Modern Masters: The Avodas Yisrael zy’a and the Ohalei Yaakov zy’a by Rabbi Sam Shor

week ago yeah it was a week ago last Friday I had the unfortunate experience to have to visit uh a family that was sitting shiva for their beloved father there's the family Rabbi Avi Goldberg I think everyone heard the story um his daughter his daughter is a not in the same class but attends the same school as my daughter and uh therefore sh therefore we felt very connected to them and for a lot of reasons I'll spare the whole story but the request that was made when they announced the Shiva details for this family was that if politicians were going to come to visit during the Shiva that the politicians should come in pairs okay with one representative of with one representative of of the government and one represented the opposition and that was the that and and barem they succeeded in communicating this message and my understanding is that any politicians that came to this Shiva that's exactly what they had they had at least some level some demonstration of unity and Aus out of sensitivity for The Goldberg family and this idea of aus and unity here in Eric Isel is an idea that we've we know has been at the Forefront over the past number of years and really since the founding of the state of Israel and even since before the founding of the state of Israel this idea of of unity here that the Jewish people are building a future of Amel here and in order for us to really succeed and really um build what we're meant to build here it requires what Aus unity and I want to I want to therefore therefore this morning focus on this topic ofus and specifically as this as we know this is a new course called Modern Masters we're going to hear from two kasic masters that made aliia to Israel um before the establishment of the state of Israel and both of whom in their own way contributed to supporting the entity that would become ad Israel which was which you know in terms of the way we see the world today is very very uncommon that would be perceived as being supportive of the Enterprise that is Medina Israel and we're going to talk about learn from their Torah maybe get a glimpse in terms of who they were and why they were supportive and and you'll see that this theme of ofas is is Central to the way they view building the yesu here inel so we're going to start first with just to set the tone the tells us when Z came on Al he says the gar says that RAB fasted 100 fasts in order that all the scholarship that he had that he had um accumulated in B would be forgotten because he didn't want it to be an impediment to his learning here in ER so let's think about thisor for a minute okay we it's very interesting because today most people learn the bavy most people learn the Babylonian tement because the Babylonian tement is seen as being more intellectually rigorous or more or or or or easier even to understand than the than the Yami Yami is very very you know very short tur quick statements there's none of the back and forth discourse of the of the bav and the reason is that the bav is really a historical record of hundreds of years of debates of of of discussion of debates of disagreements in terms of how the H was meant to be interpreted and that's why the B is considered more intellectually rigorous because you see the thought process you see the discussion you see the debates while the Yi kind of just cuts right to the Chase and now maybe we understand why because listen to what Rashi says about AR gamar what does it mean that he didn't want that he didn't want all his scholarship from bille to be an impediment to his learning here in okay okay when he came to he came to learn from rean and the other Amar who were living here in at the time and he wanted to learn their ways and they were not what Ben they didn't argue with one another and they were pleasant to one another like fine oil that they answered one another without harshness and without without without rudeness if you think about our leadership today okay there's a message encrypted in this gamar right but but but but but listen to this powerful interpretation of Rashi explaining aramar Rashi says that Reb when he came to AEL he wanted to leave behind the way of B the way of disagreement and and disharmony and and and conflict he wanted to embrace the Torah of erel which was at least then at the time what seemingly a a Torah of unity a Torah where people respected one another where they learned from one another where they heard one another what a powerful message so it's interesting Ru cook so I guess we're going to hear from three Modern Masters today because we hear we're going to learn one a one liner from ru cook also Ru cook on the bottom of your sheets here says cook says that the Torah is is constantly concerned about what the entire entity of the Jewish people true the tot that's meant toras is meant to be learned here in erel the Torah that this also very important message the Torah that's learned here in supposed to be a Torah that unites us that brings us together that's concerned about the CL that is concerned about what the Collective Soul of the entire nation well this is our introduction we're going to learn from two modern Master two other Modern Masters besides of cooked this morning the first the first individual we're going to learn from is the AAS salaz ISU the RAB of Kit the great grandson of the famous mag of Kit and the a k is one of three Masters who involved in founding a what was meant to be aidic farming Community okay in the 1920s in near called that that City still exists today it is there's no longer aidic farming Village unfortunately it didn't never did not succeed initially and it did not succeed initially to build they did not succeed these three on more and we'll talk about them in a moment in building this cidic farming Village and therefore it was eventually taken over by the PO mrai the religious farmers and they help save the yesu but um the the religious Zionist Farmers they help the but um initially they have this vision of bringing here and not just to live here but to work the land and to teach them about the the ways of the so it's very we we're touch on this in this piece okay so he is one of three Masters that together with the the the brother of the pset and the rebi who we learned from last week okay Rabbi yesaiah Hartz RAB yesi shapira who was known as the Admar he came in alah and kind of gave away or G took off the classical Garb of a and became it would go from farming Village to farming Village to give to theim we're building up the land here in Isel and it becomes lovingly known as theut and pictures of him riding on a horse with a Cowboys hat so he's one of these three rabies together with a very very maybe we'll do a talk about him a very enigmatic and interesting and even on a certain level for part of his life Troublesome personality the rebi of yan the ybl rebbi who was invol actively involved in building farim together with this rebi the KET he eventually settles in downtown Tel Aviv where his there's still a k an active community of K in downtown Tel Aviv his grandson is now the rebba he splits his time between Tel Aviv and the Upper West Side of Manhattan because he's a very Metropolitan RAB we're gonna learn from the by the way is the brother-in-law of the pset the rebi that we learned from last week and he actually is buried here in the cemetery in sanhedria you can actually go his K his his his yard set is BET Al which is my daughter's birthday so um I always remember his yard set I try to get his his K in there anyways we're gonna learn maybe another time when we learn from more of his Torah I'll share the full story of thear but just because we're a little bit quick on time I want to learn his Torah this morning this is this is the first side of the second sheep he says in our our holy Torah which is Eternal there are things alluded to that are relevant for all generations and in our times we've witnessed and experienced something more more wondrous than we could have ever imagined and that's the establishment of a Jewish state in so this reab see first of all sees what establish the state of Israel as something wondrous and we something we could have never imagined we should embraced even though this is not exactly the the vision that we had that we ding for for 2,000 years despite the fact that it's not perfect that's not exactly what we've been for Hashem has given us what a ray of light a beginning a starting point from the heavens and we hope and and pray that this little ray of light will what will broaden and grow and continue to grow and from it will come what the true Redemption all right he he says but when we begin to contemplate how this first start of the Gula this little the establishment of the state has been has been viewed and been and and is taken upon by those on the right the right and those on the left V we have to think about this and understand this and we have to what say that both of them are a little bit confused and misguided in their interpretations of the significance of the establishment of the St why now he's gonna explain he says those to the left what they're already celebrating as if what we've now got to the end of the story the story is complete we've got the G the true gas here and most specifically since this seems to have come through natural means you know through the UN and through the B first bow and then the UN and natural means H they what say what but we don't need to have any more connection with okay because the essence is what the fact that we've come home and we're building up the land and dwelling in the land of Israel that's he says is the attitude of the secularist on the left and obviously would disagree strongly with that perspective right but what about those on the right that seemly would be more in line with the with with those of a religious B this is the next this is the next uh piece and those on the right they want to write off and say those that are are settling the land and building up the land are pule are not are not CER they're not valid okay and they say what they don't deserve they're not deserving to be here in why because they're not keeping the Tor we've already described elsewhere that you can't have see the Fulfillment of the Jewish people building their future here in without but even they they're also wrong why that even though of course we D in that everyone will indeed do CH and but even they that are not yet from they do have the of he's going to explain why when says to okay hasem says I am the god that took you saved you from or in order that what that I gave you this land abah so Abraham thought when he heard this declaration that Hashem is giving the land because he's the god that took that rescued him from orasin when when abam was ready to go into the into the furnace in orasin right and give his life for the sake of sanctifying hm's name Abraham thought okay what that the my descendants who are going to inherit the land are going to be people who are what who are willing to sanctify God's name okay and Abraham asked how do I know that there they're going to be indeed inherit from meam saw prophetically that what that not all the generations were going to be true to his legacy that were going to be faithful and put their trust in God in the same way thatu did what's going to be with them is concerned how can I know for with certainty that the Jewish people are going indeed going to inherit the land I I know I a god you give me the capacity of of Prophecy I can see ahead and into it that what that not everyone's going to be be from like me so what's the implication for the Jewish people if the are they going to Merit to inherit the land and then they quot a andash explains that how are they going to Merit to inherit the land to the to the Merit of what the sacrifices look what the rebbi does with that Rashi look what the rebbi does with this Rashi even though they may not be mer worthy in terms of their own their own righteousness or their own their own they will Merit because of the sacrifices that they will offer up because they gave their lives for erit Israel and therefore says the the of Kes in this beautiful powerful piece okay we have to see the good and those who are not yet mitz yes we want them to to to embrace a a way of life yes we dve in every single Jew will find that relationship withon sh but we also have to be mock your to and acknowledge and give thanks and and and and show our appreciation and even share in the pain for all those who have given their lives to build up the yeshu to protect us here in erra I think this is eternal even though the rebi said this in 1949 I think this is relevant today as the rebi first said these powerful first words okay so that's now let's turn our she sheets over what's that well we we learned a piece from ru cook in the beginning also you would you missed the introduction it's okay but uh it's very s it's very similar to Ru cook um and that's that's what's fascinating about these two personalities we're going to learn from this morning is that we have this perception that theim were were against the the establishment of state or that they're not suppor of it and it's not that black and white as we just learned from this beautiful piece that yes the rebi says of course we dive in everyone should be from but you see where he goes to this piece the next personality we're going to learn from is is the ohal Yakov ofan who is lovingly referred to as the Admar as the as the Zionist Admore he came on Al 1938 escaped you know ahead of the Nazis and together with his father-in-law who who who was his predecessors the rebi of hasat and they settled in downtown Tel Aviv and this rebi succeeded his father-in-law I think in 1946 mashuk Kaz and lives the last 11 years of his life for 19 I mean from actually last 20 years of his life from 38 to 57 in Tel Aviv but he's the Admore ofat from 19 I think 1946 to 1957 if I'm not mistaken um And he as we'll see and his safer is incredible for a number of reasons number one come out every Torah gives us a glimpse into what's going on on some level in Jewish history at that moment and again he's living through the most tumut times of Jewish history the the the shaah the fight both both diplomatically as well as on the on the battlefield to establish the state the early difficult early years of the state of Israel itself and he gives us a glimpse of of of much of that through his teachings and also we see how much he loves both every single Jew how much he loves erel how supportive he is of the Enterprise to build the med Isel and just as a way of introduction I'm gonna want to share a quick a quick idea that's not on your sheets that from a teaching of his from Kaneka in 1950 okay hour a year and a half K after the establishment of and he says first he gives us the context that so we know this greeting that you should be inscribed for a for for a great for a great year from Yumer and then some even have this minut to say it Ona right and we and that's become very popular that is really the but by the is not not Nota even but khaka and most specifically the the gank of all that is z the last day of Kana but he says practice he gives the he gives the M here okay and and then but now he says something interesting but when we wish one another gar this he says it's with a double on Tandra okay and now he's gonna explain why and then he puts a parenthetic note here his son who put the safer together puts in a parenthetic note okay there was a group of people came down from to speak with my father the rebi to ask what why what's his thoughts about this state that's been established you know what should her attitude be towards the state and the rebi answered it's the beginning of our Redemption what well Rook never s was to see this establish for the state of Israel cook dies in 1935 okay okay the state is established in 1948 so this is 13 years R cook had this Vision that building up the yesu here should be the and he's the first one to coin the phrase that we want to see the state be called the state of Israel is right but he was never to see it but this rabi lived through the Battle of diplomatically as well as on the B you know the wars to establish the state of Israel and all the very various batt and now people are coming from I from are coming to talk to him and ask him okay so what do we make of this and he answers this state that's been established is the is the beginning of the Redemption no no no no it's I don't I don't think so cook uses the expression also okay others use that expression but he says if it's true that this is the beginning of the G says the rebbi okay and that we've merited with hashem's help but that's only what in terms of the Physical Realm that we've returned home to we're building up and therefore when we wish each other gar this khaka we're not only because we traditionally wish on khaka but what that we're saying we want to see the garto we have the we have the beginning of the Gul but we want to see the gar we want to see the coming of M okay so that gives you a little bit of a of a taste of the of the beauty of the of the of the beautiful teachings of this rabi the rabi of hasatan okay you can look on the sheet is there's biographical detail about him okay so we are now we are now going to learn two short pieces on our sheet from the rebi of hasatan again our time is short this morning we start with the first one on top okay the ohal safe is called ohal Yakov and just maybe a word about the safer you can't buy this safer in regular Farm Stores there is a a gentleman in far in the back end of gula in kirab bells and Gula who sells the safer out of his house he is the grandson I think of the Rees sh shamish okay and therefore he continues to publish the the saer um and you can only get it it's a long story for another time I actually found out about this I learned about this rebi from our teacher Rabbi SE weinreb R wreb um once quoted him and and he knows both my Affinity for as well as obviously my passion for and Rabbi W mentioned to me Sam this is a rebba you this is your rebba I think he said to me and um and so I asked him where I could find the safer and he I'll SP the whole story but he he helped me track down how to get to this gentleman and get the safare and um and I went to buy the safare and then they offered do I want a do I want a plain paper bag to hi to take the safeer and when I leave to walk through the streets I said no I'm very comfortable walking walking around the safeer but um again and I think the controversy of the safer is the fact that he was so and you'll see in these even these two short pieces you he was so positive towards you know the the secular entity of the med yes of course he wanted to have influence and he's going to talk about how we have that influence but um but but that he saw it as something positive and so let's let's just jump right in it is our way to learn and acknowledge how great the Merit is of those who have contributed to building building up the land of Israel and therefore our our approach is always to be what to participate and be a partner in building the the land he says for two reasons the first reason is why the first reason says the reab is that it's a Mitzvah to build up the yesu here in this is because and the second reason is that we will not have the capacity to influence the spiritual nature and the cultural nature of this fledgling state if what if we're if we don't put right if we don't put ourselves at the table and participate and contribute um in the Physical Realm as well the way to influence others is only in accordance with the teachings of okay we know that there's a Mitzvah of loving what does that mean doesn't just mean that we have to express our love for hem it means what that through our actions through the Way That We believe We behave other will come to what to try to emulate your behavior and also come to Love by the way that's how the the explains the okay love your neighbor as yourself the asked on that nowhere in the Torah does it tell us the parameters of what it means to love ourselves so if the whole measure of loving your neighbor is based on love neighbor as you love yourself how do we know if we ever truly fulfill the Mitzvah of loving our neighbor it's totally defined by what how we love ourselves so s says no you got to read that P differently he says have to read this the mitah of what's theah okay should be for your for your neighbor as it is for you the S explains that when we live Our Lives as a shining example of okay not because we're on a soap box preaching to others or talking down to others we just live our lives of being FAA passionate Jews in love withon and in love with his Torah says others are going to see the beauty and they're also going to want to eventually come to get a taste of it and they're also going to come to love Hashem as well and the rebi says that's that's what it means okay to love to love them to BR how do you bring them closer by being a shining example what it means to love hem and he says he said but not with harshness or any any sarcastic or neg negativity don't talk down them don't be harsh towards others and even more so not with speaking ill or not nicely about those who are not yet connected to Torah in the same way we are what a muser okay what an eternal muser from this rebba from n he said these words in 1949 or 1950 what a muser 70 more than 70 years later okay what a lesson we need to learn and continue to learn okay there's a very interesting gamar in kin which the Reb's going to base his next teaching we're learn together on this will close this morning um the Garin talks about when yaku okay lays down to have his first dream when he sees the ladder right everyone remembers that dream and it says that he gathers together a bunch of stones okay the and then he goes to lay his head on the stones and then when he wakes up the PK tells us that he took the stone that he laid his head upon so when he goes to sleep it's he gathered a a group of stones and when he wakes up he took the stones the notices that difference between those two and it says that he took from the stones of the place to lay down his head and it also says and afterwards when he wakes up he took the stone so which is it did he have stones or did he have one stone so now the gar explains oh the first the first interpretation the gamar offers is what that all the stones gathered together is one because why because each one wanted to be the the stone upon which the head of this this holy sadic okay would rest his head all right it's also taught and they all Blended together and became they became absorbed in one another and became one stone okay okay so the rebi is going to take this gamar and see in this gamar of course an eternal message for all of us or actually two Eternal messages so this is the last piece on our sheets the what's this whole story how the how the stones gathered themselves together to become one okay okay okay but this comes to teach us how the Jewish people are going to be meant to conduct our ourselves in the future meaning this episode of the stones is what setting the tone for how the Jewish people are meant to conduct themselves in the future it's an illusion to the idea of what of the in gathering of the Exiles and the AL so the first message the Reb says is what just as the stones gather themselves together to become one entity so too am Israel needs to what take the initiative and say we want to be here inel we want to come to we want to make aah we need to make the first move and to put all our capabilities and K behind building this Enterprise that's the first thing and not simply say hasn't come and then we should wait till he comes and he'll take us [Music] no and then the Merit of our taking action ourselves of taking that first step that will hasten and bring close the if we take the first step okay and cause that we cause first that stirring here on Earth then we'll also please God soon Merit says the rabi the the stirring from above that hasem will send us finally the Yeshua we've been longing for for so long okay that's the first message that the rebi sees in aramar okay now comes the second message and this idea of the of the stones being gathered together and coming coming together as one also gives us another another illusion the Gathering of the Exiles in of itself is not enough to sustain the nation here in AR Isel it's not enough to just what that we have sheer numbers here what do we need to sustain and protect theu here in we need absolute Unity to come together as one entity okay the separation in disunity is a symptom of the galut of our dispersion and peace and unity is the fixing for that perod that that disunity that is the result the symptom of the of the galut of the dispersion my friends we learn from these two incredibly again b as this course goes on we'll we'll revisit some of these personalities throughout the year um but we learned from these two these three beautiful teachings four beautiful teach from these two incredible Modern Masters the kets and the and the Ohan that first of all it bursts our bubble a little bit that we have this perception that things are very black and white that they're that theic world doesn't you sees the sees the eity of AEL in a certain way first of all we learned from these two rabas that it's not it's not so black and white second of all we see um their beautiful powerful messages both to their disciples as well as to all of us in terms of the the necessity number one to stand behind the yesu here inel to be a partner to be active Partners to be willing to put all our energies even put our light on the line to be able to sustain is and that through so doing we will Merit the please God and greet together M all right next week in terms of the timing once again the schedule is going to change again next week because Rabbi Khan is back okay so next week this year Modern Masters is going to meet at 12:20 at the end of the morning okay that and next week is going to be also very fascinating um because we're looking at toab and we're gonna learn a very very incredibly mystical and deep piece from RAB wison who just passed away a few months ago he's a longtime of and a and a master of of his own right and his beautiful sa he has an incredible incredibly powerful essay on the significance of Kevon Andes and the connection between KES Andes and we're gonna learn that powerful piece together as an introduction to the thought of Rabbi Wolfson so that'll be next week [Music]