Eretz Chefetz 8:2-3 - The Hidden Power of Our People and Our Land By Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

we're I think just seconds away from uh from 10:30 I uh I welcome everyone good to see everyone this morning and uh always a pleasure and honor to uh to learn together to study together let me just announce the uh the sponsor for today's she so we uh we thank the family that has sponsored the uh the shur over this Academic Year okay we have the this morning to continue our learning of Rook R cook from the saer and um where we are in the safer is the is the eighth chapter and we're going to be looking at a piece which is the second and third piece from rook in the safare and uh both of them are relatively short they're really just a sentence or two and uh we'll highlight these uh these teachings these ideas beautiful beautiful and inspirational ideas there are extra sore sheets that can be found in the back on the very back table and uh again nice to have everyone and uh okay we're going to jump in so on the top of page one you see that it says per and the name of this chapter is or Yeshua the light of redemption and there is a letter Beth at the very top and in number one on the left side and we begin with the Hebrew of r and the great vision is beginning to unfold it should you should have a page one and two and then three and four ah okay there are yeah there are extra sheets in the uh in the back of the room there should be enough for everyone all right let's jump in says rook and he writes this in a letter that the great vision the K is beginning to to Sparkle it's beginning to uh to be seen to be revealed the nation that is a nation with deep Secrets is returning to the land of secrets to a land that is concealed and this is we're going to highlight this line from the land that is a secretive or that contains Secrets they're undisclosed uh aspects of the nation of Israel is returning to a land that has properties that has a characteristic which has Secrets ER it's a land of P it's a land of of Wonders it's beginning to be known in real life in other words it's not only something that is hypothetical not only something that we've been talking about for so many years but it's actually coming true and the life of the nation that's entering the land of Israel they don't even recognize themselves because it has uh it has ascended that the the land of Israel KES it is a it is a holy or holy of holies but little by little or as I have in the uh in the translation below these new Tendencies will fuse together and the great Roar of the Lion of Yehuda will begin to feel at will begin to feel its gura its strength its power its uh its heroism that of course is a reference to the braa that's given to Yehuda G Yehuda and it's a reference to the Jewish people the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel and here Rook makes the following statement and that is as we're coming back to the land of Israel from the exile to some degree we don't even recognize ourselves we don't even recognize the power that we have the vibrancy that we have and some of that that has been lost over the thousands of years of Exile uh just to uh to offer the following allegory a person a whole life struggles financially and here they are in their 70s or their 80s whatever may be and they re receive a big yusha a big inheritance and all of a sudden after a whole lifetime of struggling and looking at the prices of everything and not being able to pay your bills you find yourself to be a multi-millionaire and you have to make that adjustment not not not a difficult adjustment to make but it's an adjustment how is it that I'm you know I wake up in the morning and I look at myself in the mirror and my my whole lifetime I struggled financially and here I am I'm a multi-millionaire that happens sometimes we should have the muzzled that that happens to us and R cook is talking about this as well he's talking about not only not on the financial Lev level but on a spiritual level that the Jewish people for thousands of years have lived outside the land of Israel we're bereft of so much spiritually we've been struggling so much a downtrodden nation and here we are coming back to the land of Israel and all of a sudden we look at ourselves in the mirror and we realize wow we're multi-millionaires in terms of our spirituality in terms of our strength in terms of who we are and it takes a moment for us to kind of wow to recognize that that is uh that's who we are as a nation so R cook writes the following rev cook writes the following in the in the opening line and this is what I'd like to uh like to address or to highlight from this piece he says this is the opening that first line from Rook this nation that is what's Raz AZ that there's a secret that there's a secret in this nation there's something about the nation of Israel that is not discernable to the eye that's not not obvious there's there's deep secrets in the nation is returning it's returning to a land that also is filled with great secrets a beautiful beautiful uh line from R cook so let me just let me address that for a moment I want to look at the following medish and the the medish which is found midbar it's the the Second Source or number even though it's numbered as number four on the sheet so said the Holy One Blessed Be he to the Met says that Hashem speaks of the land of Israel asiv that it's kiv that he loves the land of Israel and then says to M and the Jewish people are also that they have a very special place in my heart second to last line I'm going to bring the Jewish people I'm going to bring them in to that I'm going to bring the land the the people that isiv to a land that isiv I find this interesting and um you think about the land of Israel as holy because the Jewish people are are in the land of Israel or they're given the land of Israel but actually in the the wording of this midash Hashem says I have this land that's kiv I have this land this one piece of land on this globe that is so kiv that is so special to me and I have this people that's so special to me and I want the two to share you know to share with one another as if the land itself and that seems to be what the midash is saying that the land itself there's already this really a very very mystical idea right what does that mean that there's some land that Hashem even before the Jewish people are given this land that there's something about the land of Israel inherit in the land of Israel embedded in the land of Israel that Hashem loves that Hashem is attached to and I'm attached to this people the people of Israel and let me give them this land that I'm attached to as well so with that let's look at the following and this is a Zohar the Zohar and as we know the Zohar is always kind of looking at the deeper the deeper aspect of uh of every PK in the Torah and Judaism in general and here we go to really the very beginning of the story of the of the land of Israel and that is the promise to Abu and Hashem says to Abare our EA that I'm going to bring you to the land that I will show you there are many ways to interpret what that means I guess the simplest way of understanding that I will bring you to the land that I will show you that I'm going to I'm going to give you the directions and I'm going to bring you to a land that that is the one that I want you to receive so the Zohar has a different way of reading that and look at the Zohar this is uh Source number six and I have it here underline okay we're reading we're reading the Zohar which is an Aramaic and let's translate that and I have the translation below what does it mean the land that I will show you it means a land and I'll translate in a moment it means a land that you cannot see its potency its power its spirituality for yourself it's not something that's obvious to the eye it's something that I will reveal to you that there's something in the land of Israel that's embedded in the land of Israel itself that there's a Holiness that is intrinsic to the land of Israel it's a land of razim it's a land as Rook said I think Rook is referring to the Zohar or at least one of the sources he may be referring to that he's referring to this Zohar that the Zohar writes that the land of Israel is a land that's filled with Secrets it's a land that's embedded within the soil of Israel it's not like any other soil there's spiritual content that's found within the land let me just translate those words hasem says to AB I'm going to show you that which you cannot understand for yourself you cannot know what's like the word you yourself do not know the strength of the land of Israel it is a land a that it is deep this sattim right satum what does satum mean closed it's closed in other words closed in the sense that you do not know right you're not able to apprehend the secrets that are found the depths that are found in the land of Israel so that is what Rook says when we think about the land of Israel we can think about the land of Israel as the beauty of the land of Israel and even the Holiness of the land of Israel but there are secrets that are embedded in the land of Israel that's that with that according to ruk according to the Zohar that's something that we that we should believe that's something that that Abraham was told by Hashem is true of the land of Israel and look at the following comment of the AL the alad we go back to the 1500s one of the great rabbis of that period of time of Yosef Cairo in spat that beautiful period of time with all those great gdam and spat the cabalist and he has a beautiful Parish of on the entire Torah and on these words he writes the following and here I just want to just to highlight one line from it did I bracket that for you Al or I just did that for myself the very first line right in the middle of the first line we'll read one line from the Alik he writes that you should not think that living outside the land of Israel and living inside the land of Israel is the same and what is that because outside the land of Israel or shash what so you are not you are not you do not cling to your shes to your very essence outside the land of Israel and you are not full outside the land of Israel and here let me just read to you the translation below you should know that while you are outside the land you are not attached to your roots and you are not complete rather it is as if some parts of you are separated from others for you are separated from your essence and from your root Roots however when you go to the land of Israel you are as it were connecting to your own self and to your roots and that is what means you are going to yourself to the root that is attached to God and that your value is enhanced and Sanctified thus when you're outside the land you do not have the same identity as when you are in the land of Israel so this according to the AL is what it means ARA what it means to come to the land of Israel this is one of the secrets of the land of Israel that we are more connected to our souls we are more connected to ourselves and Ru cook would say that our best our best selves come out in the land of Israel that were able to build on our uh our best uh our best mote and our characteristics in the land of Israel and that's a secret that's found in the land of Israel I want to share with you another secret as well what does it mean when Riv cook says that there are secrets in the land of Israel go to page two and R cook says or actually this is R cook says there secrets in the land of Israel but this I just saw this is from a piece from RM leahu he is the the chief Rabbi of spat today one of the outstanding rinic personalities here in ER Israel a very very very special special person gal Bor and he says you know people are surprised when they see the statistics that people that are living in the land of Israel the life expectancy in the land of Israel is one the highest in the entire world I don't know if you know that it's good news for all of us so I just looked this up on uh you know just Googled it life expectancy 1950 to 2024 the current life expectancy for Israel in 2024 is 83.6 years and that's a 17 or Point not 17 but a 177% increase from 2023 so the numbers are going up and the next piece in Google is why is men's life expectancy so high in Israel that men are living very long lives here in the land of Israel a averaging 81 years in contrast to the oecd average of 77.7 so says I don't understand why people are surprised that you have a long life expectancy in Israel that's exactly what we say every single day in kma we say it every single day it says in the last paragraph if you come to the land of is says the Torah says our kma that we recite every day that Hashem is going to bless us with long life it's one of the secrets of the land of Israel it's one of the razim it's one of the s that we have in the land of Israel that somehow living in the land of Israel extends their life it's interesting that GAR itself the gamar in Bros this is says the following they told ran who is the godor by the way in they told him there are old people people that are living a long life outside the land of Israel Tama he was tamua he was he couldn't believe it how could it be that people are living long lives outside the land of Israel he took this very literally and he was really surprised when he heard that people are living long lives in buffo outside the land of Israel that there's a promise to the Jew living in the land of Israel of long life so they said so they said well these this group of people they get up very early in the morning they go to sh and they DAV and with this of a special of the daving that they're doing and the learning that they're doing that Hashem extends life for them but it seems that the gamarra is suggesting that just living in the land of Israel without doing any other mitzvot in other words outside the land of Israel you need the special of certain Mitzvah to live a long life but purely living in the land of Israel it's one of the rim it's one of the secrets of the land of Israel just living here that Hashem extends life to us okay that is however we understand that however that that actually works out but that's what the that's what the Torah said that's what the gar says as well share with you another secret that uh that's found in the Torah about the land of Israel and this is when Yakov wakes up from his dream and um we're all familiar with par and he says the following and this is as he wakes up from the dream he realizes wow what an awesome place even questions how could I have slept here all night here I was in such a such a such a sacred Place how did I go to sleep this must be and I realize that this is the house of and this is the Gates of Heaven the ran writes the following what is where was he who mikdash he was in the Mak mikdash that that is the place in which prayer ascends to heaven this is very interesting now we normally think about and it's true when we we all know the AL that we are to face we Face Jus we're outside the land of Israel we Face the the land of Israel misra depending where we are in the world so why do we face that place so most of us would say and it's accurate to say that we're facing that place because of the importance of yusal the importance of er Isel but here the ramban writes something else that all prayer you know how prayer works when you're praying in man when you're praying in Los Angeles so you pray in your sh and how does where those prayers go do they go up to shim what do you say no what's what that's right the ran says first it comes to shalim it first makes its way 6,000 miles right it makes its way over the sea it comes to shalim and that is that is the place that descend so here we have another secret of the land of Israel prayer in the land of Israel what it means to pray at the kotel what it me means to pray in Yim that we're closer to that place where prayer ascends to Sham again is that do we understand that fully is that something that we can grasp I think it's something it's a mystical idea it's not an idea that we can fully you know fully grasp but it's a secret it's part of what it means to be this is a land of secret says Rook that we live long lives in this land that the prayer there's something unique about the prayer in the land of Israel I want to share with you one other secret one other secret and this please yeah they say it's a local call it's a exactly it's a local local call here in y exactly um one of the uh one of the gulum in our community is a a great Rabbi by the name of Ral shakar he's taught at Yeshiva University for for uh over 50 years and and uh I was to be a a talmid for a number of years at Yu and he's considered to be one of the G hador certainly in our community and um he was in he was in Israel a couple a couple of weeks ago and he was making his rounds to the different yivo and he's he was in yiva hotel in the old city and he was giving an an a question answer that's become very popular today rabbis just kind of sitting down in front of the room and taking questions and and uh and giving answers and I listened to the I listened to the sheer was posted on what's called Wu Torah where there are hundreds of thousands of shorum they are posted it's great website by the way for to listen to shuram and the question that was asked by one of the students there were 40 50 students in the room R is in the front of the room and I and and I actually wrote it down I wanted to write basically word for word I listened to it and copied word for word to share it with you so here was the question this is Source number five is one who lives in living a b life that was the question that was asked to Ral Shak if you're living outside the land of Israel if you're living in are you living a b life I think everybody's everybody here is familiar with that the the terminology or that term B you have what's known as which means that is the right way to perform a Mitzvah the right way to to live a Jewish life and then which means it's acceptable but it's not not ideal but not ideal it's not the it's not correct so that that was the that was the question that was asked of R so here's the answer and again just just about word for word that I try to jot down he write he he said the following in a certain sense this is true true meaning that it's bid if you're living outside the land of Israel the ran writes his it writes his Parish ones I think I I meant to write he writes this in his Parish on KES and it seems that the rambam does not disagree meaning the rambam would agree with that idea that the that the correct place to perform MIT vot is an eror to is it is a mitvah it's a Mitzvah that is done fully living in Isel is a detail within all 613 mitv what he means by that is every Mitzvah all 63 when you are performing them in Israel You're performing them correctly when you're performing all 613 outside the land of Israel that's less of a it's less of a Mitzvah it's not a full-fledged Mitzvah again the language that he use Mitzvah in this sense living in is it's B meaning if a Jew is living outside the land of Israel you're living a Jewish life that is B that's not not ideal they say that when reanal would go to a wedding nowal this is r one of the gor living in The Old City he's a man of about 90 he was a Orbach oneor and he quotes from Neal they say that when would go to a wedding or to a trip in he would wait to do the Mitzvah in Israel he would wait to DAV Min on his arrival if he could say KES laana back in Israel he would wait to do so meaning if he was on the plane and they were making a Min minion he would not DAV in that minion on the plane why because he could DAV M when he would arrive and that Min outside of the land of Israel is not a full-fledged Min it's only a full-fledged Min in the land of Israel and then R just said I think this is a proper kbone I think that's accurate every Mitzvah doel is B muso so I think this is a bit of a secret also I mean it's a secret I never heard it I never really heard this idea growing up and it's a bit of a secret to think about all the mitz in the Torah that one performs outside the land of Israel is not considered to be a full-fledged Mitzvah that you're chabus that you're kashus that you're davening that all the mitah of the Torah that you're doing outside the land of Israel is not considered to be it's a b a kind of bidy Judaism and only once one is in the land of Israel that it's full-fledged again I think that's a that's a r that's a bit of a a bit of a secret I just want to share with you the following ranel rev nanal is uh as he he quoted rev nanal I happened to be reading on chabas is a relatively new safer that just came out holding it up RAB avishai RAB avishai David he's a rashash Shiva in taga here inim and he wrote a really a very beautiful safer on um many of the gdolim that he uh that he interacted with and that he studied with um is is a whole chapter on RAB salvic he was in Rab salvic sh for many years and he also developed a close relationship with RAB vigder NE neevan Sal he gave a sheer every Thursday night in The Old City for many years a shear and he began to attend that sheer and then he would spend time with him after the shear he would walk him home and uh ask him any questions so he writes the follow I just wanted to share with you and I'll read it I I wanted to read it directly from uh from this safer from this book in English in one of his trips the so he's talking about this is a this is a chapter on ranel where he was honored by the and the Yesa is yesel he was in isotel for many many years and a safer Terror was commissioned to be ritten in his honor he left ER shabas and arrived in on Sunday the dinner took place on Sunday night and that same night he flew on a plane back to ER Israel now he wanted whenever he would go to America and he didn't go very often but when he went he wanted to stay um for a very short time as short as as he could stay so he came in he was a man of 70 80 years old at that point but to get right back on the plane and to get back to aritel and then he writes the following I myself heard from him that he always tried to sit in the back of the plane leaving AIT Israel as close as possible to the front of the plane in the coach seats coming back to AIT Israel the pointing explanation that followed was the following he couldn't bear leaving ER Israel and so on the way toar he would trying desperately to hold on to a Israel as long as he could he wanted to sit in the back of the plane for that millisecond that he would be in AEL just a little bit longer fly right and he was uh and wanted the the front seat so on the way back that he could enter arusell a millisecond you know before the before the rest on the way back he wanted to seize the kadou of arusell as soon as he could this Outlook to my mind is a quint essence of harav nanel many times he asked me how Jews are able to survive and live inart in my in my na I responded to him that it was that it wasn't so difficult and many even enjoy the comfort and material Delights of Kit he was stupified at my response and almost began to cry I was embarrassed at my response but today I completely and totally resonate with his views and depth of understanding of arel is being the very epicenter of the entire world and the ideal home for every Jew and one last line when he returned from his lightning one day visit toit I called him the night of his return and queried him how is his visit to Kar his quick and pungent rejoin rejoiner has become part of my very being and he said it in Hebrew and I'll Translate Rabbi David there aren't enough enough mikas in all of er Isel to purify me from the from the defilement of okay so when they put you in the back seat of Al on your next flight you can feel feel good about being right next to the bathroom in the back being the last one to leave to leave ER Isel so that is uh that's lesson number one from from ruk the erat harim the land that is filled with secrets and the depths of kadus in arel we should be to uh to feel and to be aware of them and to know just how how lucky we are what a blessing it is to be in the land of Israel okay I want to share with you one other one other teaching from of cook and we'll we'll make a few comments on that on the next teaching so this is Page Three you can turn now to the top of Page Three and we're back in ruk and this is from this is from orot and this is the third piece that is found in the eth chapter ofet and he writes the following the Intuition or the sense the spiritual sense they were able to see they were able to see the flame of Israel that it is ascending in other words that we can feel it that we can sense it and again he's writing we certainly today I don't think it takes that much of a uh of a Kush to appreciate it today as we're looking at what's happening what's unfolding what has unfolded in Israel over the last uh the last 75 years but here ruk is saying early 1900s before Jews are returning before there's the land of Israel the people of Israel in the land as we know today he writes the spiritual sense that we have as Jews we're able to see that there's with our intuition that there's a great flame of Israel that is beginning to ascend May ER Israel from the land of Israel everything is flowering Isel and here we have a beautiful idea that the very I'm sorry yeah I don't have a translation but We're translating itar the Treasure House of the um of the um the sea seed or the kernel of every Nish of all of Israel shahu it's found there and other words every single Jew their Nish the very the very essence the very seed of their nsh has a place has its place in AR Isel MIT from is all all Beauty every individual should be Israel every person Israel yeso every single Jew has their again lit their kernel their seed their very essence but erel is connected to erel again this is Rook this beautiful idea that every single Jew is is connected every Jew has their place the very the very core of everyone's soul is found in Israel sh that's found that sometimes again hidden within the very essence of the spirit of a person but it's there with a great uh with a great yearning and a great love so there are times that it's more that it's more obvious that we know and all of us sitting here in the room the love that we have for the land of Israel is very Galo it's very obvious that we're all here that we've made our way here but it's true also it's Bes there in every single Jew according to ruk there's a love for the land of Israel every Jew is yearning for the land of Israel it's because every because every Nish is connected to land of Israel there may be a difference just in terms of D just in terms of level but yesno but every single Jew there are those that it's more obvious there are those there that it's more apparent there are more there are those that have a um more obvious you know love for the land of Israel but every single Jew has a love for the land of Israel yes please it says yeah means the nation of is I think it means yeah I think it means the within the nation of Israel right I think it means within the nation of Israel not within the land of Israel not but AR Israel okay the end the AR Israel very good right the end of the sent is AR Israel and where he says Israel in that context you're right there are times I think somebody brought this up last week as well right sometimes the word Israel is referring to the land of Israel the people of Israel here it seems Seems clear he's referring to Israel so yes please please in my ignorance can I ask you I thought the biggest was what you the question that you're asking is if somebody is doing a Mitzvah outside the land of Israel that requires him to be outside the land of Israel is that I mean you know either requires him or that's right I mean someone who's let's say a doctor right you could find examples yeah yeah no no no your question's a good one and I think there it is a it is a complex it's a complex issue you know it's interesting rsal shakar who said and again just quoting word for word who said it's bid to be living in the land of Israel he's lived his entire life as a GLE outside of the land of Israel so how does he say that and how does he how does he live with that so it's a good question I mean and I think it's maybe it's more it's it's more complex in other words in terms of he feels in terms of his teaching in terms of his family in terms of so other there there are other there are other issues to take into account but um but we need to appreciate this side as well to appreciate the um how special it is and to some degree and again I that's why I wanted to actually write it word for word and here you have a great uh a great individual who's living outside the land of Israel who says that that to some degree it is Bev to be living outside the land of Israel so so it's something that it's a uh or sh you know to make that to make the uh the right choices but it's part of part of that thatb that we need to make is to see Earth Israel in that light that's what I would uh that's what I would suggest basically says that all all the Torah is only a practice for those people correct correct correct and that's yes and that's what rakar quoted that according to the ramban and he says he believes that the rambam agrees as as well or does not disagree that that all mitzvot outside the land of Israel are are not considered a full-fledged mitzvot okay let's look at the following yes Rabbi Sal RAB salvic never lived here Rabbi salvic visited one time in his life so these are all good questions now they no they are good questions and they also point to as I as I was just saying that there's that there's more to the there is more to the story there there's more to the story that there is their other mitzvot and there other there are other reasons and valid reasons and important reasons for Jews be living outside the land of Israel but this is this is certainly a path and is certainly a sha and certainly a a position in Jewish life and in our sources in terms of the importance of being in the land of Israel does it mean by the way nobody said everyone else is sinning and everybody else is doing wrong but in terms of the ultimate in terms of the direction in terms of our aspirations and what the Torah and what Hashem is uh Wills for the Jewish people it seems that this is at least according to R cook and the sources that we're sharing that this is uh that this is the idea yes please I just feel that we're not in a position to judge and very good you know you know very good very good yes I think that's a very good point and it's one of R Cook's great teachings is also not to judge others right not not to not to judge judge others very good you're not judging right we're not right this isn't right we're not here judging anyone we're looking at the sources we're looking at our sources looking them looking at them objectively as well and looking at great leaders and great thinkers and what they had to say on this issue and Riv cook does and yes it's one of the unique positions of R cook that he takes a very uh a very strong position um in terms of the importance of erell in the life and in the life of the Jewish people yes please so you use the ter Maybe we can't and is complicated that's right right life is complicated is complicated right very key okay good thank you the ideal the capital ey the ideal of the capital I and the that that it that it is an aspiration that that is a that's that it's a value that it's a very very important value or one of the highest values then how we work that out with all the other values and the other competitive values so that's so that that that gets more complicated yesen about this Rabbi who didn't live here or doesn't live here correct correct able to that's promote in Israel so we have to give him you know respect I agree that's what makes him a that's what makes Shak great that he can say that it's B knowing that he doesn't that's that's that's that's great humility and I'm not sure if every godle would necessarily say that you know make that statement it's not an easy statement to make when you're not living that for Rabbi to say after 80 years in America that Living in America is a Bev Judaism that's that's a that's a great statement yes uh when we learned in the past about um the practicing uh the idea of really is the answer uhhuh to that okay theic answer to that's right it is a halakic answer it's a halakic formulation in other words you have fulfilled the Mitzvah no one is going to say you have not said kacha or you have not kept shabus or kasus but there is but there's a degra a gradation in other words and it's it's not on the highest level of observance only in the land of Israel again quoting RAR yes I think I think that what R means and and as well as rook and the others they're not not comparing you to anybody else comparing you to yourself yes all he said is whatever mad you're on may be very great but you could even do better if you can't te yourself right right okay good very good very good all right so let's uh let's return out to the piece from R cook so rev cook speaks about the following he speaks about the opening statement of of R cook is about H now this is what I want to focus on and this is a very interesting idea what is kush are you familiar with that term a means that you have a a feeling that you have an intuition right there's a sense right a sense of what's right a sense now where does that kind of fit in in terms of in terms of Jewish practice in terms of Jewish life in terms of mitzvot yeah very good kabana I want to I want to highlight the following and this is something that reab salv actually highlights this ramban and he talks about the uh ainu and again coming back to where we we touched on this earlier in terms of making his way to the land of Israel and what it meansa these are the words of the ramban the ramban writes again coming back to those same words this is Source number two on page three that he went from place to place now what does that mean if hasem told him where to go why was he searching for the land of Israel according to the r according to the ramban not everyone agrees with this but according to the ramban Hashem did not tell him where ER Kanan was he did not tell him where erel was he was searching he was walking from place to place the way the r understands this and maybe he reads between the lines a bit is that abrau had to discover the land of Israel that he had to use his Kush that he had to use that sense or that six sense six sense to be able to identify that this is the place of Holiness similar to what we said before in terms of in terms of a um where it's not obvious and there are there's Holiness that's found in bed in the land of is Israel secrets that are found in the land of Israel that abam as a Jew was able to sense it there was a feeling that this is is the right thing to do even without the command without knowing it and I think about that often in terms of people that come to the land of Israel and something that I would that I would ask all of you and that is did we come to Israel only because it we kind of like checked off all the boxes and that it worked you know that this is why we're coming to the land of Israel so I think part of it was that that we kind of made a you know we made a kbone there was a logical there was a rational approach to coming to the land of Israel but for many people it was a it was a a in right there was a sense that this is where I should be where I want to be and this is what Abraham the very first Jew that he comes to land of Israel according to the ramban what brings him here there and how does he discover the land of Israel was not because he was told per se where it was but that he had to feel it that he had to sense that this is the land that he is to be in did you want to comment E when God tells him to go God says explicitly I'm going to show you well sounds like again the the simple reading sounds like I'll show it to you aarea and now he follows Hashem Hashem is in front of him and now he's just following Hashem to the land but the ramban doesn't read it that way oura I'll show it to you but I'm I'm actually not going to show it to you I'm going to wait for you and once you discover it then I'll say yes this is it you got it right the uh the gamarra has the following and this is Source number four we'll skip number three for now the gamar talks about a um two examples and this is interesting it's brought in a sa this is a rabbi R mki he a great he lives in har today who a RAB of mine going back to my first year in Israel 1984 he has four or five volumes he beautiful swarm which became very very popular far on all different topics in Hala and in in a and he says that there are two places in talmud in the entire tud that talk about a um talk about a Jew that acts without a a a rational or a logical decision that you kind of just act upon something without necessarily thinking through it fully so let me read to you the following this is from the even though theid of I don't know if that's a term I don't think it's that welln what does piz mean that you're acting without impulsively thank you that's a good word impulsively right that you're acting without without logic without thinking it through carefully and he writes if you look at all the they all talk about not to act that way other words that we should be very well thought out think about like the world of RAB salvic and brisk you know everything is analyzed very very carefully nevertheless there are two times in the entire two times that they did it and they were not criticized for it one time is found in and the other is and he writes the following just reading to just to the end of the line the story is told of certain a sad he saw ra and he was learning he was sitting and learning his G and his hands were under his legs and we he was so involved in his learning he didn't take note of the fact that he was sitting maybe many hours and was pressing down his legs were pressing down on his hands there was actually blood that was coming out of his fingers when he saw this at r r that he acted this way you are in impulsive Nation you acted with pus with this impulsiveness and when you reive the Torah that you opened your mouth before you open your ears meaning you said nma that you accepted the Torah even though you didn't know what was in the Torah so here we have an example of Jewish people when it comes to the Torah even though they didn't know what they were going to receive but they said NASA that we wanted that's Torah and then the gamar that's one example in the gamar pus and then there's one other example that's found in all of the talud about p and this is comes at the end of the garos kud B and here's the story this is the famous at the very end of tuba you have all these beautiful stories and sayings about the land of Israel was ready to make alah to come to the land of Israel there was no fery to take him over the water he took hold of a rope and somehow he held on to this rope or some bridge and he made his way overi thei said to him look at the impulsiveness of your nation that you again he was referring to the mat you open your mouths before your ears right you continue with this wayway so answered they were in Z land of Israel am I um who am I to say that I will Merit to see the land of Israel meaning I don't want to miss out on the opportunity but rev mki points out something very beautiful and that is and this is this idea of like a Kush that you have a feeling that you have even where it's not logical when it comes to two items and that is the Torah we know that we wanted the Torah even though we didn't know what was in it we said give it to us give us the entire thing then afterwards we'll hear about all the uh all the details and the other example that's given in the entire talm mode is about moving to the land of Israel that moving to the land of Israel that even though everything was not in place and again maybe some of us can relate to that making alah not everything is in place maybe even 10 years later not everything is in place and or 20 years later but we say as R zra said I'm going to do it I'm a paza and in that way in those in those circumstances right acting not so rationally and not so logically but acting on a and on a Feeling for something that we love for something that we care about Torah erel and turning to turning to the last page page number four this is one and rurki and his savior brings this in the footnote on on what we just learned together this is one of the famous uh famous vard of cook maybe you maybe you heard this this is the footnote or R of rurki safer and 29 Z so it's been passed down from Rook you may have heard this V he said when it comes to making alah settling the land of Israel Rook says you don't you can't always make you know and we actually see a remes as a hint to this when the Jewish people came to the land of Israel when they came to what was the very first war that they encountered when they came to Israel that they had to go to war against who is the king of said why didem set it up and SE that this should be the first battle he was the king ofb he represented this becomes a rem that gave us in order to enter Israel and building it sometimes you need to put aside and you just need to come to the land of Israel says Rook so yes I think we can all relate to that I can relate to it okay when I met with NES Benes and I said I'm coming with my 10 children they said do not come to erit Isel at this time they said that's it's not a time to come neish Benish that's what they said but I said no I'm doing it anyways yes yes please that's right no the exactly right having children I would say all the all the great decisions who you're going to marry did you sit down and make aone that this one is no you fell in love this is the person I just know that I feel is a what they do it do that these days everything is a everything is aan right you get your your list of right okay your resumes right right right that's why's okay so the big the big dissensions in life the deepest things that we do in life very often they're not aone very often they're not so that's Torah that's okay I want to look at uh let's conclude with the following sources so by the way interesting says the following says so we say that you are to do his will as if it's your will this is number two you are to Doon Hashem hasem interesting why does the mission say you are to do the mitv of hem what's Ron Hashem what's the will of God so the will of God is not always the Mitzvah in other words there there are Mitzvah of the Torah but then there's reading you know between the lines of the Torah you know the whole question in is is yes one of the 613 mitv a whole discussion that the rambam doesn't include it did he what did he mean by that the ran but if I were ask you the question not the question is it one the mitzvot of the Torah but is it one of the Ron note is it a Raton of hem that the Jew lives in the land of Israel I think it would be hard pressed for a person to say reading the Torah that it's not Ron Hashem so the mishna says we are to do the ratson Hashem make hashem's ratson your ratson if that's the desire of Hashem for the Jew to be in the land of Israel for the Jew to return to the land of Israel that's my desire as well and here we have the gamar which is also a beautiful gamar about the rone about the will the desire of mosenu we all know this well mosh renu's desire and his prayers to enter land of Israel and the says the following what was that great desire of Moshe to enter land of Israel kind of a funny question of the gamar what it means exactly did he want to enter land of Israel just because of the the fruits of Isel he wanted to taste the delicious fruits and vegetables of Israel so thear says no he wanted the beauty of the land of Israel to be satiated by the land of Israel Moshe but this is what Moshe was requesting har MIT there are many there's so many which by the way if you think about it it's such a beautiful thing you go to a supermarket or you're eating your cucumber your tomato your to your um your Apple your orange there's Kad there was Myer that was taken there was truma that was taken right so many mitvah that only in the land of Israel we spoke about earlier the ran that is B okay we could talk about that issue but how about the number of Mitzvah that one can only fulfill in the land of Israel that you simply can't have outside the land of Israel and says the gamar that's what Moshe was pining for there are so many mitz how can I go through life not fulfilling a whole area of mitzo of the Torah right please allow me to enter the land of Israel Al I want to perform every single mitzah of the Torah says mosenu and I think that's true of us as well to come to the land of Israel means that we we have the opportunity to fulfill Mitzvah that can only be fulfilled here in the land of Israel let me conclude with the following gamarra and let me ask you the following question when is one and this is gamar those that study the daf Yumi we just studied this a few days ago and actually as I was studying the daf Yumi I saw this Kamar wanted to share with you I think it fits into our discussion as well when is one allowed to be Shabbat we know it's a very serious issue in terms of shabas in terms of observance of chabas and there are are very very few exceptions where one can be that one is allowed to to transgress very very good so P nees is the that that is that's really the one example maybe there are a few other possibilities but that's the one time where one is one faces God forbid a situation of uh where one's life is in danger a person's life is in danger that one is for somebody is sick you call a doctor somebody sick you call an ambulance the salvic family were famous for being M or M on that issue in other words you don't you don't wait you don't ask questions right if there's any issue in terms of of life and health that one is M shabas right away on chabas that was sign this elvic family rabbi did you want to say something to say that there are those those inter very good very good very good very good excellent the whole Tor very good excellent thank you for making that making that point and the salvic family would always make that point you should not think about as shabas you should think about it as the Fulfillment of the Mitzvah of saving a life that were M on saving life you shouldn't think about it that you're desecrating shabas yes just a question asked of Rob zil by one of the generals in the Army being that the weather is such up in the north warm and healthy and what very good very good great example so look at what the gamar says I'm not sure if you ever if you're familiar with this maybe maybe this will come in handy if you want to purchase a house in says the G shabas you're allowed to write a contract on chabas in order to purchase a house on shabas now the gamar says the next line thear isab is that really true like thear itself is is shocked by that statement you really are allowed to take out a pen you're allowed to be M chabas and you're allowed to write a contract on shabas what ah so good so the gamar takes a step back and the gamar says well you yourself should not be M shabas for purchasing a house purchasing property on chabas but you're allowed to tell a and he can do it even though that's a to have a do for you on but when it comes to buying a home in purchasing property you're allowed to do it so if you are looking at your Torah tidbits on shabas which is a whole question w't get get into that and you're reading well you're allowed to no you're allowed to do that but now you're reading the ads on chabis and you're reading the real estate ads on chabis and you see a good deal in a home an apartment that you're looking for so you are allowed according to this Kamara you can't make the phone call yourself you can find a nice Gentile that maybe lives in your building down the block and say here I just found something that I want to purchase can you make the following call for me right now can you we're going to bring over a group of people and we're going to begin to write out the contract on chabas afternoon for the purchase of this property the gamar doesn't say if you're going to lose the property it doesn't say it says for on chabas you can be shabas now by the way it's interesting why does the gamar make that opening statement again this is like a kind of a you know the style of gamar or why does it make that statement if that's not the case in other words the gamar knows in the next line that it it means that only a GU is allowed to do it but the opening statement is K that you're allowed to write AAR on chabis a contract for purchasing a house why do you think the gamar would make that statement for yeah yeah it's I think so I think the gamar wants to emphasize and wants to make it very memorable to us that when you read that gamar and you read it for the first time and you'll never forget it the gamar says that you're allowed to be M shabas now we take a step back okay you're not allowed to be M shabas but I can have somebody else be M chabas for me to buy that apartment that I see in teror tibits yes there's a compound a little meeting on Shabbat and the Jews showed up uh again it's not a that's right and as the rabbi said it should not be seen that's not a that's not a b in other words that's not a b the gamar says this is what you are to do on chabas so it's really quite amazing when we think about desecrating the Shabbat or or doing something that we would generally be a desecration p and what's the other example to live in the land of Israel to buy property in the land of to buy an apartment a million dollar apartment inim that you can do on chabas okay or if you can find something for less than a million you definitely should be M shabas yes okay and we conclude with the uh we'll conclude with the following and um I mentioned uh I mentioned last week and I'd like to mention as well and I think this this fits into our into our theme uh in terms of uh unfortunately soldiers that we have we have lost and um kosim every single Jew uh this past week was a very very difficult week it was the uh the most tragic day of the war as we all know there were 21 soldiers that were killed in that one incident and with three others of with that same 24 hours and one was RAB elizel he was 20 he was 35 years old a father of four and um and he was killed as part of that group I'm sure some of you saw it but he you know there are soldiers that leave notes that if they are killed or if they're kidnapped that they leave a note for their for their family so I just wanted to I'm I'm sure many of you saw it but to uh as a and and for all of us um just to feel and to take a moment to think about the uh the tragic days and the very very challenging days that we're in so this is from Rabbi Elana wizel and again 35-year-old father of four he writes if you are reading this something must have happened if I was taken hostage Do Not Free even one Palestinian terrorist in exchange for my release our resounding Victory is Paramount so just go on fighting until it is achieved perhaps I fell in battle when a soldier is killed it is sad but my request to you is to be happy don't be sad that you are bidding me farewell sing plant joy in your hearts hold each other's hands hold on to each other and give each other strength we have so much to be proud of and joyous about we are the generation of the beginning of the Redemption atala we are now writing the most significant chapter in the history of our people and in that of the entire world so please remain optimistic choose life always a life of love hope Purity and optimism look people in the eye and remind them that whatever they are experiencing in life is worth it and there's so much to live for live don't for one minute reduce the intensity of life I was wounded before in 2000 4 protective Edge conflict and I had the choice to stay behind but I do not regret returning to my role as a combat Soldier not for a minute on the contrary that was the best decision that I ever made so that was the letter that he left behind uh we spoke about this morning the uh the secrets the Raz the secret strength of am Israel the secret strength of erel and I think we see that so that secret that Raz that it's that it's a very much alive the the power the faith the amuna of our people during these days the amuna of our of our holy holy soldiers and uh we should be to uh to only days of of joy and of happiness and the war should quickly be behind us and we should enjoy the Kad and the blessing of Isel amen