KLM: Discover a Universe That You Never Knew Existed with Rabbi Asher Baruch Wegbreit

[Music] what if I were to tell you that there's this one Mitzvah that if you focus on it it'll bring three precious results number one you'll become more genuine two your daily life will have much more meaning and last and definitely not least you'll feel more of a personal relationship with Hashem doesn't that sound wonderful okay I'll bet you're wondering what's the Mitzvah the Mitzvah is to have kavana which cavana now you might be surprised at that question I I would have been a surprise before I learned more about this the mishna this is actually the in the OR and in the m in Simon Sam uh SI D and and the mishna breu is in he explains that there's not just one cavana there's two now the one we're most familiar with is cavana for prayer right oh I had really good brashem I had really good cavana you know the do or I I didn't have the best you we all struggle with it right that's called cavana and cavana there means to have focus and concentration on what you're saying that's classic cavana I'm going to talk about the uh let's say the less known uh sister and that's kavana mitz there the word kavana does not mean the same thing this is all by the way in of the missioner buau you you can find it there cavana does not mean focus and concent ation not spacing out that's cavan kav mitz means to have conscious intention for what you're doing to have con conscious intention before you do the Mitzvah that's called kavan mitos and I'll have to tell you it's I I I promise it is a game changer it is a life Cher in fact it stimulates ongoing life change that you'll see you'll see we're just going to get started today but that's what you have to know so right now I would like um I'm very kind of moved by this uh opportunity is I'm really so thrilled to invite uh the listeners of Torah anytime and our old friends from Yan who gave me uh my first start in in sharing this in this what I'm trying to create uh is like a an awareness movement I want to spread awareness as much as possible for cavana L mitzvas which my wife called km and as a as of yet I haven't been sued by the airline we're we're actually um in different atmospheric uh regions so that's welcome everybody and now let's actually understand why this is a game CH changer and let me explain how it all got started it was I I could look on my Google docs to find the exact year but it was about eight years ago when like I said I felt a transformation take place and and what I'd call my life changing but the thing you should know is there was very little I felt needed to change I I was in uh gun Aiden I I was a m in a Yeshiva in The Old City by the way the old city you my children grew up in the old city can you imagine that it it was really idelic and I was aiva called birka satura which is still alive and kicking and it was beautiful people were um staging and growing Bor it was fantastic so what needed changing that's what you might ask and I'll tell you like this here's the thing I learned gamorra I love gamorra I learned uh muser I loved it I taught both it was fantastic however try as I may when it came to let's say making a braa I just like threw it out of my mouth right I um and also let's see I have an obligation we have an obligation to do shn mikra I did it dutifully but robotically this was the thing that I was struggling with what's the what is it called rot and root is a there's a pandemic of root unfortunately you know rev Alexander Seinfeld told me that the Riva of n Israel rev Aron Fel Feldman he actually he was talking he says there's a major crisis in clausel and he says I'm not talking about the shid crisis I'm not talking about parnasa I'm not talking about even the war that is a major crisis however he says people don't have cavan they're just rushing through their Judaism this is what uh and by the way I it wasn't that I didn't try I I tell you year after year uh we would have uh in L particularly that's the time where you work on your MOS we would have Vadim mus and I remember one El we dedicated the whole month to bras yeah and thank God we gained we gained but on yum Kipper I still had to do V there was I was stuck but this is really exciting to share with you you know you people say x happen to be I I I promise you this this all happen to me I found that when I'm stuck in certain areas eventually if you want it bad enough Hashem just drops a blessing on you and you have a breakthrough and that's what happened now before I tell you exactly how this breakthrough occurred I I want to be honest I'm giving this share not only to Tor and the listeners of Y I'm I I invited some wonderful SE Seminary students to come and I felt kind of bad like I'm I I know uh the one the ring leader I know she's so inspired and I can see I I'm sitting before you I can tell you're excited you're inspired you you came to this right so I saying like should I just like tell them about this road stuff and get them depressed I really said should I do this and and I'll tell you obviously I kept the class right the reason I'm telling you cuz I was just like you and I I didn't believe you know actually there was a masora uh my my rebi his name is Reby shim of shim green he he was on fire that's what I I I was attracted to his H and so um he told me that his Reby and he was really on fire he says he kept talking about burning out and and he's saying what what is he why does he keep draying my cup about burning out I'm on fire but I'll tell you this can hit everybody it does hit everybody and I'll tell you here let me describe myself if I may before I had the S to um come to Torah I was in California I was in a PhD program I have a PhD in uh psychology I'm going to talk more about that I haven't ever publicly discussed it but it's now relevant but before that so I'm in I'm I'm there and then I go to Israel the first time and I was 31 years old and wow Torah mitzvos shabis I was I was so listen that now I'll tell you as I'm fire but listen to this I had a roommate very fascinating guy from China Beijing China this was in ' 84 when the tenan square uh riots occurred and it's a pretty amazing story he was trying to bring democracy and he was faxing the Army while this was happening so I had a very exciting roommate and I came back very smart guy I came back from Israel and he looks at me and he he's looking at me couple days and then he says like this he says we have a saying in Chinese you can change rivers and you can change mountains but you cannot change a person and their personality but you've changed do you hear that he said you've changed that that's that's what I call intellectual honesty he rejected his Chinese thing what was going on mitzvos were fresh mitzvos were exciting and and therefore what happens when you do a Mitzvah properly you what happens you're if you will you're drenched in kadua it changes you it brings out your Nish it's just unbelievable so so if you told me that you know there's this problem called Road I would have laughed at you but 20 years later not always easy you know uh one of the things to point out is that uh how many bras do we do a day 100 right so you know how many what's the percentage of those that you feel connected and you feel genuine appreciation and by the way what I said is what I discovered is going to make you more genuine right it's just you'll see please God so the thing is this let's understand rot rot I'll say it like this rot is fantastic for skill development if you want to train someone I was told about the soldiers that what do they have to do um some they eventually their guns often ran out of run out of ammunition so what do you have to do you have to change it how quickly do you change it unbelievably fast right so they go over again and again and again so and then what happens it's like this they're not thinking so it's great for skill development you can do amazing things when you're Train by guess what it stinks for relationships oh hi dear hi hi okay bye you right if you're automatic in your relationships if you're automatic about Mitzvah there's the problem that's the problem that by the way I have yet I this I've now probably given about a hundred Shear on this and I've traveled in different in the states in in Europe This is like I said everyone struggles with this and we're going to understand better but you hear that Hashem in His Infinite Wisdom said do this again and again and again pray again and again so there must be a plan here okay so now let's let's understand um why kavana mitzvos is such a um breakthrough okay here's where I'm coming out of the uh dark not dark really I don't mean to allude to anything negative in that but when I after I finished my PhD you know I I just became enamored with Torah and I sat and learned for it's now been like 30 32 years and I started out it didn't um I didn't know the Hebrew I knew half the Hebrew alphabet you know so it took some time and I was and to tell you the truth when I was studying psychology which is in the early late 1980s and early 90s it was not it didn't impart such wisdom you know it my my field was organizational psychology and the truth is very dry statistics and I didn't connect to it and you know there is a um a psychologist a from psychologist named Judith Michelle and she became from and oh you've heard of you've heard of her great so she wrote a book beyond your ego have you heard of that so she tries to show you the difference between uh psychology's approach versus the torah's approach to Human Nature by the way that's what hooked me cuz I knew I was always interested in change and growth in these things and when I encountered the torah's approach it was mind-blowing so I said I don't need this psychology listen how she described listen how it was at at the at that time at that time uh she brought this fantastic metaphor termites now termites uh are they they're in a colony I guess there's a termite colony and they have I can't remember if it's a queen or King does anyone know king or queen no okay all right so it was one of them let's say King it'll be it'll be more effective so ready for this termites when they um are working together can build a sand structure 40t high now think of the size of a termite we're talking about the they scaled it it's like human beings build building a mountain that's the size of the Andes or the Himalayas is that incredible look what termites can do however guess what what if somebody accidentally steps on the queen or the king guess what happens they crash into each other they're a billbo what was psychology focused on when I was there dysfunction and why because they were trying to look at human beings without the king without the king we we're so lucky being involved in Torah because that we are we are in a organized exalted framework to F so what what is Torah talking about how do you reach greater levels of connection to God how do you perfect your character these are the things of Torah and back then it was very focused on pathology and dysfunction and this and that and look it needs to be dealt with but we're looking because that was a world without the King you hear but you know Hashem change things it's a very different about psychology and that's why I'm bringing this to the table now you'll understand better the malim says in Ash it says each generation will what's the word Chev praise praise but it's a certain type of phrase you know it's very funny I wrote a book brashem on on ashre with the maum and when I was studying it there's so many you know the famous thing about Eskimos they have all these names for snow we have so many names for praise and joy isn't that beautiful you have Hal Chev H these so Chev says the Mal means appreciation let's say you have a a property or an invest and it appreciates what does that mean it grows so listen to what he says we're saying in ashre door Lor each generation will have a greater appreciation of your works now that's a little surprising because if you ask me who can praise God better me or the rombom I'm sorry I even mentioned it right you would say the rombom he's much more developed yet it's saying that every generation gets better and why is that because hasem keeps unfolding the wisdom it every generation knows more more like the eye what do they know about the eye before the retina was discovered in microscope every generation sees more of the wisdom of Hashem and guess what thank God psychology is up their game they have this whole field now called positive psychology Rabbi Dr Aram torski was you know a big um successful proponent of that so now you know what it's really actually an excellent tool to help us serve AEM psychology is much better now so now I'm going to tell you my name actually is Rabbi doctor Asher B wbite and I'm coming out because we're going to need some help it's a tool that we can use but now let's go back so now I'm going to use a little bit of psychology to understand the depth of this um kavan Mitzvah here's the thing there was a debate in the Goro do Mitzvah need cavana and what did we say cavana means intention to do the mitvah before let's take an example uh the Mitzvah of learning Torah in fact I don't want to wait till the end have in mind I suggest you you have conscious intention right now that you're learning Torah okay you just upgraded your Mitzvah intense intensely so there was a debate guess what the Hala came up and said Mitzvah they require it you're obligated to have intention before you do the Mitzvah is that good news or bad news so the answer is it's incred incredible news and let me explain remember what I said in the beginning cavana brings in its wake three precious things you become more genuine you uh your daily life is filled with meaning and most importantly you'll have you you'll have the tools to have a personal relationship with AEM why there's a concept in Psychology called Keystone habits I'll give you the best example what is it first a keystone habit is a habit if you focus on it and take it on it positively impacts many other things the best example I'd like to give is exercise when you exercise as a habit you will sleep better you will digest your food better you will focus better you hear because it's a key St own habit now we have this requirement called MIT cavana requiring of yourself to have intention before you act this is a keystone Mitzvah and that's why it affects everything so positively but there's an extra Edge we have let's take exercise as a keystone habit it all it only works if you are committed to doing it right if you do it great if you don't not great now the the gift that hashem's given us and we this is so important to refrain this obligation is such a gift all right here's the thing let's take this the Internet it's there's a pandemic of people that wish they could be less um on their screen okay we all know that and the non-js recognize it and there's psychologists and there's productivity experts they're all trying to get their grips how do we how do we fix this so I heard this one piece of advice and I I'm sure many people have discussed this they say take a day off and detox and if you do that if you have a day 24 hours no screens it's going to really um help you first of all not feel addicted and also just it's cleansing psychologically but here's the problem how many people are going to do that there's a there's an issue like this if you don't feel obligated you encounter what's called decision fatigue you know you're torn should I shouldn't I should I shouldn't I that gets tiring and eventually you get a little tired you get you're weak and then you lost it but a Hashem says you shall observe the Shabbat no electricity right no scrolling it's not a conflict for us when you accept that obligation you it empowers you to to flourish and then on chabas you rejuvenate you hear this so now when we when we learned that Mitzvah require cavana and you accept that obligation here's what happens all right I want to bring out three things number one and and this leads to those benefits we discussed the first is it gives you the power to pause before you act right to stop and think and say what am I doing again if you ask anybody they'll say it there's a benefit in pausing and and and stopping and thinking stopping and acting but you're not going to necessarily be committed but if you say before I do a Mitzvah I have to stop and think what am I doing woo it's fantastic because guess what you're going to be more present so that's the um the as a result of this Keystone habit you will be have the power to pause number two you'll discover hidden universes you um someone who understood biochemistry or and also physiologist understand when we eat right we eat we swallow do you have any idea what's going on inside your body it's unbelievable there's thousands of processes and operations going are you aware of it no unless you're a biochemist so guess what there's a hidden Universe of Mitzvah to be discovered and unless you ask yourself what am I doing what I about to do then you won't you won't know but like right here we're we are sitting in a bait knesset so there's one Mitzvah is to have reverence for being in a bit knesset we're learning Torah and you know I taught at uh Baron University this I I said I'm going to surprise them because we were also having a class in the bay knesset there had some religious students and I said to them what Mitzvah you doing right now so I I thought no one's going to get they're in a Bas Kessa someone said yeshu Israel they were right dwelling you know what you're doing right now you're also dwelling in Israel which is a Mitzvah you hear this even if you're temporary resident by the way good news so you hear this according to many poin so there's a universe I'm just talking about Mitzvah but how about this you you can actually alchemize you can create Mitzvah out of thin erir because do you know when you pay a Jewish driver like you you took a cab running late you had to take a cab so there's a mitvah to pay a worker on time you did or are you just pay you putting forth the money or did half a Time speak it speaks about this so the other thing besides that let's say you drink some water you exercise those are Mitzvah you have a Torah Commander to take care of yourself you say good morning if you say it sincerely that's a Mitzvah and on and on so number two is hidden Universe of Mitzvah open up before your eyes and that's why I said there will be meaning daily life will be filled with meaning and purpose finally last and yeah okay the last one is this and this is the most important you know what's the difference between a lot of people hear this idea and they say wow this sounds a lot like mindfulness so what that there is a so I have a new term called minfulness and what's uh what's the difference between mindfulness and mitul so mindfulness which is great I'm please don't think I'm knocking it your the goal is to be present in the moment but for us we have something amazing what's the difference between mindfulness and minfulness the answer is this mindful fness teaches you to be present in the mo moment which is powerful but how about this we become aware that we're present in the presence of Hashem cuz if we ask ourselves what am I you have to stop you I call it the sacred pause you take a sacred pause you stop and say what am I doing right now is there a Mitzvah here opens up the universe and then who am I doing it in front of you just remind yourself that we're in the presence of Hashem and that's why I said it creates a personal relationship Hashem will be I I'm not saying this thank God I've had testimonies they said I feel like I have a more personal relationship with Hashem that's the beauty of this and okay so just to uh this is the first installment of the cavana L mitzvos uh program km want to welcome everybody I want to thank everybody for coming I'd really like to encourage you uh the members of Tor time to hit the follow button and if you uh I was told to do this no they it's good it's good for CLA Israel you know and that's say if you recommend this okay you are guess what you're giving the gift of Torah you're giving the gift of a um relationship with Hashem right so you press that button before you press that button have in mind the Mitzvah of sharing Torah of sharing spirituality of helping the Jewish people remember the number one crisis according to rosh Shiva of N is a lack of cavana for what we're doing so I invite you to continue on this journey this is called a story arc all right what if you join us with k m you're going on a hero and a heroin's journey okay this is again I didn't want want to unfold this originally to the sem students because they're inspired so let's say we start out like this you know we could be going like that but what happens is often times when we keep repeating the same thing as we go down and by the way um we have to realize that when we drop in our sense of excitement others drop and if you're a parent a mother a father you know your kids are going to be most influenced by are you going like this or are you going like that so um doing things mechanically doing uh M big costs and that's why we decided we must work on this so this is where we're heading okay uh if you will Hashem has no form but this is the path that cavana mitos can take you on and in the ensuing shares we'll see how and we'll see why we asked the question of why would has make it make like a lot of part of Judaism in a cycle if if he would if wouldn't want us to become Ro robots robots so how did we answer that like how okay good good good a stone that was left unturned so excellent question we said that you know this is nothing takes place that's not by Design and that's not by for our best interest so why is it again the do Weg bright side neurosciences found out this that it's when you get exposed to something new it's like I don't know if it's a minute or two before it becomes boring and that's why everyone's chasing after dopamine right so what is going on here why is Hashem doing that and so the answer is this and this is super important to be alive physically is a gift that you didn't have to do anything for but if you want to be alive spiritually that's a choice Hashem wants you to have the choice to be alive or not and guess what good news that's a Mitzvah daisa right right now you you decided to tune in and listen and and you're open to this you just did the Mitzvah choosing life which means spiritual life so every second you have to have a chance to not choose life to check out and the same thing Hashem doesn't want to force his uh the relationship on us are we going to detect that Hashem wants us to be present with him to really sincerely genuinely relate that's our choice so it's by design for our benefit yes you mentioned that when one's obligated to do something you don't get decision fatigue but a lot of the times even when we are obligated it's still hard to make the right choice I ask B so okay excellent thank you let me repeat the question um I mentioned that when you're obligated you don't suffer from decision fatigue and you have if you have that commitment then you're going to be uh less challenge but um what's your name again Tara asked the right question which is well I don't know there still seems that Yahara still seems to be after me and here's the thing it's a good question this is what I was taught and uh in my missor um you cannot possibly succeed against the at Sahara without I'm going to say one two three things let's say number one is um you have to you you need Hashem and Hashem made it that way we think that Free Will is 50/50 it's not the gamorra in uh kadan says without Hashem he will always win okay why again Hashem wants us to he if we could succeed without AEM what a waste of uh being here you hear so that's why you're going to always need AEM but also sometimes you may not have decision fatigue but you might have decision uh confusion right what's the do I want what's the right thing here you know sometimes the right thing is to go to sleep and not read uh Torah book etc etc so there you need the following this is what o or ranit right and now you need both in other words um we know that we like um putting up a uh very uh how do you we we're on our best behavior when in front of a rabbi or or a rabbitson even though you should know every Rabbi and rabbitson would welcome you to share anything that you're going through but it's kind of human nature I I love it this one Rabbi uh told me he says when I meet people I realize I have no idea who they are cuz they they're I'm a rabbi so they're not going to show me who they're not going to show me their full personality that's why you need a friend we're more comfortable making ourselves vulnerable and open and dealing with her problems with a friend you hear so that again all by Design and yes we still have a battle but at least we're committed and and again we're going to work on it [Music] profoundly oh