Living With Emunah (Part 202): Get to Work

good morning poker tov welcome back to living with emunah our weekly learning session we try to remind ourselves what we already know what everyone knows intuitively and instinctively that there is a god there is a creator there's an omnipotent being that we are not here by accident we are not here randomly we are here by design we have a meaning we have a purpose we have a mission in this world and we have to live with emunah to go through life and to know that we're never alone to know that the misali that the one who sent us on this mission is right by our side is rooting for us has empowered us and enabled us in order to be able to pursue it in order to be able to achieve it i want to thank our generous sponsors for the amino series for the year dr xavier and bella morgan in memory of our doctor brian galbet and a member of bella's mother dr ellen chandser thank you so so much for your generosity and for your sponsorship if you'd like to sponsor a particular sheer please go on beerusonline.org sponsor brsonline.org sponsor you can choose the date write the language make the payment all in one convenient place what a way to honor a year at site a birthday and anniversary special occasion to help promote and support our torah learning and i thank you in advance for that we are continuing we have been studying about bitter we have been studying about what it means to nullify ourselves to submit and to surrender to the ribonus shalom to the almighty to hashem how we have to recognize that no matter how far away physically we may be away from biological parents the avarakaman our father in heaven is always by our side and the moment we live with that consciousness with that mindfulness the moment that we remember then nothing will throw us for a loop not being stuck in traffic and not the plane taking off late and not somebody disappointing us or misbehaving and not something not working out or going wrong we will recognize it's part of a master plan that everything by definition is for our good whether we appreciate it whether we feel it or not and that will keep us with our serenity our tranquility our happiness that will keep our mental health our physical health our spiritual health no matter what we're going through it's the way it was meant to be it's by design it's from above and that is the greatest gift that we can have ravichameyer has been describing four levels four madregos four steps of bitter what does it mean to submit and surrender what does it mean to nullify ourselves to hashem so let's review quickly and then we will go viter then we will continue on number one was bitto of cabela's old number one was i know that i exist i know i'm an entity i know that i independent of god i'm here but i accept i receive his sovereignty over me i recognize that he is the sovereign king of kings his providence his control a kabbalah's old i don't live in this world i don't answer only to myself so i see myself as separate and apart but i realize that i work for him he doesn't work for me number two is vito bemidos number two is not just intellectually cognitively rationally i don't just study about god i haven't read books about him i don't take that leap of faith intellectually but emotionally i'm invested in a relationship there's love and there's awe there's clinging to god there are ups there downs i'm in a relationship there's emotion there's emotional connection number three was bitter hayes was to nullify my sense of i there is no ego there's no i i'm here to serve him i'm here on his mission i am not the center of the universe he is the entire universe and therefore i need to meet his expectations i serve at his pleasure i get the greatest pleasure by giving nacha by giving pleasure to him that's bitterlyesh and lastly was bitter because the fourth and final level said richard meyer is the notion of bitter messiahs means that in his presence i don't even feel like i exist and as i said as he's described we can relate to that there are people who are so great so accomplished so powerful that while we're with them we forget we even exist we're not hungry we're not tired we're not thirsty we don't even remember we're breathing we don't remember we exist we're merely in their presence and that's what it means to be in the presence of hashem so powerfully so tangibly so palpably so intensely that in that moment i'm in his presence it's as if i'm not even here i'm subsumed under him to bring that mentality to live that life to try to have that attitude is not to forfeit our own sense of selves but rather to recognize that when we attach ourselves to him we are living our best sense of selves there is a godly soul of godly spirit inside every one of us there's that which yearns for and aspires for more for holier for higher for better there's that godly soul which is the epitome of discipline and sovereignty and self-control we don't have to give in to that impulse in that instinct we don't have to act like an animal we don't have to we don't have to feed that sahara that desire within us but rather we can live with that discipline that self-control that godliness that godly soul so when we connect when we attach ourselves to that godliness inside ourselves then we are submitting and surrendering the rest of our sense of selves to him and as i point out each time and i want to continue to point out because it is critically important that when we talk about submitting and surrendering to hashem and living a life of a mission to him it doesn't mean we can't have pleasure enjoy a nice steak a fine glass of wine enjoy a football game on a sunday if it's one needs to recreate recreate if what needs to be entertained we're allowed to take time off we're allowed to vacation we're allowed to have fun we're meant hashem to get pleasure in this world and pleasure in life hashem designed us but we're doing all that not as an ends unto itself all that is a means to help us to elevate us to enrich us to be our best selves so we can get back to the real reason we are here which is to serve him enjoy have fun laugh play it is a big part of life to spend time with our family with our friends all of that is beautiful and has religious value to it but they're not ends unto themselves really all of that has to be informed and inspired by the question that we have to ask ourselves daily and ask ourselves regularly what does hashem want from me am i giving him am i giving him joy is he right here by my side when i'm making that decision about what to do next or how to spend my time or what to watch or listen to or where to go or how to behave or how to vacation or who i am on my vacation does he come with me or do i leave him behind we are on page nun page 56 in this wonderful save for beyond of a victor mayor let's continue the notion that in my heart i nullify myself to you that in my heart i submit and surrender to you that in my heart i feel integrated together with you god cannot just be a theoretical academic abstract idea in my heart it has to be an avodah bipol it has to express itself and manifest itself in reality and this is true not just for this quality of bitter it's true for every quality insider snippets every evening or six minute instead of snippet you can listen online or any podcast player or get it delivered right to whatsapp by signing up for the serious snippets what's app group but instead of snippets we're up to shema and we have the mitzvah of the ahafta we are told to love god and we ask the question how can you command an emotion how can you command to love any more than someone on their second or third date can turn to the person on the other side of the table and say i demand of you i command of you to love me now how can you command of someone an emotion you can command or demand of someone to regulate their behavior you can tell someone how to act but how can you tell them how to feel so insider snippets we shared three or four or five different interpretations of what via hafta what does it mean to love but the most important interpretation which really combines them all is that via is not an emotion we in judaism believe that love is not an adjective love is a verb love is not how i feel love is a decision how i behave we have to love our neighbors as ourselves it doesn't mean i have to gush and cry and swoon over my neighbor with a sense of love from the emotion it means i have to treat my neighbor that i love them i have to be loyal and i have to have their back and i have to make their life easier not harder everything we talked about what it means to be a good friend earlier this morning to share them 10 minutes of meaning what does it mean to be a hustler highest friend is to make our friends life easier not harder to make them simpler not more complicated to be part of the solution not to compound their problems so love is all about how we behave love is an action love is a decision love is not an emotion and the same is true here about bittel bittle is not i listened on wednesday morning and i heard about and studied about and i read about bittel so surrender and submit we could debate we can analyze we'll have a stimulating thought-provoking conversation about it and then when i go back to my life now i'm exactly who i was beforehand it has to be an avodah bipol any one of these qualities has to express itself in marriage you could write the gushiest mushiest card in the world and deliver it with flowers and chocolates and jewelry and then if you go back to being ruthless and cruel and unkind and impatient and self-centered then it doesn't really matter what you wrote in the card it doesn't really matter what you hired the plane to to draw in the sky none of that matters if bipol if in action if in the world of reality one is not putting into place so we can talk amuna you can chuckle all day long and bark hashem but when the rubber meets the road and when you run into that moment where you're ready to lose your cool and fly off the handle and get angry when you're ready to feel envious and jealous of what your neighbor has when you're ready to feel arrogant and pursue honor and think you're the center of the universe in those moments do we actualize all that we're learning to stop and to take a deep breath and to remember i'm not in charge and i'm not in control and the world doesn't revolve around me i have to let go and let hashem i have to recognize he's in charge he's in control there's no reason to be envious i have what i need and what's meant for me there's no reason to get angry because i'm not the center of the universe i refuse to worship the idol called the ego and rather i recognize that hashem has a plan and i can't control everyone and everything around me i refuse to get arrogant i'm not the most important thing there is so it has to be bipolar but here shalomerus we run into a great risk now there could be a significant unintended consequence of a successful life of the moon what is the big risk and what is the potential unintended uh terrible liability of a life of hamuna that you'll have such a moonah and you live with such bitter that you say you know what i am so myself to shem i so submit and surrender to him i'm not going to work he's in charge he's in control if he wants my bank account to mysteriously find itself fuller with money he'll put money in if he wants someone to drop off some cash at my front door there'll be a ring at the doorbell any moment why do i have to put an effort why do i have to take initiative why do i have to work hard whether it's parnassa in earning a living or work hard on my relationships or work hard on who i am my self-development or work hard if god forbid someone is unhealthy why should i get vaccinated why should i go to the doctor and get an antibiotic prescription why should i ever make an effort to take an initiative because i have such a muna and i am so vat on myself i so nullify relinquish submit surrender to him he's in charge so the answer says richard meyers don't fall into that trap because part of what it means to live with emunah is to take that initiative is to recognize that he will meet me halfway but i am responsible for my half i have to make my effort i have to take my initiative i have to do my part and then he does his. on the one hand an enormous sense of submission and surrender list score to remember shackles hashem that the entire world and everything in it that the magnificent yellowstone national park and the grand tetons and wherever you merited to go even if it was simply your backyard or to look out the window and to see those blades of grass the hills the mounds the mountains to see the river and to see the ocean to see the sea and to realize hakko everything from the large enormous to the minute seemingly insignificant everything's hashem he is absolutely everything everything in boca raton we have the privilege of once a month area of a sunrise minion at the beach we dive in at the beach basically at the beach and you listen to those waves crash as you're davening and you see the sun come right up over the horizon exactly punked exactly when it says sunrise will be the sun you know we say in kirish levana we say that we should be like the luminaries what does it mean like the luminaries it means that hashem program told the luminaries what to do and they don't sleep in and they're not lazy and they don't make excuses and they don't bail on him but the sun is supposed to rise at exactly a specific time punkt you see the top of the sun come right above the horizon of the ocean exactly when it's meant to rise and when i dive and i look out and i think and i see those waves crashing not only at the beach but further out in the ocean the waves forming and you see you see the white of the waves and you think none of this is a coincidence how many waves the pace of the waves the rhythm of the waves when the waves it's all from hashem he is so great that he is monitoring that and he has providence over that while he's also involved in every one of our lives and while he was involved in every blade of grass when i was in wyoming i had the privilege and the great blessing to tour god's magnificent creation in surah kill keno and sayaka he is the greatest artist there is and when you look out at that landscape and you see the mountains the snow-capped mountains of the grand tetons you see every blade of grass and the gemara says that every single blade of grass only exists because of the will of hashem god has determined that that blade of grass needs to be there and that beaver is going to build that dam right there and that elk is going to take a nap in the middle of that road and block that path and hashem has determined that that bear is going to take care of those cubs right there he is involved he's omnipotent he's controlling he's watching it all so he is the whole world that continues to revolve on its axis only because god wills it he desires it um on the other hand so he created the world and he controls it and he runs it but he deposited us in it and he deposited us with a mission with a shlikas with a sense of mission we are here to work we are here to exert effort we are here to toil we have things to accomplish and things to do and it doesn't matter what age you are it doesn't matter what age you are in life there is the next chapter of your book literally or figuratively to write every one of us has a mission there is no such thing as retirement it doesn't exist we can retire from a career or a profession we never retire from life and in fact for some people their greatest influence and their greatest impact and the biggest difference they're meant to make is not during their career or profession it is specifically when they hang it up and now they have time to volunteer now they have time to lead now they have time to have vision now they have time to be a role model an example that inspires and influences others there is no such thing as retirement in life there's only retirement from a profe profession or from a career and so says riva there are these two things simultaneously two truths that exist side by side one that god is really not only the creator of the world but the banished of the almighty is running his world every br every breeze every blade of grass every animal every everything is all from hashem it is all directly from above and for us to deny that to us to interfere with that for us to live and not believe that is to deny a basic truth there are basic truths of physics and there are basic truths of metaphysics and the truth of metaphysics is god's existence omnipotence dominion providence in this world he didn't only create the world he remains in control involved invested intimately connected with every blade of grass certainly with each of our lives and everything that's happening in it but that does not absolve us that does not relieve us of our responsibility in this world he created the world and runs the world but he deposited us and we have a mission we're each unique we're individual we're distinct and we're here for a reason and if we woke up this morning it doesn't matter some of you listening right now are going through a hard time some of us are going through struggles and tension whether it's the spike in corona and what it means for the simcha you've planned or the plans that you have for life the simcha you meant to attend of a family member that i was meant to go to israel in two weeks for my beloved dear nephew's wedding and i'm still hoping for some miracle in some way that it can happen but there are all kinds of disappointments and challenges and tensions that we're living through and those moments we can lose ourselves and we can fall to a place of sadness and melancholy which will rob us of the happiness of each day which will rob us of the potential of each day or we can lean in and recognize that it's all from above and there's a plan and things will be the way they're meant to be and we have no choice so we have a shlikhos we have a mission do our best do what we're meant to do but in the end of the day after we've done everything we can let go and let hashem do his work and recognize that it's all part of his master plan there are two contradictory behaviors that we need to do simultaneously so what it means to be a jew to be a jew is both to submit and surrender and at the same time to act with zeal and alacrity and both are true they complement one another they're both true it has been said i think i've shared before in the moon shear it has been said you need to pray like it's all up to god and you need to work like it's all up to you and i think it's a beautiful beautiful way of capturing what revitaminer is saying right here daven and pray like it's all up to god but take initiative and work like it's all up to you david and pray in the moment that we're deviling hashem i submit i surrender you're in charge you're in control it's all up to you the outcome the result the consequence it's all up to you but the effort the initiative that i'm gonna give it my all i'm gonna get it everything i have because we're not a people of mediocrity we're not a people of mailing it in we're not a people of good enough we are um we aspire we have ambition we are not only achievers we are over achievers and we should be spiritual over achievers so simultaneously it's not a contradiction to allow these two ideas to complement one another that on the one hand submission and surrender hashem you're in charge you're in control i recognize you don't work for me i work for you but now that i recognize that i work for you let me get to work and let me you be your best worker and let me give that work my absolute all right um if all we do is take initiative and if all we do is make effort and if all we do is think that it's up to us and our hard work then we can so easily fall into the trap of arrogance of pride of anger of anxiety of worry of sadness of disappointment of failure if we think that really it's all up to us then not only will be inspired to make the effort but then will suffer all of the side effects that come with over effort excessive effort and the side effects of excessive effort are anxiety and worry arrogance and pride anger and frustration fear and disappointment those are all terrible side effects and those side effects rob us of our physical health our emotional health our spiritual health um on the other hand there are side effects of excessive amunah and you heard me right what do you mean excessive ammuna can you ever have too much yamuna it's not excessive or too much ammonia it's really a counterfeit or a false or fake amuna but if you have an ammuna that makes you become passive and a muna that makes you complacent and a muna that makes you apathetic or indifferent and a muna that makes you sit still or sedentary then that is a fraudulent fake counterfeit emuna tacos that's not the mission that's not the goal kilolito bro god did not create us to sit on the couch to be passive spectators to his world he put us in this world to work it says go promulgate and propagate the world go fill the world multiple i have a beautiful family vikibshua and go conquer my world says hashem study science study the world study nature study my torah the blueprint for creation and then go and conquer my world go and make a difference go and be in charge now we have the gift of shabbos because hashem said six days of trying to conquer my world can get to your head six days of over effort of excessive work initiative can burn you out so we have a concept called shabbos every shabbos we're at peace with nature stop trying to conquer it stop trying to manipulate it stop trying to control it be at peace with it no creative labor 39 categories of creative labor rest so all week long we are about drive and effort and initiative and one day a week we're all about sit back be comfortable be at peace with nature be at peace with the world stop trying to control stop trying to conquer they're both true that's true on the microcosm of shabbos at the end of every week which is the tachless of myself it is the reason for why we're working hard all week and it's also true within the agricultural cycle in arizona have a shemitah year coming next year we just read about shemitah in last week's parasha but after six years of conquering the world by manipulating your field your farm to produce seventh year let it lay fallow let it go be passive be at peace with nature imitate the almighty who did the same so the yin and the yang we have this tension with this back and forth we have two truths that are they need to complement one another either one in the extreme either one excessively is fake is counterfeit so too much initiative too much effort will lead to arrogance and anger and pride and frustration and disappointment and anxiety that's too much effort and conversely too much ammuna attitude ramuna god's in charge so i'm just sitting back i'm just along for the ride i'm just a spectator to the whole world relinquishes our responsibility of the mission that we're meant to have so no matter who you are no matter where you're listening no matter what stage of life no matter what you're going through all of us have a reason to be here all of us have a mission all of us have a shlikhas all of us have something to accomplish and how do i know that because you woke up this morning because you are breathing because the heart is beating in your chest because you are alive now for some the mission is to get to the end of the day for some the struggle i know very holy very special people who are role models to me who i look at and admire who their goal is just to get to the end of the day the chronic physical pain the chronic emotional pain the chronic mental anguish that they go through to simply get through the day and do what needs to be done to take care of their family take care of themselves to live a virtuous life that is their mission it's not solving cancer it's not solving world peace it's not being the president or the vice president of the chairman of the co-chairman of the committee simply getting to the end of the day and there's no shame there's no embarrassment there's nothing wrong with that for that person who those are their challenges in life and if you've never lived with chronic pain physical emotional or spiritual bar hashem thank you god every single day but we can never ever ever judge those who do and the lives they live and the admiration we should have just by their ability to get to the end of the day that too is a mission just to get to the end of the day that true is a success that too is a win but the point is that we never sit back as spectators we're never passive or apathetic or indifferent we don't just accept with um with some sense that fatalistically this is our reality we are here for a reason get to work get to work on being the best husband or wife i'm being the best mother or father get to work on being your best friend get to work on making the biggest difference get to work on what you need to do to get to the end of the day whatever it is each of us have to analyze and study and evaluate each of us have to take the time the his voted this and his bonus the contemplativeness and the alone time to really think about who am i and why am i here and what difference do i mean to make not what do i do to make a living but what do i do to live what is my living how do i live and what difference do i make that is the balance that we're meant to have that's what sato introduces his music we're doing a series wednesday mornings 10 minutes of meaning you can go back to the very first one and hear the introduction and start from there begins what is a person's duty responsibility in his world the right translation the correct translation is not in the world it doesn't say ba'olam it says what is our duty in our world because the person with chronic pain is living in a different world than the person who's never felt pain for a moment the person who's struggling to put food on the table and pay the bills is living in a different world than the person whose bank account is overflowing they don't even know how to spend their money the person whose children are all giving them nachos is living a different life than the child who one is desperately desperately concerned about and trying to guide them towards their own happiness we each have our own world which have our own peca which have our own background which have our own dna which have our own skill set talents and we each have our own liabilities and struggles and therefore our my mission says that his introduction to the path of the just is not to figure out what's my goal what's my job what's my mission in your world or what's your mission in my world my job is to figure out that the path yes that the the core principle the pillar of all pillars is to ask myself what is my mission in my world so first i have to define what is my world who am i what are my talents my skills and what am i weak at i have to do a swath analysis of my swot analysis of myself what are my what are who am i who am i ulama what does my world look like who am i and when i know what my world looks like when i know who i am then what's my chova the next question is not what can i take from the world what are my rights and entitlements what are my duties and obligations what can i give to the world so here to revision meyer is describing this balance between on the one hand a life of ammuna which makes me submit surrender and recognize i work for him he's in charge he's in control never get angry never get arrogant never get anxious on the other hand on the other hand to not become passive as a result and to realize it's true this is his world and i work for him but that means there's work to do there's work to get done and it's reliance depending on me he put me in this world i'm unique i'm distinct and there's no one else who can do what i am meant to and what i need to be able to get done what i need to be able to do what i need to be able to do is so after you submit and surrender after you live a life and you say i'm not going to get angry at the stewardess who spilled i'm not going to get angry at the waiter who this i'm not going to angry at the person who cut me off or is not going even though the light turned green i'm not going to get angry at my family member who's not behaving the way i want them to i realize that there's a submit surrender this hashem i have to do the best i can be and i have to live the best life i can live and i have to be able to look in the mirror and i have to be able to face him that's all i'm concerned about i'm not the one doing i'm not i'm just a messenger i'm just the messenger i'm doing what he's asked me to do i'm doing what he set me out to do and i am the messenger on the mission and on the message he says here in the footnote we'll end with this at the beginning of the process of bitter of submission and surrender one has to be mevata lagamre i'm nothing the whole world is you yes i have a mission yes i'm a somebody yes i am your child i'm a prince of god but i'm just here to serve you to work for you lisbon that there is no existence in the world it's all an expression of you hashem you're in charge you're in control is the unity of your existence this is all just a matrix the world is an illusion we're only here because you will us so only once i have a context only once i know who i am only once i understand the categorical difference between me and you that you only don't just fill the world you are the world you are the entire world now i'm ready to get to work but unless i know my job description unless i know the hierarchy and to whom i report i can't get to work yet so the first step he describes is bittel first i have to know to whom i report for whom i work and then i can get to work i shouldn't skip that step i don't try to embrace my schlichlas i don't embrace my mission and get to work and then oh yeah now let me remember who i work for first i have to remember who i work for and then i get to work i think our dabbling is structured this way maybe we'll begin with this next week such a december is getting to know god i have to remember who i am who he is how he controls history how he controls nature of the world and now i dom and i ask for things now i get to work davening and asking for things not just for myself for those around me for the world at large is getting to work so we'll talk more about that when we start next week thank you for joining again if you'd like to sponsor a future share beersonline.org sponsor brsonline.org sponsor conveniently in one location choose the date write the language in honor and memory and make the payment tonight 9pm we're going behind the bema we are back live so excited to be joined with rabbi moscowitz and robert brody and to welcome a hero ribbiose mandolovic if you've never heard him his story russian refuse nick is absolutely extraordinary talk about living with amuna listen live tonight 9pm or you can hear it later on youtube or a podcast player his story of keeping shabbos and kosher in the russian gulag what it meant to live with faith the sacrifices he meant he made mind-boggling mind-boggling nine o'clock tonight behind thebema.com hope to see you there until next time stay happy stay healthy and stay holy