Eliyahu's Role in the Redemption by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

all right good morning again so we're going to begin with uh let's say one Capital to hilum and um again I thank you for for being here uh these have been uh difficult days for amist and last night was uh another another facet of uh of a war or a as the war expands to some degree so uh certainly it's something that we're concerned about and um there are two things or there are many things that can be done one is Filas we'll do that we'll take a moment and our learning this morning also should be for the sake of uh our soldiers and the hostages and uh all that are In Harm's Way and we ask Hashem for protection and for security and for peace so we begin and you can thank you for being here thank you my pleasure and um so let's we can say it together is okay so we uh we're going to begin our learning the learning this morning is um is with pesak in mind and with the Seder in mind and uh we're just over a week away from pesak from the night of the Seder so um that is something that I'd like to uh to give special Focus to as we'll learn together and uh I was teaching a group of young people this past week and uh doing a class about the PES s and at the end of the class one of the students raised their hand and they asked I thought a a very very um a very important question and that is what is what is the message this year in particular at our seder what should we be thinking about what is it that we should be sharing at our seder this year the Seder is different from all other seder nights so um I think it is something that that Amel is thinking about I know that there was a we had it in the tbit this past week a that was written by the the chief Rabbi RAB Lao which he suggested reciting at the Seder at the section of sh and Ron also I saw he's one of the leading figures in the religious Zionist Community they also wrote a so that's certainly certainly appropriate to incorporate that to include that in our seder this year I think there there are a number of appropriate places but um certainly what comes to mind is sh as we're opening the door fori as we're praying for God's protection and that those that are trying to annihilate us that God should annihilate them um so that uh that is something that we can think about in the Seder but I'd like to highlight a message that I think is also a very very uh beautiful one and important one at this time and something to think about seder Knight and uh this is something that that really comes out of the world of Rook Ren cook the first Chief Rabbi of Israel or really of Palestine he dies in 1935 and um there is a term that he uh that he uses one is those that attend the the other class that I give weekly so that is a term that we're familiar with and in terms of rev Cook's belief that we're in a very very precious time in Jewish history as we're moving closer and closer to the Messianic age and it uses another term as well and I have this uh just in the opening Source on the top of page one where he speaks about the um really the Wonder and the beauty of the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel and he doesn't have 7 million Jews living in the land of Israel he has a handful of Jews 70 80,000 Jews that are living in the land of Israel early 1900s and I'll just read one line from ruk he writes aliku it should not be small in our eyes how awesome it is how amazing it is that the Jewish people are returning to the land of Israel and that there is a h there is a settlement that there are Jews that are making their home in the land of Israel that's something that is uh that's quite astounding and then he writes just skipping to the second line the last four words this is a sign and a Wonder those words are similar to the words we uh we use or the Torah uses and the a uses when it speaks about the uh when it speaks about the miracle of leaving this is a sign of the Angel of the Covenant the angel of the Covenant who is quickly coming now the question is that terminology and that's going to be the theme of our learning this morning and uh it's one of the most beautiful parts of the Seder one of the most memorable parts of the Seder and that is as we open the door for El Hani and the question is what is the significance of that what is the meaning of that and I would also ask the question in terms of its meaning especially at this time at a time that the Jewish people are uh are in the midst of a war of a battle okay so where does that term come from where is that term and what does it mean Mal and I was uh I was actually at a Brisa yesterday very beautiful that on the chair they they you know they sometimes will have the chair that is used for a Brisa will have that and on that chair it said that this is the the uh the chair of Elijah the prophet so this coming chabas this shabas is shabas ha shabas and then we have Sunday night and then the following night we have the but this coming chabas we're going to be reading from the navi Mal and in the navi in the prophecy that malahi has about the future Redemption he uses this terminology he talks about a and this you see this is the the middle Source on the page I have it underlined so there's going to be a is going to be an angel of the Covenant who is going to come and that's going to be the part of the process of of the Redemption and then we have also towards the very end of the A and this is these are words that uh that many of us are familiar with we say before the great day before the Messianic day that there's going to Bei who's going to prede who's going to usher in the Messianic day that's that's what the that's what Mal that's what the the prophet tells us the Nai tells us and what will happen and there's going to be a kind of reconciliation between the uh the children and the parents so the question is what is what is the meaning of this and this is The Source by the way of of the idea of Eli that we're first opening the door for elvi we can ask the question why open the door for Lei why not you open the door for the mashia mashia bavid why do we first need a to invite elah Navi in before before the mashia so we'll try to answer that question and I guess the beginning of the answer is that that's what the Nai says that the navi says that first elwa Navi is going to come is going to proceed the coming of the mashiah so I want to think about a couple of other times where we speak about elah Navi he does appear in other places in our in our literature and also in terms of our ritual as well in terms of the way that we we celebrate that we have elahi so again at a bris we invite elah Navi to come to the bris and we also have every Mo shabas the idea of el hanavi and many people have the minog of singing El hanavi actually R cook actually writes his own poem which is about elwa Navi that he would recite at the end of chabas as well so what is that idea of el Navi at the end of chabas and again we have elvi the story of AI that's going to take center stage in the night of the Seder as well so how do we how do we bring this all together what's the the meaning of elwa navi's appearance and that we're praying for his arrival so let's look at the following and here I want to share with you a few words and very beautiful words I always I try my best whenever I'm teaching rev cook that we should all see the words of rev cook together not to rely on what I have to say and also just to appreciate the writing of Ru cook so this is a piece from from the sitter of Ru cook Rook has a beautiful commentary on the sitter he wrote part of it for the sitter his son rat hudok added some passages as well from his other writings and they and they compiled the beautiful Parish on the sitter so this is found in the sitter at the end of chabas havdala time and we have the singing of elahi and he describes the meaning of that what is the meaning of Elia hanavi at the um at the end of chabas so he writes the following and we'll we'll share together these few lines so this is the bottom of the page this is uh this is Page onei sits at the end of every shabas he sits Underneath the Tree of Life theel and he writes the Merit the Merit of the Jewish people so this is a very cabal istic a very mystical and spiritual idea I believe it's based on the Zohar but here we have this idea that what is Eli doing and why do we invite Eli what is his place shabas because after chabas Eli sits and he writes down all of the merits all the good qualities of the Jewish people T so every person says R all of us every Jew that has a an inclination for the secrets of the Torah right ideas of the Torah that are that are a little bit deeper that that's that's the idea that's the message of of an appearance of any level that you're on even if it's just imaginative if you're kind of just imagining that um you know that picture that portrayal of Eli if you just have a feeling for that or intellectually you're drawn to that idea that that's a beautiful thing to do at the end of chabas to think about the Jewish people and their merits and if a person is on a very high level very interesting and I think he's Rook is kind of describing himself to some degree that he's actually feeling this at the end of chabas what a beautiful thing to feel at the end of chabas right what are we thinking about a shabas comes to a close we have to do the dishes right what are we doing for the what are we going to what what do we have to do for the coming week the phone calls let's check the our email but for of cook I think he's describing the way that he felt at the end of chabas at the end of chabas he felt so in love with the Jewish people you know when you're walking the streets on chabas and you see one another you kind of see like something more beautiful in in the other person that you don't always see during the week we look a little bit different right now than the way we see each other on chabas I'm not sure why that is but maybe that is the spirituality of shabas that just kind of that fills our hearts and our Nas and we see a little bit more of the beauty in one another and uh as shabas came to a close where cook is describing that this is the feeling that he had this love that he had that he saw the zos all of the merits of the Jewish people writes he writes this should be what every Jew does at the end of chabas as we're coming to the end of chabas to think of about the beauty of of every Jew and every Jew should recognize and a clear understanding every Jew should know the Holiness of the Jewish people and how precious is the ma is the is the ascent or the level of every Jew and a person should feel even closer a we should feel even closer to the Jewish people there's no end to the light and the beauty of every single Jew even those that appear to be Rake who appear to be empty of the Jewish people the entire world the foundation of the entire world rests on on such Jews and on Jewish people okay so you you get a sense you get a feeling for Ru cook and the love that he had for for am Isel but he's describing he's describing Eli as that personality who sits under the tree the and that's what he does on Mo shabas I was speaking about the uh the bris and the idea of Eli coming to the bris and why does el Navi attend every bris so the Zohar writes the following the Zohar says that Navi in his lifetime in his lifetime and if you look at the na'vi if you look at theim and kind of what happens to him and his actions his behavior so he's somewhat critical of am Israel throughout his life and he turns to God at one point and he says to God I see that this People Israel your people are not keeping their their part of the bargain that they're not uh they're not upholding the Torah or the bris the Covenant and he's critical and he turns to Hashem and he says Hashem I want you to know that this is you know the people are not are not observing Torah as they should and according to the Zohar the Zohar says that Hashem is upset with elah Navi that he's that he has said a bad word about the Jewish people and he says lashara he says something that's right it's it's a lashar even though he did it you know he did it what we call the Tois he did it with the right purpose in mind with the right intent that he wanted the Jewish people to to uh to do toua but still it wasn't Hashem wasn't happy with it he wasn't happy with the way alah was talking about the Jewish people says the Zohar and therefore Leah needs to attend every bris in the future in order to see and actually uses the term it's a punishment to some degree or maybe a tikun that that he needs to see that the Jewish people are loyal to the Torah so at every bre you have ai that's what we and the actually the moel calls out those wordsi that Eli comes and he has to take a seed at a bris why because he needs to see that the Jewish people are keeping the mitzvot and they're keeping one of the most difficult Mitzvah to take a little baby and to have the baby have a procedure have a Brisk is not an easy thing for parents to uh to see when I saw the the father last night at the uh as he was coming into sh I said you know B how you doing he said I'm so nervous like and yeah a father and a mother is nervous that they're their baby that they just gave birth to that we're going to that there's a procedure so this is what eliahu needs to see so eliahu learns the lesson he learns the lesson in terms of the the the beauty of am Israel the commitment of am Israel the devotion of am Israel and therefore elah Nai comes to the bris and according to the Zohar according to Rook that's why he's there at the end of chabas as well El is actually sitting in a particular place a place of Holiness and he's counting all of the zos all the mitz all the beautiful qualities of the Jewish people so I want to share the following story with you this is on page two and um and this is a story that's found in the gamarra and we'll see how it ties into uh that it TI how it ties into eliahu hanavi so I want to share this uh this story with you I think it's worthwhile actually reading it I'm going to read and translate and uh it's not a long story but it's really quite a quite a uh quite a striking story so mimd gador there's a story which is told this is in tanar highness it's 20b and it tells the story of rabar Shimon rabar the son of RAB Shimon who was coming from he was coming from his rabbi's house he was riding on a donkey and he was riding along the river and he was full of joy why was he full of joy what do you say doesn't really say why he was full of joy but but it sounds like he was full of joy because he had just studied with his Rabbi he was very happy he just walked out of a Shear it was a great Shear he studied with his Rabbi and he felt uplifted by that now here thear says now gas means that he was feeling a little bit proud proud about himself not really the not really necessarily a um a positive word that there was a little maybe even a little bit of arrogance that he was just with his Rabbi that he just studied Torah the wisdom that he just Acquired and it says that he was G tah because he learned a lot of Torah interesting you don't usually have that combination in other words isn't Torah something that you walk you walk away humble from it but it sounds like from the gamarra he's not humble from that experience he's actually a bit what we would say full of himself Gus actually has that that connotation right so the Torah that he had and that he knew maybe more than others right there was a little bit of a little bit of arrogance that's what the gamar says and now we have the story unfolding as he is on his donkey a certain individual is passing him it happens to be this individual wasar says that he was an ugly exceedingly ugly person he looked ugly so he turn this fellow who is walking turns to the rabbi sh he turns to him in a beautiful way he says sh and the rabbi does doesn't respond somehow he's he's like in another place and again a little bit maybe a little bit of arrogance amarlo but he says the following to him Rea he says rake you're empty it sounds like maybe empty of mitzvot he kind of sees that this is not a learned person and again the the language of the gamar that he's somewhat maybe that he looks ugly and he writes come and the Rabbi says how ugly is this man now again this is a rabbi that's speaking about this individual is everyone in your city look as ugly as you again it's hard to believe that this is what is unfolding and the way that I understand that he's not necessarily speaking about his his his physical appearance that's right but he senses that this person is not is an ignorant person somebody that's not you know observant and somehow he after the learning that he does and a little bit of arrogance he has he doesn't have patience for for such a person so so the man replies I don't know if if everyone is as ugly as I am why don't you go to the to the Craftsman Shani who made me to let him know how ugly is the is the vessel that he made so referring to he's saying go to God go tell God that he that he made such an ugly being that moment the rabbi realized that he did something wrong that he did a great right quickly he then jumped off of the donkey he bows down before him and he says I've spoken out of turn to you please forgive me no I'm not forgiving you you offended me you said something that was so inappropriate I'm not forgiving you until you go to the Craftsman meaning who made me why don't you go and tell God and I want you to hear tell telling God how ugly this being is okay so we have a few more lines in the in the story so the rabbi so he is he continues to to follow this person like the word he's walking after him he still wants to get forgiveness he feels bad about what he did until he reaches the city all the people of the City come out because they hear that the rabbi is now entering this great Rabbi R Shimon is entering the city and they all call out to him Shalom re REI right they're all so excited that the rabbi is entering the city amarlo the ugly man saidin rebi who are you calling out to as Rabbi Rabbi they said him no the rabbi the is walking behind you this great Rabbi who's entering the city soem the ugly man said IM re if this is a rabbi Al there should not be rabbis like this among the Jewish people this is not the kind of rabbis that we're that we're proud of so they said to him why you know why are you saying this and what happened so this ugly person shares with the community what happened so they said to him but you should still no matter what why don't you forgive him so he said to them so he says I will forgive him is long as he does not continue to do this so in the end right the last part of the story is he finally forgives him but here's the uh here's sort of the clencher or the beautiful ending of the story so the story says the last few lines the so right away as he entered the city he went to the base Med he went to the sh to give a Shear Vash and to give his class and what did he teach what was the first lesson that he taught in that Shear right he said a person should be as soft as a reed and not hard like a cedar and what does that mean meaning you should be compassionate right you should be sensitive to others right that was my sin I wasn't sensitive to others I wasn't sensitive to this person and look at the last line a great last line and therefore when we write a safer Torah what do we write with a read a Kum says a read T the way that you write a sa Torah is with a read that is soft right a read that not hard like a like a cedar so why do I tell you this story so first of all it's a quite a memorable story quite a uh quite a shocking story to some degree but look at what Rashi says both Rashi and tosod and it's the very bottom of the page and you know usually Rashi and too disagree with one another in this case they both say the same exact thing and I'm not sure why there's a toot on the page of Rashi said it why towood said it as well but they both say the same thing and I'm going to read look at the bottom of the page so says who was that person that ugly person who met up with the rabbi adamu that was Elijah the prophet that appeared and he did it with a a with goodness with a positive purpose in mind and look at rashi rashi says this was he was there to teach a lesson the same language which means that they should not continue to do this a rabbi shouldn't do this we need to learn this lesson elahi appeared suddenly miraculously as Eli does every so often that he comes down from shamayim he came down from shamayim at this moment to teach this lesson to the rabbi and to teach all of us the lesson as well and what is the lesson of elahi Eli's lesson is that we need to be compassionate we need to see the good in one another we need to count the Z we need to come to the bris and to see in a bris that a Jew is committed even if they're not necessarily keeping all the mitzvot that we're supposed to highlight that we're supposed to supposed to appreciate every Jew for what they uh what they are contributing to to am Israel so let me read one more line and this is going to kind of bring together the why the the place of elaha Nafi at the Seder as well or one more uh one more passage that I want to share with you so this is from a uh the writings of a talmud of Rook R cook had uh had very very special talm colleagues and talm that gathered around him one of them his name was r m and he lived here in he became the rash of after after after the after the passing of Ru cook and he has a sh and today it's still there it's still used right across in the Wolfson Tower wolson tow is right in the shed called BV there's a little Bas medish and his chair is still there you can walk in you can dive in there today people learn there today and he wrote a saare called Mayar where and students collected a lot of his writings and there's about 17 18 volumes of uh of his writings and I think they're still working on on more and this is a this is from a one of the one of this farm called May Yeshua um and it really speaks a lot about about Redemption so here he speaks about this idea of elahi and the purpose of elvi so he writes the following this is on the right side of the page in the Hebrew yahu when elahi comes and when we're praying for elwa Navi to arrive what are we praying for V what is the purpose what is his role that he's going to bring together the hearts he's going to bring that reconciliation among the Jewish people and at that moment we're going to recognize that the fathers that that generation the older generation that were fighting against the rebuilding of the land of Israel and here he's referring in particular to what was happening in the 1930s the 1940s and 50s even earlier referring back to theim that there was a lot of tension between the younger generation younger generation who again maybe that like the gamar speaks about the M that they didn't necessarily have the mitzvot but they were but they were here building the land of Israel and the older generation just didn't warm up to it they didn't see the good in it right they didn't see the positive in that who and why is it that they that they were so negative to that generation that were rebuilding the land of Israel third line because they felt because they were not that generation were not interested literally in har the Holy Mountain meaning in the Hol of the Jewish people meaning in mitzvot and chabas and Kus they weren't interested in building the land in that way and if they were not going to build the land in that way we don't want any part of that and that was the position that they took but Reb carap is going to say that that was wrong that was a mistake that they judge them that they again like the gamar look at the ugliness of this that they don't keep mitv they don't keep the Torah we're not interested in being a part of you but that was that was a terrible mistake according to even those are willing again in that what quote the secular group that were coming back the they were willing to give it all up they were just interested in a you know in land of Israel and and um in a Zionist Vision but not in a Torah Vision at all they were against this Awakening this Reawakening of the Jewish people they felt is below below a land of Israel that Holiness without a yearning to rebuild the Temple that there's no reason for that no reason for a movement that was doing that and what's the other on the other side but they're also mistaken the religious community also has made a mistake and that is that they are interested only in the soul only in spirituality they only want Holiness they're just talking about sitting and learning Torah all day and Kus and chabis and SOS and those are all the issues on the table for them and they're not addressing the other issues the other other issues of of building the land of Israel that's also necessary and it's also holy and we need an army we need people that are going to going to build and and create the Kim and and going to defend the land of Israel that's also a a terrible mistake they're willing to give up they're not talking about the physical rebuilding of the land both communities are mistaken both communities are missing something and the key is for each Community to see the Holiness and to see the contribution of the other community shalli and what is the work right what is it that Eli is all about again we have I would say we have the person so to speak this you know this uh the personality of elwa Navi but it means really a generation a time where we're going to follow in the footsteps of that's what it says in the Nai that the fathers are going to come back to the children the children to the fathers meaning the older generation the traditionalists that they're going to see the beauty of the young people and the young people are going to see the beauty of the traditionalist as well in other words that's also important for the secular Community to see yes there is kadha and chabas yes there is kadha in wearing tias and putting Onin that both communities see the beauty in one another he writes and I'll just just these two last lines if God forbid if these continue if we continue to be fighting this n if there's going to be this tension between communities you could have a and he uses the word sh here which we're familiar with kind of a holocaust you could have a destruction in the land of Israel itself we're back in the land of Israel but if we're going to be at each other's throats if we're not going to respect one another to see the beauty in one another so then it's something terrible can possibly happen so says what is the idea of what's the idea of Elijah the prophet it represents yes miraculously that he should come back but it represents a movement it represents a time in Jewish history and with our return to the land of Israel that we begin to see and that we see in a deeper way um the the greatness and the beauty of of every Jew counting the Mitzvah of every Jew of seeing the different the Community those that are fighting for the land of Israel that we see the greatness the heroism the Courage the Mitzvah the Holiness of that act and that the other community as well sees the Holiness of of those that are keeping Shabbat those that are dedicated to Torah and to see the beauty in both communities so why is it that we open the door for El hanavi here we come to the Seder and I would say one of the most important message of messages of the seder this year if we want to talk about there are many messages but one that I'll that I'll highlight this morning with you is to talk about the importance of unity the importance of being together and it's a theme that that we all have been talking about over the last number of months with the war with all the difficulties with all the pain with all the suffering but what we're seeing is is a is a Unity is a respect for one another more than certainly more than we had prior to the war and we know there's a lot of talk about what was happening before the war broke out in terms of in terms of the tension what's that we saw we saw okay I hope we didn't just right I hope it you're you're saying it's in the past already is that what you're suggesting just have a look around and see what's going on yeah no no no you're your point is well taken and um I hope that's not where we are but I I I think you're right I think we're beginning to struggle with that again that some of that very close sense of of camaraderie and respect and unity that we've already lost a little bit of that so we need to reclaim that and that's what we're doing seder night what we're doing Sater night is we open the door for Le I asked before why not just bring in the mhia why not just open the door and say welcome mashiah whyi because there's a stage before mhia mhia is not going to come until El elahi comes now what does that mean until elahi comes he's not going to come until there is reconciliation until there is love and respect for one another when we have that real sense of love that deep sense of love for one another that we feel unified as a people that we see the best in one another that we highlight everyone's contribution what everyone is bringing to the table when we do that then we're going to then that say that's a doorway that's an opening for elvi until that point mhia is not coming so we first need to open the door for Eli and with that sense of reconciliation so then we can um then please God we can bring in uh we can bring in Eli this was the yes please Harry oh no I I think a lot of this has been as you said we're all very good beautiful yeah there's a piece that rev cook has R cook writes that I don't remember in all the writings and all the history that we ever had names for different communities of Jews he says I don't remember all these labels and he says it's it's not a healthy thing to have labels and he says we've never had it before and today it is real yes we we've created like more labels than ever before like exactly like which you know which Camp you're in which Community you're in these homes this neighborhood is being built for you know this specific community so that's something that we need to yes we need to be concerned about uh there um and this was very much the life of rff cook and I want to share with you just a couple of stories and uh and and we'll conclude with that so riff cook was a RI cook was Was Not only was it something that he wrote about we just saw a few pieces from riff cook in terms of what elah Nai represents in terms of a unifier in terms of one that brings reconciliation be but it was very much a part of his life as well there's a beautiful story which is appropriate pesak story that right before PES you know Rook was involved with as many rabbis are with collecting funds and by the way that's the first that the r writes that when it comes to PES the first thing that we need to be concerned about even before all the shopping and the cleaning to make sure that we are providing for others that there are others in uh in need that we uh that we're contributing to that we're donating volunteering to help others so he received a lot of money as rabbis do before pesak they collect money people give to the rabbis to distribute the money and um his Shamus came to him and showed him the list of people the poor people that would be receiving the money and the Shamus then turned to RI cook and said I'm happy to bring it to everyone you know that's that's my job that's my role but there's one name on this list that I refused to uh to bring this Kim this uh you know the money for PES and it's a an individual who's been very very cruel cruel to you and we know that in the days of Rook there are many that love rev cook and there were those that also were not in favor of of what he wrote and what he stood for and people that really made it difficult for of cook and this was one of those individuals and he was well known to be one of those that made uh made life very life very difficult for R cook so R cook said to a Shamus he said that if you don't bring it to him that I'm going to bring it myself I will go to house and he said to him and this is one you know one of the famous teachings of R he said that's the very definition of means to love somebody even if they're not deserving to be loved and this person yes it may be true that he's not deserving of it in the way that he's treated me but means that I that I find a way to love somebody else that I find a way to see to see you know to be to judge the person meritoriously so that is uh that's very much the uh this idea of of ruk and and ili to see to see the best in others even when they're when they're not necessarily deserving of it there's a beautiful story that uh that Rabbi salvic tells and we know that RAB salvic visited erell just one time in his life 1935 a few months before the passing of Ru cook and they meet one another there's uh there's an article that was written about that meeting with one another a very emotional meeting Ru cook is really on his deathbed at that point and Reb salek is a young man comes to erit Israel and he's a candidate for the chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv at the time 1935 and he does not uh he is not elected he is not chosen to be the chief Rabbi but on that trip he's visiting the country and he's being brought to places to see you know to see what's happening again 1935 what it must have looked like here in Israel and he's brought up north he's brought to a kibutz called kinit the kibutz kinit and uh there he comes in and it's secular kibuts where they do not keep kosher where they not you know do not follow the rules of uh taking the truma and Mas have taken the ties on the fruits and on the vegetables and they come him he comes in and they escort him in and right away that they that they offer him some grapes that they said they just uh they they picked these grapes not long ago and we want you to taste The Grapes of the kibuts so uh at that point Ros alvic turns to them and says you know I'd love to I'd love to be able to eat them but but I'm not allowed to they're not they're not Kosher they not Kosher grapes so how are they not Kosher grapes grapes just you know they grow in the vine well in Israel in order for for it to be kosher you need to take the appropriate ties the Meer and truma so they say through our salvic no we've done that we've taken the Myer we've taken the truma r salvic is like wow how how is that possible you're not you know you're you don't keep shabas here you don't you know that's it's not part of your not part of you know who you are and what this place represents so he says well a few years ago there was a great Rabbi that came to our kibutz for chabas and his name was Aben cook and he came that chabas and he came with a little peek a bag and in that bag he brought some uh some kalas and some wine a little bit of food and he said that he wants to spend chabas with us and he wants to be with us for chabas and he came Friday night and we sat down together you know in kibuts every once's eating together he sat at his Table and there was all this you know K shabas going on around him what people were doing and electricity and lights going on all this but here he's sitting and he's having having a shabas meal he invites people to join him and then on chabas morning he asks you know the community if they would like to have a minion to Davin together and nobody wants to you know nobody wants to Davin there's work to be done and it's a day off for many people so he just Davin alone DAV be and he has the meal and again on uh towards the end of chabas he's sitting quietly and people are joining him a bit Mo shabas Saturday night they all get together it was their custom they would sing Israeli songs and dance and he sat with them and he told some stories and uh and sang with them as well and um then it was Sunday morning and it was time for R cook to leave and as he's about to leave a group follow him they feel very you know a closeness with him over shabas and he turns around and he says to everyone he says the next time that we're here said in Hebrew the next time that we're together I would love to be able to sit together and have meals and eat together with you and that's the way that he uh that he he said farewell and again with uh with a lot of respect and uh and with honoring them so at that moment as The Story Goes they uh or they tell Rabbi salich at that moment we all kind of huddled together and we said you know what we're going to we may not believe in all of this and it's really not our thing per se but we're going to make our kitchen kosher and we're going to uh we're going to keep the laws of truma Myer of the ties that if the rabbi ever comes back that we could all that we could all sit together and um you know re salvic he told the story you can actually hear hear him if you if you Google it re salv re cook you can hear Rabbi salvic tell the story and um and he speaks about R salvic about the personality of Ru cook that it was a personality that people were just drawn to him that they that they could just feel and without really saying anything I think Ro salv makes that point that he said very little it wasn't wasn't about giving classes and it wasn't about anything he said they just felt that they were in the presence of a of a personality that um that really that respected them and um that when he was with them that they felt he was a person that uh that had great love that exuded great love for every single Jew um let me share uh one other and this maybe this is an idea that uh in terms of uh terms of loving every Jew and uh and every person that's in the Seder itself just a maybe a d it's a it's a story but maybe D that you'd like to share the Seder it's a story of known as the din rebi one of the uh the great rebies of ofus and it was his custom that before he would sit down to his seder that he would first kind of check on everyone in the community to make sure that everybody was ready for their seder that they didn't have any last minute questions very often right last last minute people have issues or whatever it may be questions the mat the whatever whatever issues there may be and that was his custom that he would not start a Seder until everybody started their own so he would make his way around the stattle or whatever it was in denv and he would stop by the house he kind of just listening in to see that everybody was okay that everybody and only once he heard that would he go home and begin his seder so he beg he makes his way around he stops at one um at one home he's listening by the window and he hears that they're up to the Seder of the Dal of the four sons of the Seder and he hears that this is the way that the that the person is is beginning that section Russia so you thought that was like a little bit uh interesting way of of of reciting that section of the Seder he goes home to his family he's now ready to begin his seder and he turns to his family members and he said I just heard the most beautiful the most beautiful prayer you know this man in ch he's in ch with me every morning and when he says the that's how he says the every morning is just like that and what he was doing at a Seder he was praying that every child at the Seder should know the should know the one should know one God even the Russ should know the maybe even the also should know should really feel should believe in a very deep way in the Oneness of Hashem and that's the prayer the prayer of elwa Navi the prayer of opening the door for Elijah the prophet that every Jew that all Jews should should know Hashem should be filled with faith and should be connected with one another two more uh two last ideas and I see we have RAB wine Reb here so so we'll uh we'll finish in a timely manner um and I just saw this word this year which I thought was a beautiful beautiful idea for the Seder you'll tell me Reb winb if you ever heard this so we have the three the three Matos at the Seder and there are different explanations H explanations I think a famous explanation is that it represents Co kohen Ley and Isel that it represents again all the segments all the parts ofel so we don't just have two like we have on a regular Friday night or Yanti we have three because tonight is is all about bringing all of Amel together the babbi said that we could also read that as an acronym Coen leel which is Cle CLE which means a vessel so what does that mean a vessel so this is interesting laabi says it was his custom and the custom of hisid what he suggested is to find matzas that are not flat matzas but matzas that look a bit like a CLE that look like a bowl that look like a vessel inter I never heard that before I just read it a few days ago that was his custom at the Seder not to have flat matah but when you're choosing your pieces I don't know if we would get to choose them because we just buy the box but he got to choose them so he would choose Matas that look like a CLE and he said that the night of s what the bab RAB menen zel so he uh so it was his custom to do that and he said because the night of the Seder we all have to become a CLE a vessel in which we fill ourselves with holiness the Holiness of the night we fill ourselves with goodness and with compassion on the night of PES and that should overflow it should be like a a vessel that overflows to others around us that we're giving to others around us again seeing the best in one another creating a greater sense of of unity and Oneness in and I'll end with the following which is a beautiful a oneliner from so um he said the following he said at least in his uh in his day in his town so the way that they would greet one another on Pur and P was you have AUM and a ker in PES you should have a ker in PES so he says that's really that's wrong you know that's not it should really be the opposite he says when it comes to porm we should wish one another have a Kasher and purum Kasher mean you should have a kosher purum you got to make sure because a lot of people go overboard they don't you know they they drink a little bit too much so we should wish one another have a kosher purum but he says don't need to be reminded to have a kosher pesak everybody knows that they have to have a kosher pesak everyone's going crazy buying a toothbrush and this and that you know it's everybody knows but we do need to remind one another is to have a that we should have a joyous P the night of Pak the weeks that are leading up to Pak as well these days that were in the week before where things sometimes can get a little bit tense a little bit anxious but to remember the most important thing is a lot of joy and says only with joy can we grow can we become um people of of Greater faith and of goodness and that's what we we need to bring a lot of joy to seder night so in this time with all of the the challenges around us and um and the difficulties that we're facing we should uh we should be Z to A lot of joy as well joy with our families Joy on the night of the Seder and as a Jewish people to uh that it should be a time of joy of yeshu andamos uh I wish everyone a I thank you very much for coming out I know this is a difficult challenging morning to have a group that are that's here learning together is an inspiration so I thank you very much and I wish everyone a that's right a full of joy and happiness