulim, it's hollow, yeah. Veloy sechalelu, don't make it hollow, yeah. It's all connected. Chalal is lifeless, a corpse. That's why it's called empty cuz it's devoid of a life force. Blood is the life force. What's dam chalalim yishta? What's the purpose of all of this? The purpose of all of this is to drink the blood, meaning to take out the spiritual, divine life force and energy that exists in the klipah. The klipah on its own is chalal, it's lifeless. There's no life force in the world that's devoid of the Shechinah. The only source of life and goodness and bliss and light in the world is godliness. Ein od other way to go. Even the klipa hides that. That's why it's called klipa. Klipa means a shell, a husk. Why is it called a shell? Because it's blocks the truth that it's very own blood energy is Hashem. To be in touch with your life force and energy means to live in alignment with your true self. To live in a shell in a klipa means I don't know my life force and energy. That is the choice every person makes in life. And it's a very very profound and courageous choice. Every moment either I live in the klipa or I live in the kedusha. The difference is kedusha means I'm in flow. I'm channeling the real life force of Hashem through me. I'm open to that. That's what I'm experiencing. So there's very very deep serenity and humility and joy and bliss and clarity and a very deep holiness that flows through you and it's always beautiful and wholesome. The klipa means it takes that energy, it hijacks it, it creates a bubble and a shell, klipa. Husk to cover it. It feeds off kedusha. It feeds specially where there's leaks. It loves leaks. And it feeds off it and then it denies the source. Every interaction we have with the world is taking out the sparks meaning identifying even when I'm eating a piece of food. I can fall prey to the outer layer of it which is the klipa or to the spark. I nurture and take out the spark which are the divine nutrients that can give me energy and life. So any interaction in the world and actually with any conversation I have, anything I eat, money I interact with, anything in the world, everything in the world is full of divine energy. The question is am I in touch with it or not? Do I fall prey to the outer shell or not? So this is what Bilam is saying that the lion doesn't get afraid of the resistance. On the contrary, the lion realizes that if there's a very very strong klipa it means there's a lot of life force and energy. So, dam chalalim yish'teh, I want to take out the blood and absorb the blood cuz the blood is the spiritual life force of Hashem because the clip on its own is chalal. Clip on its own is empty. It's devoid of anything. It doesn't have any energy. That's why in life here is always the rule. The rule is whenever I'm feeding off energy that's not divine energy, I'm feeding off fake energy. It's just hijacking energy and that's why there's going to be always disappointing. If I'm getting my validation, if I'm getting my highs, if I'm getting my satisfaction from anything outside of the source, it's ultimately going to be disappointing. I'm going to need more and more and more and more because it's not real real energy. Everybody knows we could be in two different spaces in life. One is you're in a place of real energy and one is in a place of substitute energy. I always need something to fill me. I need another compliment. I need another validation. I need this. I'm feeding off things. I'm so desperate because essentially it's called chalal. I'm a chalal. Sometimes you can have a person who's alive, but it's a dead person walking. It's like a shell of a person. That's what a chalal means. Chalal means slain, dead, empty, lifeless. The dam chalalim yish'teh, the point here is to take out every single spark every single spark of holiness. That's what the lion wants. And the Ramchal says that's why it's called chalalim mefi shemay atsmum ein lehem shum davar klal because on their own they mamash have nothing outside of that and because of it you want to dam and that's the explanation of the words which also is very strange. It will not lie down ad hayochal teref until it eats treif, until it eats its prey. The word teref is reish pei tes, 200 and 89. It says in Zohar and the Arizal writes this at length. Very briefly cuz this is it's it's a whole sugya, it's a whole issue on its own. But when Hashem created the world, it says he first created olam hatoyu, the world of chaos, a world that was destroyed, a spiritual world where the energies were destroyed. Basically, the vessels that were containing the divine light broke, they were shattered. And there were 288 sparks, nitzutzos, that were spread all over the cosmos. And on the debris of that, the new world of tikun was built. That's why it says in the beginning of Torah, "Va'aretz hayesa soiyuv merachefes." Merachefes is "reish peh ches" "meis." Which means the 288 "reish peh ches," 288 sparks, that fell. These are the sparks of kedusha that are everywhere in the world, and then they're splintered more and more and more and more. Teref is "reish peh ches" "im hakaylah." It's 288, which are the sparks, "im hakaylah" with one more, 289, cuz "reish peh tes" is 289, "reish peh ches" is 288. The "kaylah," which means the energy that encompasses it all, which is Hashem. So, teref means, you say, we say in "Eishes Chayil," right? About the woman, what do we say? Um Uh about the What are the words before? Before, before. Um "Eishes Chayil," no? "Vatakum ba'od laylah." "Vatitein teref l'veisa v'choik l'na'aroseha." She wakes up when it's still night in order to give teref, pray, for her home. What does this mean? The woman goes to hunt animals at night. So, teref is a form of bringing food to the house, preparing. She wants to make sure that all the kinderlach have food. So, when they woke up in the morning, they should already have food, so they wake up earlier, so they can have teref. Why is it called teref? Because all food has nitzutzos of kedusha, it has sparks of holiness in it. And therefore it has to be tarif. You have to devour. What does it mean devour it? Whenever I devour something, it means like the animal is tarif. The animal comes and says no, I'm taking it away cuz the klipa wants to take it away from me. So I have to be tarif of it. It says in Isaiah that nama pum karba lecha, when we're eating bread, the word lechem comes from the word milchama. Why is lechem milchama? Cuz whenever I'm eating, there's a war going on. The war is, first of all, how much I should eat. If I should eat this food or not. On a deeper level, the actual war is how I relate to the food. Is it Is it mindful eating? Where I'm actually in a relationship with the food where I realize that the food is here to be able to help me serve Hashem. And that's when I recognize the kedusha in the food and in anything I come in encounter with cuz different types of food. And that's the milchama. Or I fall prey to the outer shell and rather me eating the food, the food eats me. Rather than me using my phone, my phone uses me. Rather than me being in control of my computer or my car or my life, that's all in control of me. So that's the tarif. That ad yochal tarif, you want to eat all the tarif, all the nitsutsus, all the sparks. And it's resh peches, it's 288 with that larger spark in a klal that encompasses it all. So that's the deeper meaning in Bilam's words, hein am kalav yakum It's also interesting when you look in the pasuk ba'aloischa, which is when the war broke out. When you go to war, when you'll be a war in your land on the one who oppresses you, you should blow trumpets and be remembered by Hashem. So chatzotzros was something Jews would blow shofar by every war. And actually the Sifri says this is talking about milchamas Gog u'Magog when they're going to blow trumpets. So Rabbi Korn told me a few days ago that of course there's a Remus here of President Donald Trump. He's one of God's trumpets, really one of God's trumpets in the world and he's quite a trumpet. Right? Pun intended. That's his name. Remaya Diag B'shma. One of the trumpets certainly knows how to make a lot of noise and tweet a lot a lot of tweets, especially at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning and really make a ruckus and make the reporters of New York Times and CNN go crazy every single morning again and again and again, which is in itself a beautiful thing. But the real point is that God has different trumpets in the world that wake people up, including the inner trumpet, to arouse the lion inside the person. When you look at Rashi, how Rashi teaches this pasuk "Kein am k'lavi yakum", he says something amazing. Bilaam was saying "K'shein aimdin mishnasam shachris", when the Jewish people wake up from their sleep in the morning, "Hein misgabrin k'lavi v'chagri", they become fierce and strong like a lioness and a lion. "Lachtoi fas amitzvois", to grab, to grab mitzvois. Literally like a lioness, you grab the mitzvois. "L'vush talis", to put on a talis, "likrias shma", to read shma, "l'neiach tefillin", to put on tefillin. So that's how Rashi is describing what Bilaam is saying. The lion in the Jewish people as they wake up in the morning, they're not just "Let me sleep for another hour, let me check my emails, let me slup here, slup there, slup there" and it's already 11:00 in the morning and I'm still emotionally paralyzed. No, like we say "Giber k'agri", like when you wake up in the morning, they're like a lion, they go and they grab the mitzvois. "Lachtoi", and he uses the word "lachtoi", grab. That's what a lioness does. She doesn't do it so peacefully. In this case, it's peaceful, but the idea is I do it with uh enthusiasm, with a ferociousness, with a vigor, with a strength. That's such a such a powerful thing. Now here we finally come full circle. The fact that this war was called is called the operation of the rising lion, Kol Nidre Yakum, is by divine providence, and I find it to be very, very meaningful, extremely meaningful. Of course, I'm not in a position to uh to uh know inner mysteries of things that are completely beyond my comprehension, our comprehension. But some things are just very, very obvious that even in our with our limited minds, we could see certain powerful, powerful developments that on one hand are very, very intense and could be very, very overwhelming, but also extremely, extremely inspiring. Cuz what we're dealing here with, really, what we're dealing here with is a nation that literally wanted to do a second Holocaust. That's what they want. And they're not secretive about it. Hitler was secretive about it. He didn't take videos of the gas chambers. They say it clear, "We need a nuclear bomb." The Ayatollah Khomeini said it, Ahmadinejad said it, Rouhani said it. "We need to wipe out the Zionist entity, the Jewish people. Want to wipe them out. America's the big Satan, but Israel, of course, is the small Satan." And Israel was planning this operation for years, years, years, complete secret. What the people don't realize and now we're finding out is that a long, long time ago, Mossad agents from Israel planted themselves in Iran. And they literally set up they literally set up little army bases from where to shoot drones, places to be able to attack the air system of Iran, the airspace of Iran, to be able to attack missile launchers, to be able to neutralize the skies, to be able to be successful in assassinating top political leaders of Iran, military leaders of Iran, and nuclear scientists of Iran. The secrecy and the mesirus nefesh of these who had to bring in all this machinery and weapons to the worst enemy territory and did it for months, months, months secretly and clandestinely. And then when the milchama happened 3:00 in the morning Friday you Zion 7 literally the lion woke up. Sadly, in our generation very often a lot of Jewish leaders felt that concession is the way to go. Crouch and crouch more and crouch more and crouch more and crouch more. But the lion has woken up. And the lion realized that this is it. Either you kill or you get killed. And then fascinating thing you see that in our generation we live in a time that when Jews rise up there's unbelievable miracles. There were times in Jewish history where God's face was very concealed. This is a time where there's tremendous s'galos panim. In fact, all of the craziest tragedies of the last decades in Israel and abroad was usually the fault of the Jews themselves. We left Gaza. We created Oslo. We compromised and compromised and compromised and compromised. Whenever Jews rise up like a lion you see in our generation unbelievable divine assistance, unbelievable divine miracles. Despite Iran sending hundreds of ballistic missiles, I don't know if you know what a ballistic missile is. A ballistic missile hits a spot and chas v'shalom the casualties can be unbelievably astronomical. And indeed Israel suffered a lot the last few days. Hashem yinkom damam. Should avenge the blood of all those who were killed and and heal all those who are wounded. But there were hundreds of missiles coming from Iran there's also disproportionate miracles. The fact that most of them are intercepted and didn't land with their destination is and the success that Israel had in the last few days, just 5 days in the making. You're talking about Friday morning, Friday, Shabbos, Sunday, Monday. Today's the fifth day, Tuesday of a war is beyond, beyond incredible like what I am describes. And it's literally the lion woke up. History is in the making. And it's never going to go back to the same way it was because you're talking about the country that is the greatest sponsor of terrorism and the country that made it its singular goal to destroy Israel and to destroy the Jewish people and is responsible for Hamas, is responsible for Hezbollah, is responsible for the Houthis, is responsible for countless countless terrorist attacks in the recent years with their endless supply of money. They can feed and feed and feed the evil and the shark more and more and more. And here the Jewish people are confronting literally the head of the snake cutting off the head of the snake. It's literally like what happened in Iran in the past with Haman and Esther Hamalka is happening now. And the truth is that the leaders involved, Netanyahu and the other leaders, you know, it's it's it's it's it's really a moment in history and and no leader is not flawed and unfortunately our leaders have made some big big mistakes, but real credit is due where credit is due to be able to have such conviction and clarity to go alone in the world without anybody's. I mean America's helping, but Israel is taking full responsibility and they're the ones fighting the war with Mesirus Nefesh. It's really really a powerful and we ought to express tremendous gratitude to them and of course gratitude to Hashem for all the incredible miracles of our time and to pray for them and to be there for them in every possible way. But what I want you to understand, I think, that um this is not just a military strike. It's also a very deep spiritual moment in history. It's it's a national moment. It's a it's a it's a moment for the Jewish people. It's a historic moment and I would say one of the most significant moments in recent Jewish history. The lion has awoken. We are witnessing history in the making. Not just history in the news of the newspapers and other websites and other headlines, another WhatsApp. But one that our grandchildren are going to talk about in generations to come because what are you dealing here with is really an epic battle of holiness versus Sitra Achra. Holiness versus unholiness, good versus evil. You're dealing with a epic moment of the Jewish people rising like a lion to defeat one of the most sinister, satanic, evil regimes in modern in modern history. That its entire agenda is to murder millions and millions and millions of Jews. And although it's not a simple time to live in, but we're fortunate to be able to live in such a time, to be able to watch this with our eyes. Because the Hashem to be able to see it, to see it with our eyes. And despite the fact that every life is priceless and every life that was lost is an incredible infinite infinite tragedy. It's a time of real war. This is a time of war. And a lot of people are sleeping every single night in in shelters, in in bomb rooms, in you know, safety houses, in mamad's as they call cheder mamad's. And uh it's it's a very very intense It's a very very intense moment in Jewish in Jewish history. But I think it's important to understand that we can't just be bystanders and watch the news. We're partners in this evolution of history. And how do I become a partner in this? The question I have to ask myself, we have to ask ourselves is, will I also rise like a lion? Hey, I'm k'lavi yakum v'cha'ari yisnasa. Everybody has the lion inside of them. Will I be able Will we be able to rise as a lion? Not as like a sleeping lion, but like a waking lion with full vigor, with full strength, with full pride. Like Rashi says, lachtei for some mitzvahs. Wear the tallis, krias shema, t'fillin, everybody in their own life the mitzvahs. But lachtei for some mitzvahs with that courage, with that stamina. A lot of people are not getting the depth of the miracle. When you understand that the commando unit of the Mossad set up such sophisticated precision weapons on Iranian soil, completely deceiving the enemy, you're dealing about something that's incredible. Taking out military chief after military chief, both of them were now eliminated. Top nuclear scientists, I mean, you're talking about intelligence that is incredibly ingenious, but without divine miracles, remember, one little leak could destroy everything. And you're seeing an incredible, incredible success. Fighting Iran was literally fighting a lion. Everybody was frightened from Iran. Everybody. Even Hezbollah they were frightened of. And then came the miracle with the beepers, which was incredible. But this is the father of all the snakes. This is the head, literally the head of the head of the head of the head of the head of the head of the And that's why you need a lion to fight it. The Mossad. And the fact that Israel pulled this off with a sudden surprise will still be told for generations because you're not just leading It's not just delivering a blow to the world's leading sponsor leading to the world's leading country of terrorism. It's also the death of so much evil around the world. It shows the people of the world what is good, what is evil. It shows the people of the world who the Jewish people are, what's our responsibility. The world was criticizing Israel now for 2 years. October 7th is our fault. And what the Jewish people are saying is you may not have our back, but you know what? We got your back. One day everybody will be thankful to the Jewish people for what they did in Iran because Iran is not about just destroying Jews, it's about destroying anybody that doesn't want to surrender to their evil tyranny. The Jewish people here again are demonstrating a moral leadership. And you know what happens when Jews do that? Suddenly the world is like, "Ah, ah, ah, thank you for talking." You know, our galus has depleted us from so much energy, from so much identity, from not knowing who we are in the world. And that's why we always feel we concede more and duck more and surrender more. We're more successful. We're living a time where Hashem is telling the Jewish people, "His oiri His oiri Kiva oirech Kumi oiri." It's still galus. It's not Mashiach. We can't build a base Hamikdash without Mashiach. We're still in galus and it's a dark galus. But it's a time of galus that Hashem tells the Jewish people, "Show moral moral leadership and embrace the miracles that are coming your way." Because when the Jews know who they are, the world knows who they are. When Jews know who That's the whole point of Torah. Va'atem tielchu I often feel that we have been in galus so many years and there's so much trauma. Jews don't know who they are anymore. The lion has been crouching for too long. And that's where we need Bilam to remind us, "You're crouching, but you're a lion. Remember who you are. You're the moral conscience of the world. God sent you to give clarity to a world, to make a difference good and evil." And this is what's happening right now. So, I feel that it's a really really incredible incredible moment because it's sending It's It's It's actually issuing forth kedusha to the world. What does holiness look like? What does life look like? What does love look like? What does courage look like? Are you fighting to perpetuate evil or you're fighting to protect evil to protect good from evil and ultimately to eliminate eliminate evil? Somebody sent me I have to read this to you before we finish. Something that an Arab an Arab wrote. His name is Amjad Taha. He's a fan of Israel. He's a friend of the Jews. And he wrote this on Friday, the day the war broke out, the 17th of Sivan. I I I'm Jad Taha, just like Bil'am, when an Arab writes something, you got to listen. They know what they're talking about. Iran once had a lion on its flag. It used to have a lion on its flag. Today, Israel brought a real one back with sunrise. Yes, when it comes to the Islamic regime in Iran, you don't say, "Don't do it." You show them what happens if they dare. Otherwise, October 7th won't stay in Israel. It will be repeated in cities across the world. Now is not the time to negotiate with them. And the so-called freedom-loving activists in New York and London, if you truly care about human rights, support the people of Iran the same way you screamed for Gaza, unless your issue was never justice, it was just Jews. Israel is not standing for itself today. Israel is standing for all 8 billion souls on the planet. Israel stands between humanity and the abyss. Do not test the nation of Israel forged in fire. Do not provoke a people born from Exodus and exile. By striking the Islamic regime's nuclear weapon in Iran, Israel is doing what the world should have done long ago. To every Israeli today, the world sees your lions. The world feels your eagles soaring. You didn't beg for sympathy. You rose in strength. October 7th was not just an attack on Jews, it was an attack on humanity. And while the world looked away in silence, Israel stood up and fought back for all of us. Now the terrorists of Hamas, the armed wings of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, have finally learnt, "This is the end. Return the hostages or be erased." And he finishes with a verse from Yeshayahu Navi. Too good not to read it to you. Sorry. As the Bible declares, he writes, "Isaiah chapter 42, the Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal. With a shout, he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies. Yes, the Middle East stands with Israel with every soul that the regime in Tehran has killed in Yemen, Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Iraq. This is not revenge. This is reckoning and Israel is leading it, not in hatred but in justice." This is the words of this Arab. Amen. Amen. I think we should take this to heart. He gets it. This is somebody who gets it. This is the historic passion of the Jewish people. And finally, it's I think we each and every one of us comes into this picture. I know we're not in the Air Force. I know we weren't chosen to fly the skies of Iran. But every one of us is a Jew who's holding up that frequency of oneness. And every one of us essentially is the enemy that Iran wants to target. Every Jewish neshama in the world. Every good person in the world, especially every Jewish neshama in the world. And what Bilam speaks about, this lion inside of us. Every single one of us, what that means is when I show up as the best version of myself, as the spiritual warrior lion, as Rashi says, whether in my davening, my learning, my Ahavas Yisrael, my Ahavas Torah, my Ahavas Hashem, my connection with my loved ones, my connection with other people. My davening to Hashem, my learning Torah. And all my own inner work of blowing my trumpet, of blowing my trumpets. Of really be able to connect to my deepest, deepest resilience, spirituality and strength in the most unified and powerful and decisive way. This is how we become full partners. For at such a moment, I don't want to say to myself, I just sat at the couch. I sat on the couch like a couch potato or like a couch tomato or a watermelon, and I picked up my phone and every few minutes I looked at the news to see what's going on. At such a moment of history, lions are not standing at the sidelines of history. We're equal partners. We're full partners to be able to emerge in our full spiritual and physical strength and dignity. To be able to be ambassadors of light and love and hope and healing and redemption. And may Hashem allow us all to see the completion of a complete victory, complete and a complete redemption very speedily in our days now. Amen. Thank you very much. Have a beautiful, beautiful week. Bezrat Hashem, we're on next week 9:30. Thank you. Thank you. Verstanden? Did we wake up the lioness in you? Good. That was the point. I asked her if I woke up the lioness. You're welcome. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. The shamash will have an aliyah. Regards to your husband and your children, okay? Thank you for coming. Last time I was looking for you. Cuz I said a Torah from you, Zayda. I know you told me you're going, right? Wow. 52. My bar mitzvah was my bar mitzvah. Wow. Okay. At least he's with good people, holy people. You're welcome. Did I wake up the lioness? Oh, that's your husband. Oh, but I heard it's good. What's your husband's name? Huh? He wrote me an email. Wow, okay. Hatzlacha. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Oh, this is how we discuss it. A lion cub, okay. Uh okay. Okay. So, a lovey is a lion cub, I hear. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's very true. It's a lion in waiting. That's the point. That's the point that when they're crouching, it's just a hachana. Yeah. It's true. It's true. They crouch in anticipation, and that's really the point that even when we're crouching, it's just a preparation. It's not uh submission. Yeah. One is in training? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, a very big one, yeah. And for no reason, for no reason. Yeah. Yeah, I know. America doesn't have this issue. America doesn't have this issue. Listen, it's a painful reality. The painful reality is the fact that there's no question that Jews who are steeped in Torah know the power of learning Torah and the power of mitzvahs. That's our spiritual weapon. There's no question about that. But precisely the Jew who's steeped in Torah should be an example living example of empathy and love and compassion to all of the Jewish people. Especially in our era where there's such opportunity to bring so many Yidden closer to Yiddishkeit. And it only happens through Ahavas Yisrael. It doesn't happen through cursing and denigrating. Um this is a challenge. We sometimes learn and learn and learn and learn, but our Torah is divorced from deep Ahavas Yisrael. It's divorced sometimes from a deep divinity and humility. Some people a lot of people, in their own mind they mean well. Um some of them, not everybody. Some are really clueless and not very educated. Some just follow the herd mentality. The painful is the painful thing is people like your son and so many others who are so turned off from it. Is not, okay. Yeah. It's an alienation. It's an alienation. Wow.