Living With Emunah (Part 164): Talking to Hashem all Day

good to be back together with our amuna friends living with amuna friends and support group every wednesday morning in order to remind ourselves that which we already know but so easily forget escapes our mind the way that we live in this world reinforces the erroneous notion regularly that we are in charge that we are in control that we are the ones who forge our own destiny that we take responsibility and can be proud of our own success and therefore we need the reminders that's why 100 brokers a day were instituted 100 brokers a day a hundred interruptions to the day remember a hundred times a day that there's a god that bid for connection make that brah express that gratitude ask for that help remember that he's looking over your shoulder a hundred times a day our moon series is generously sponsored by doctors avi and bella morgan so grateful to them in memory of doctor rabbi dr brian gabbat bharach's nasa in memory of bella's mother dr ellen shanzer who lives a life of service to the jewish community and of chesad we're very grateful to the morgans for the generous sponsorship of the series for the year okay we're not going to start a new um lee mood because we're going to take a break after today until after circus not really taking a break there's a lot of conflict so i wanted to share with you a few thoughts that will put us in the right mindset and these asterisks in these 10 days that we are supposed to really recalibrate our compass refocus our priorities these 10 days that we're supposed to not be on our best behavior in some way that we're trying to trick or fool god that like well you know we'll do our best for 10 days we'll push through so that he answers us positively and then we'll revert back then we'll just go back to the way we were but rather these are 10 days that are meant to transform our entire year we're meant to form new habits we're meant to break through and realize new parts of ourselves and to bring hashem into our daily life and into our daily living that's really what it's all about it's really what it's all about we say in the david the minute is to insert zion at the end of davening of different customs of when to say it said at the end of chakras and at the end of maharaja by the same after minister instead of marv but to himself capital chapter 27. and then there we have the famous words that have been made into many beautiful songs many beautiful melodies all the days of my life i want to lock those banana mashem to gaze upon the beauty will evacuate to frequent to be a regular to be a visitor in his in his home there are many questions on this one simple sentence first of all there's one thing i want and then he goes on to list several things he wants just one thing one thing i need one thing i want please hashem favor me with one thing a b c d so the message itself says you know where god got you know where david got this from that we got this from god himself who said there's one thing i want from you a whole list of things that he wanted but in any case what does it mean lassos i want to sit there all the days of my life i want to be a visitor it's a famous question gives a famous insight cover time says you know that when you live somewhere you're the least likely to visit the most significant places there right if you grew up in new york how often have you been to the statue of liberty you grew up in florida how often do you go to the beach how often do you go to i don't know where are our monuments or what are our our major places that that people frequent the everglades or or wherever else when you're a resident of a place you take the the places that the visitors uh look at for granted because you live there you'll get there someday sometime not necessarily for now what am i saying says i want a shifty i want to feel like a resident i want to feel like i belong i want to feel like i live there but at the same time i want the mentality mentality of levaker i want to have the mentality of a person who's visiting the excitement and the energy the curiosity and the inquisitiveness i want there to be the the energy of a visitor who wants to take it all in and wants to get it all in that combination which ordinarily are in conflict says i want them to be in consonance i want to be shifty i want to be a toshav i want to be a resident i want to live there i want to feel comfortable there but be cool evacuate i also at the same time simultaneously want to bring the energy and the attitude of a mavaca of a tourist of a guest of a visitor who's going to try to see everything and get it all in and is so excited to be there so that is number one the attitude that we have towards our relationship with hashem is a level of comfort and casual at the same time an attitude of getting it all in this time of year the pastor says dear hashem behemoths hashem when he's close and the gemara says when is he close when is he already accessible or available when is an auspicious time when is a a proper time to reach out to him where he is more likely he is more ready to answer and the gemara says these are the 10 days of repentance the king's not in the palace it's hard to find him when he's in the palace he's hiding in the palace now we have the ability to find him he is accessible he is available he is out there and therefore we can go and we can ask him for what we need we can ask him for what we need we go we look for him we ask him and we access him now we we don't wait we don't give up we don't miss out on that opportunity to be able to to be able to speak to him so that's the mentality that's the attitude but on the one hand we're a tashav we feel comfortable in the audience in the vicinity of hashem there's a comfort level there's a love there's a relationship there's a connection but simultaneously we want to have the energy the excitement of a newbie of a fresh view of somebody who's visiting of somebody who's checking it out for the very first time to bring that attitude and to bring that mentality of america i'll tell you an amazing story the king is in the field now is the chance after yom kippur he's going back in the palace after yom kippur we can still speak to him but by appointment only and you have to make it past the secretary in this and the secret service you have to somehow be able to get into that oval office and when you're there you'll only have a brief moment but now i'm almost out he's out in the field now is the time pour out your heart tell them what you want what you need what you hope for what you dream what you wish tell them what you're disappointed and what you're angry about tell him what you're so grateful for hamas right now he's most accessible i'll tell you an amazing story an amazing story it was recounted in an interview on israeli radio station about a gentleman who was brought to england on the kinder transport he was living in an orphanage with other refugees and one day the teacher entered the orphanage in a state of great excitement he said king george vi was coming all the children were told to put on their best shorts and scrub their faces and knees and they're going to meet the king to give an audience to the king king george and along with all the other residents of the street the school children turned out on the pavement there was this great sense of anticipation a parade was going to come by the king himself but as all the other spectators were aware of the meeting with the king was not really a meeting with the king that the children had imagined the kids were so excited instead merely they were part of a welcoming party the king's fancy car and entourage and parade turned the corner and proceeded down the street now nonetheless the children jordan the cheering and the flag waving and the car passed as a pers at a uh processional pace the man recounting the story on israeli radio explained that for the boy standing next to him in line simply watching was not enough and the boy next to him lining the street from the orphanage broke ranks and proceeded to run into the street and chase down the car and when he reached the vehicle that the king was in and it was still mosing along at a processional pace he began to bang on the boot on the tire with all of his might finally the car stopped and lo and behold the door opened and the boy stood face to face with the king now in america where the police carry guns he probably would have been shot in england don't they not carry guns they wear those furry hats so i guess that's why he wasn't shot so he kicked the tire and the door opened and lo and behold the voice stood face to face with the king and king george asked him what's the problem young man what do you need and the boy said he had been told that he'd be meeting with the king and he very much wanted to thank him for having brought him to this country and rescued him for the ravages and the fires of europe but the boy continued you see i'm terribly lonely because my parents are still there and the king responded he asked the boy's name in the name of his parents and where he's from and he thanked him and he bit him on his way back to the rest of the children and the boy was sure that he'd be severely punished for his actions but surprisingly the school did not make anything of the incident they let it go until a few weeks later the headmaster summoned the boy to his office to which the boy was sure he was to be reprimanded he was he was positive having broken ranks and left the line and chasing the car and being so brazen to speak and confront directly the king he was in trouble but it turned out that the headmaster wanted to talk to him about the incident but instead of punishing him he told the boy he had made quite an impression on the king so much so that king george had sent him a gift and with that the headmaster opened the side door of the office and standing there waiting was the boy's parents and the narrator recounting the story on the radio continued and said for that for the past 60 years he has asked himself right the one who told the story on israeli radio said he was standing next to this boy he too was in the orphanage he was standing next to this boy that brazenly and spontaneously broke ranks ran confronted the king and as a result was reunited with his parents and the one telling the story said about the first 60 years he was haunted why did i just stand there watching like everybody else why didn't i seize the moment and chase the king maybe if i had i would see my parents again and wouldn't have lost them in the gas chambers it's a very powerful story and again supposedly it was recounted on israeli radio and is true but the image in the message is exactly what we're saying dershow hashem bihimato right now we have an audience don't regret later why didn't i speak to the king these 10 days he's the king is in the field the king is in the show the king is in your kitchen the king is in your car the king is on your walk the king is while you're cooking the king is while you're working talk to him open your heart pour out your heart take advantage shift yes all year long we can sit in his home yes all year long we can talk to him open our heart to him and he hears but levacker hello when do we have the opportunity of levaker to bring that attitude and to have that approach of the vodka to be like the energy and the excitement to have the enthusiasm of a of a guest when is that it's these 10 days and we're running out of them we're coming closer to them kept reaching every day take full advantage that is point number one point number two the solana says i don't understand how could david say shifted i want to sit in your basement all the days of my life sincerely meant that it's impossible he had to adjudicate he had to legislate he had to rule over a kingdom david malek was a warrior he had to leave the jewish people in battle david was a scholar he had to sit and learn and study david malek was a human he had to eat and eliminate what he ate he had to sleep so how could he say shifting how could i say i want to sit in your house all the days of my life impossible a human being has other human things they need to do it is impossible had many responsibilities and obligations he couldn't shirt them and he couldn't ignore them in order to be able to sit in the basement sit in the basement we have responsibilities so assalamu alaikum listen carefully says you know what devin america was saying it's what we're saying each and every day when we recite this miss moore during the month of elul and through sukkah what we're saying is hashem i want to have the feeling that i'm sitting with you not that i'm in your house all the day every day but you're with me wherever i am you're with me in the gym and you're with me in the supermarket you're with me in my kitchen with me in my bedroom with me at work you're with me and sure you're with me in the car you're with me on my walk wherever and whenever shift hashem i want that sense i want that attitude i want that feeling i want that energy i want that spirituality i want that knowledge that wherever and whenever you're right next to me i don't segregate my life is not my religious activity and my secular my holy and my profane it's not that when i'm in shul i'm dominant or when my tehran is open i'm dominant and other than that see you god what time are we meeting again oh manchester seven see you at minha oh shabbos is when i say see you on shabbos when do oh on wednesday mornings i go to that cheer see you next wednesday morning it's not that i'll see you later god it's not that i'm gone for the day shift wherever whenever you're on my mind you're looking over my shoulder you're with me you're with me i've got to tell you i'm scrambling right now i'm running out of time to prepare the shabashu with russia yom kippur as smoothly as rosh hashanah went barak hashem 13 services on the boca raton synagogue campus alone hundreds and hundreds of people masked distancing bli in hara safe such gratitude to hashem and the enormous work that the committee put in to make it happen as smoothly as rosh hashanah was jim kipper is proving to be very very very complicated you know what i've been doing i've been talking to hashem i'm sitting here zoom after zoom i'm here late at night i'm looking at the commuter i'm like hashem how are we going to do this what's the plan hashem what's the plan what's the weather going to be will we have enough tents indoor outdoor how's it going to work hashem what's the plan this is your people too they're not just my children these are your children these are our children together it's not just on me what's the plan hashem shabbat shiva i'm doing this for you not for me trying to inspire everybody for your values your message give me some good stories give me some goods give me some material here hashem this is for us we're partners in this yeah i got the speaking part but you're the you're the speechwriter come on speechwriter where are we where's the material i literally yesterday last night i was talking out loud in my office to hashem why am i sharing that because shibbta vs it wasn't it wasn't my if it wasn't chakras it wasn't time for silicos i wasn't saying to hillam i was talking to hashem help us figure out yom kippur give me the right words for shabbashuva give me more time to make this happen wherever we are in the car on the airplane in the kitchen cooking at the gym doing a plank whatever you're doing talk to hashem that's what david amal says islam remember david malek was not saying i want to shirk or forfeit i want to abandon my other responsibilities and i want to sit in your house wasn't saying want to sit in the basement i want to sit in the shul forget battle forget writing poetry forget leading a kingdom forget my family forget eating and sleeping i just want to sit with you that's not what he was saying it's not possible it's not responsible and it's not what judaism wants what was he saying shifted hashem i want the feeling that you're with me wherever and whenever at all times when i'm on the phone with fedex endlessly you're on the line with me it's a three-way call here's the end of that story by the way we could finally put it to bed the check from fedex has arrived in the mail sheito is gone forever but the check has arrived hashem it's all from hashem and for a reason that story now comes to a close and we can we can move on to other emunah stories but shift hashem i want to feel you with me all the time i want to feel that you're with me all the time it's a beautiful insider of the great holy sadiq the gemara says wouldn't it be beautiful if a person kadavan all day long what does that mean wouldn't it be beautiful i'll be honest it's not easy we're saying sleekless right now so silico is add on depending what minion depending what shule depending who you are what time you got there seleucos could add another 25 30 40 minutes to dominating dominating itself you've got editions of my all into it and by inaudible end of it i'm ready to close the sitter and get on with the day it's difficult it's a struggle you put everything into it for that hour so hala vaishay spala ko young kukulo hello that's not my halawai halavai that i got to eat all day levi i got to play golf i'll invite you got to be with my fam not in that order how have i got to be with my family halaway i got to sit and study i love learning torah halaway i got to hang out with you and give them a all day hallelujah a lot of other things she's followed the entire entire day from when i wake up till i go to sleep hours on end halaway i could dive in the whole day is that really my halawa is that really what i wish for what i want the halawai listen to the insider of the great sadducee says something amazing the rabbis were not saying halaway i could wear my talus and filler and sit with my sitter and in my muckleman with my mask and shul all day long darwining no shayarigil cocoa and while i'm writing my shabbat shoe with drusha and while i'm getting in the car i'll avoid that every activity and every moment and everything i'm doing my entire day is introduced with its fila the halawai she is halawa that my whole day is defined i'm talking to you the whole day long i'm talking to you it's a throwback to another time another generation some of us had parents or grandparents that we saw that europeans they were talking to hashem the entire day law tevye fiddler on the roof halawa halawai we should be like tevye that while we are turning over the hay and feeding the cows and climbing that ladder and filling the milk and halawai the entire day i'm talking to you hashem i'm making the potato cocoa i'm talking to you i'm writing the shabbat shivajo i'm talking to you i'm lifting the weights i'm trying to beat my plank record i'm talking to you i'm driving the car and i want to make sure i get there sick i'm talking to you hello that my life and my lifestyle reflected that wherever and whatever i'm talking to you all day long how about this difficult conversation i'm about to have goes well allah hashem i'm walking into the boardroom halavaya i can negotiate a good deal i'm walking into the courtroom halaway i can defend my client or i can advocate for myself i'm walking into the operating room halawa hashem that this goes well it's a successful surgery however each patient i see i say and do the right thing that is best for them it's an entirely different mentality and attitude not that i'm done with davening chakras sayonara hashem it's not that i take a break in between it's i left from chakras and between chakras and minha i have not stopped davening the entire day yes i closed the sitter and yes i folded my talos and yes i exited the shul but i never closed my lips i never stopped daving to hashem on my drive home i was talking to him over breakfast i was talking to him as i got to work i was talking to him with whatever i need to do that day from the significant to insignificant the consequential to inconsequential from the big to the small every part of the day was introduced with a two second to three second every part of the day every aspect of the day from the holy to the mundane to the sacred to the profane halaway hashem my wi-fi is working and i can order the thing on amazon halawa hashem that ev my ac will continue to cool this house halaway hashem as i change the thermostat whatever i'm doing is introduced with a two-second fila i never took a break i never stopped shifting hashem wherever i am i'm in the house of hashem a levi that a person should dive into hashem all day long that you come with me wherever i am and whenever i am halawa that you're with me that you're with me all the time that you're with me all the time that is the wish that is the hope that is the pasta we say in icha that put the beautiful melody pour out your hearts like water hashem what are you saying hashem only when you're in shul opposite the aran kodash only we're at whatever designated space in your house that you made as your designated makkah your prayer space your prayer room that's when you're no hashem no no hashem is the mission of a jew wherever and whenever revolby writes an ali shore we don't have time to go through it now but this is our mission wherever and whenever and that's what i want to impress upon you that's what amuna is halawa is you're with me now i'm sitting in your house but whatever house i'm in we've we've transformed it to become your house says we're going to stand before god and we're going to say that you designated us you created us to stand left before you that's our goal that's our job to live my life and to know i am always i'm always when i'm choosing what to watch when i'm choosing what to say when i'm filling out my taxes when i'm talking to my friends i'm left when i'm choosing what to eat wherever and whatever how i do business in my interpersonal social relationships and interactions in how i fill out my tax returns halawa you designated us to recognize that i stand before you that i stand before you this we say in the break of ashiyat i come out of the bathroom the most mundane most animal most base act that a human being does i come out of that bathroom and i say the brachiobashi yatsar and then what do i say if all my pipes and plumbing weren't working right i would not be possible i could not stand before you god i couldn't stand before you there are people who can't attend minion because they have um gastrointestinal illnesses that don't allow them to have the confidence to stand there person who has a colostomy an ostomy a person who's not sure that they can dominate properly so you know if my heart weren't beating if my health weren't in place if i had a kidney stone or gallstone if i had a bladder infection if i had a gi disease ef i wouldn't be able to stand before you i'd be incapacitated i'd be debilitated i wouldn't be able to definitely i couldn't stand before you the bra i come out of the bathroom and a jew says thank you for allowing that most animal-based mundane act to work because without it i couldn't fulfill the very purpose with which i'm here which is that's why we're here that's why we're here hashem pour out my heart no i want to feel wherever and whenever the boardroom the operating room the courtroom the kitchen the gym wherever and whenever i'm no i'm opposite you i'm it's why i'm here and what i was designated to do is to stand opposite you and to know you're in my life and therefore to never be anxious and never be angry and never be envious because i know you're in charge because i know you've got my back because i know everything is for a reason and nothing's random and when i'm moodle when i stand before you and when i successfully cultivate that feeling of no equal and opposite to you when i talk to you and i ask you in halawa i introduce as i walk into that courtroom that operating room as i walk into that boardroom as i walk into the gym the kitchen the bedroom as i walk into every area and aspect and activity of my life i utter a prayer hashem please help me because it's up to you then i've put hashem i'm opposite him i'm standing before him and then we can let go and let god you can smile you'll see the wrinkles disappear you'll see your shoulders lower you'll see your blood pressure drop you'll see that you have the strength and the courage and the energy to confront whatever it is in your day that you need to battle and overcome you'll see your ability to make it to the end of the day no hashem he's in the room the only question is whether you recognize him or not he's there he's there he may be invisible he is no he is the only question is are you going to open your eyes and see him or not are you willing to extend your antenna and pick up the frequency are you willing to put on the blue light and see that he's really there all along he's there either way so you might as well embrace him you might as well feel his presence you might as well draw that comfort and that strength you might as well feel that responsibility you might as well express that gratitude because he's there all along he's there all along so i want to wish all of you my holy amuna friends that we should succeed and shift to the s hashem should bless us and we ask him for help to feel that we're in his presence talk to him talk to him to the point that you look like a madman you know the best thing that ever happened the best thing that ever happened was hands-free in the car because before there was hands-free if you were driving talking to god you look like a lunatic you know if you're at a red light and you look over and the person's talking out loud now you just assume that they're on their hands free they're talking to somebody through the phone through the car before that just a few years ago the car is the best place to talk to hashem you looked like a lunatic an actual lunatic and now thank god you've got you know if you have hair or a shaytal or long hair you have an advantage because you wear your little air pod half the time my wife or one of my kids walk in the room i think they're talking to me and it turns out that their airpod underneath their hair they're having a conversation with someone so now you have the ability wherever and whenever to talk to god and nobody knows you know what one of the blessings of this mask is the black the masks everywhere it's a curse it's a pain nobody's enjoying these masks they're miserable you know a blessing a hidden blessing of these masks you could be in public and have to make an asha yatsar you no longer have to find a corner and cover your mouth and pretend you could stand in davon minha you could stand and be talking to god and nobody knows the conversation you're having underneath that mask you no longer have to be shy you're reticent or embarrassed or ashamed you no longer have to hide it take advantage of it with that mask on at costco at publix at neiman marcus at whatever store before it closes down and declares bankruptcy at whatever store talk to hashem my favorite store let it not declare bankruptcy whatever you want to talk to him about i'm actually uttering a prayer let nobody be at that store using my credit card buying anything everybody's uttering their own prayer wherever they are under their mask everyone has their own prayer that they have to order spending freeze but everyone's uttering their own i guess we got some money from fedex now we could spend but everybody's uttering their own prayer halal via sri is palakolyam kula wherever and whenever talk to hashem all day long and then shift to the base hashem you'll find that you're sitting in the house of hashem my dearest friend stay happy stay healthy stay holy join us tonight we're going behind the bema with judge alvin hellerstein a federal judge from new york we'll hear about his tips for how to come before the judge on the holiest day by the uh his tips as a judge how to come before the judge that's nine o'clock tonight and this mote show is 8 30. shabbat should i hope and pray that hashem will answer me be my speech writer so i can give a good speech this motif shabbos 8 30 shabbat shiva russia until then wishing everyone a gemara toba we resume after sukkas the first wednesday morning following suk as we resume stay happy stay healthy and stay holy