Praying like the Avot by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

cook and uh today we're going to see a topic that I think will be inspirational for all of us and uh beautiful teachings of Riv cook in this area I would begin with the following question and that is what is it about the life of the forefathers they aot their lifestyle and what they contributed to Jewish life that we are to learn from now it's easy for us if we open a a Torah we open AES and we speak about we speak about the laws the Torah teaches us the Mitzvah of the Torah well it's very clear what we are to uh to learn from those Mitzvah that we are to observe those mitzvot but what is it in all the stories of the avot that we are to that we are to exemplify their lives that they exemplify and that we are to bring into our own lives and I would say one area and this is what we're going to look at today is the area of the area of prayer and uh I think all of us are familiar with the teaching that it's arov that their prayer or the prayers that they Institute that they engage in become the prayer of shakar the prayer of Min and Marv that we observe today so this is what the gamar says and the gamar is actually going to point out that each of them engage in a particular Mitzvah and based on a particular word that's used in each of their prayers and with that ruuk is going to teach us what is unique about every prayer now I think for for many of us true of myself as well when we pray we just kind of think well it's the morninga and now we do it a second time and now maybe we do it a third time at night as well and it's just kind of that repetition of the samea again and again and again three times a day but I think we're going to see something um this morning in our learning that um which will highlight the differences and the uniqueness of every and what it represents so this is the gamar that's found in gar and uh it says the following at the very top of the page you have the gamar in full then rook in his anay his commentary in the gamar Bros he has a uh he just restates the gamar but it's it's a little bit of a summary of the gamar so I'd like to begin there this is Source number two Source number two again it's the first sour is the gamar itself you then have ruk in his safare just rephrasing the gamar restating the gamarra and here we go AB something that we're all familiar with establishes how is that based in the that he went to the place that he was standing by the way that's in this week's paraa so it's uh in that we're reading preparing for the par this week establishes the afternoon prayer and he was praying we'll talk about that he was talking in the field towards the evening establishes the evening prayer the night prayer establishes Mar based on what that he came to that place and what does the word vka mean vka means unfortunately we can use the word pigua pigua means that there is a that there's a contact or there's one thing is there's there's a an impact impact but here it's in the positive sense vka he impacted who did he impact who did he come face to face with with Hashem with God in that place so those are the three that's the gamar we have just we have just restated or we've stated the gamarra so now let's look at what ruk says and what we're going to do today we're going to see three different ideas Rook is going to develop three different ideas around the three and again we see it's abov but interestingly it's not the same word we have different words we have the word we have the word and we have the word p and all of them relate to different dimensions of oura of prayer so let's turn now to the words of ruk I always emphasize it's it's great to see the words to learn ruuk inside to see the way that he that the the language that he used how he wrote these three terms we're now reading ruk it's right after the Bold in Source number two we have we have we have they represent three different aspects of prayer there are three different things we can think about when it comes to prayer three different aspects three different elements which are all L they're all there's it's the product of or the benefit of prayer and let's begin with with the prayer of Abraham that all of the positive elements the ethical elements the the uh the um that we are observant of the Torah that is that is acquired that possibly they can be lost from the heart when a person enters a a regular routine day that there are many many things that a person is going to uh that there are different influences what does prayer do prayer solidifies those aspects of a person's religious life spiritual life and he's going to speak about in a moment that Abu where he starts the day and what we need to do as we start the day is what does that prayer do in particular it energizes us it fortifies us as we're about to begin the day we're about to go into a day we're going to get on a bus we're going to go to a store we're going to go to an office we're going to go to our work we're going to be distanced somewhat from a religious life we need that fortification of to begin our day last line on the The First Column as we continue so that these values and the Rel our religious values and our spirituality and our devotion to Torah will have a that they'll be firmly entrenched those destructive forces right the the challenges that we're going to face throughout the day what we're going to be looking at what we're going to see our interactions throughout the day that again that they'll it'll be embedded that's what prayer does and what is the time to do this it's needed most sayra of cook in the morning we're fortified it's like getting a good breakfast they say right to start the day that's that's true right we'd need a healthy breakfast to start the day that's going to carry us for many hours so in a spiritual sense that's what prayer is going to do that prayer that begins the day is going to carry us throughout the day this is how you prepare yourself before right it's necessary that's life we're gonna have to we have to go to this office we getting on this bus we're going to have this meeting we're going to have to sit down and pay the bills right that's part of the day it's necessary but we want to begin with that infusion injection of spirituality and that's what Tila does for us and here Rook says something very interesting why do we call the prayer now I think for most of us we would say it's called amida because we stand right the obligation to stand during the prayer cook gives a different interpretation a very beautiful Insight what's amida amida means that we are taking a stand that we are taking a stance that it strengthens us as we begin the day that's the way that he's interpreting amida what is amida it gives us it gives us strength to stand to withstand to withstand right any of the uh any of the the challenges the spiritual religious challenges that we're going to face throughout the day via again that lineen four lines downen they won't be swept away by the uh again the waves the difficulties the challenges of and will be able Al also to stand the trials right not only to kind of get through the day but we also May face some challenges and crisis and and uh difficulties in our lives CRA cook in his opinion that's why it's called amid Al that it has that power of and who is most appropriate to establish that kind of prayer that idea it's the personality of he was the first to stand up to others to say I believe in God and to teach the world a belief in Hashem and in Morality and goodness and what did AB do as we all know what's famous about AB the pero says that he faced asaros that he had many trials in his life many trials in his life and he was able to withstand all of them so that's the amida that's how we begin today so that's interpretation number one why is it called amida why aam in particular that he establishes this it represents a person of great faith of fortitude to be able to stand up to what you believe in and that's what every Jew needs to do as we start the dat we can think about that as a way of fortify in us as we begin the day and as ruk speaks about here as well what does do also helps us stand up to and um and to survive the the the difficult things that we Face the crisis that we face in life um you know when we talk about the and this is related to this week's para as well we talk about the N not the assar note of Abu you know there the whole question the what are if you count the 10 what are the 10 of AR ainu so I think most of us just thinking about what are the N what were the trials ofu so I think we begin with right the first trial of his life I think we can all relate to that what it means to pack up our homes and our community and where we live for 50 years and to say goodbye to all of that and to go to a new is that not a n is that not a a what most definitely most definitely yes most definitely so and some say the last is the AA that's that be the ultimate so Rabbi salvic has a really interesting interpretation this is brought actually it's in a safare some of you may be familiar with RAB AAR bersan it's called doar This is a saer that he wrote to honor his father and these were Doro that he heard from his father his father was a very close talet student of Rabbi salich RAB salvic asked you could use this this is a darar Torah for this week as well so we have the AA in this week's paraa right after the AA there's one paragraph and you see it here says and then it goes through a whole list that there's a whole list of births in his family that his brother gave birth and roic says what is this doing here at the end of the AA and you would think the AA would end I don't know maybe you could find another place that should be kind of like the that should be like the last point of the of the paraa to leave us with AA and then we have this one paragraph Salva gives the following answer an amazing answer he says this was the last test the last trial of Abraham after the aeda and he says the following whenever we go through something difficult in life a real challenge in life a trauma in life so often we look around and we say why me now there is one is getting through the trial itself and the challenge but then we also are left with that question we look around the room we say well why did this person why is it only me right why did I have this hardship in my life I see other people and they don't have that hardship and this is Cesar salv what's happening in this paragraph as well that right after the AA so what what does AB learn about other family members are having children all the smot all of all the celebrations and the weddings that they have in their life and Aram is asking himself why did I have to go through all of this and to be able to to live with that to be able to have the faith even though you see yes others are enjoying life a certain way and you may not have that same braa to be able to to have that faith in Hashem to know that that's that's the will of Hashem that's the the as of hem so says RAB salvic that is the final according to RAB salv that's and it's true for all of us as well and just getting back to this point I'll take your question is the um what what does do for usah strengthens us it gives us a strength to go to to to withstand the resilience that we need for the difficult things that we face in life yes please for Abraham are these members of his it's members of his family but again I it's a interesting way of looking at it but I I'm not sure if we if we feel that even even within our own family when we see the success of others or the smot of others it's not always easy if we are going if if we weren't blessed in the same way that's the way that RAB salich reads it but again that's a that's a nice idea as well that's a different way of looking at it that it was in a that he saw this in his own family that's a nice way of of saying it Ro salv is always you know he sees things in a certain light and uh he says the reality is it's actually very difficult for people to to feel especially when you are going through when you're going through a very difficult time or where something tragic has happened to you and others don't have that to feel Joy a real sense of Joy but that's the that he says is the last trial kind of hidden in that is is a trial and he says it's a test for all of us how do we make it through those tests we need to have great faith in Hashem how do we do that that's yes please when ah so some yes some of faram say that as well some of faram say with the death of Sarah some say the fact that he was promised the land of Israel and now he has to try to make a deal to buy yes there are different ways of counting a far had to count it this is a unique interpretation okay so that is that is the first that we have amid what does amid do amid fortifies us we begin with the morning a really represents that personality of the strength that he had the resilience that he had and that's what and he establishes that the morning now we go to the second and that is the daving of what does it say in the he says he went out to DAV in the field what is it's a modern word that we use what's a if you want to tend and and a what's a in modern Hebrew a talk what it could be a conversation it could be a talk a we use it in modern Hebrew that's the what's used in the P that that went out to the field but there's another meaning to the word or does anybody know what are a bush that's correct very good it's a bush see are bushes okay so this is what ruuk is going to pick up on which is very interesting was he speaking in the field the word or maybe it has a different connotation what does mean and if it's something about a bush or maybe it means something along the lines of growing the growth look at what Rook writes B shame the word that's you oh this is the top of page two the top of page two the word top of page two the first word is the word this is now we're continuing with the with the explanation of R what is for daving is called it's a word that shares a meaning with plants and with trees so you can read the that he became how can you read that he became like a tree or he flowered or he flourished in the sad not that he spoke in the sad it has that meaning as well but he flourishes in the S he grows in the what does daving do for us it allows our soul to flourish to open up like a plant have you seen your plants kind of open up in the morning some of your plants do not all of them right the the blooming so he says what is do it allows us to bloom it allows us to open up our hearts and our nishas in a way that we wouldn't otherwise again kind of like going through our day what does do it allows that experience and it gives us a freshness with that turning to it connects us with Hashem but it opens us up where they use this term today the best version of ourselves it opens us up it allows us to flourish it allows us to um to Blossom when's the best time for that says R cook interesting maybe you could argue this point he says the best time for that is late in the day maybe in the morning we're a little tired and we're just kind of like waking up and we need to kind of as we said just kind of strengthen oursel with our to start the day but as the day comes to a close at that point you're done with all of the all the routine of the day right all the things that are kind of weighing you down you've paid your bills right you've made your phone calls you've answered your emails the day now is coming to a close not for you okay but the day is coming to a close okay you could argue well think about the work day by the way maybe not everybody here is going to the office right all day long from 7 in the morning till but you're coming you're coming back after a long day at work right your boss is giving you a hard time you're trying to meet this deadline you come home you finally right finally you can kind of get back to yourself right for some people that means just you know putting on TV and putting on a sitcom I don't think that's what rof cook has in mind right you come back and now coming back to yourself you can now open yourself up again with a of I can now return to Hashem it's been a while since I've spoken to Hashem it's been 8 n hours right been at work 10 hours at work right when I was reading this I was thinking about my children I dropped them off in the morning 8:00 at school and it's been a while since I've they're back at 3:30 and we're hugging each other as as we're seeing each other again you know it's only been a few hours but I dropped them off and now that I see them again there's like a we we feel it there's like an emotion there that's how of cook again we don't think about M that way think about okay I got DAV m Open The Sitter but Rook is seeing it very differently the day is coming to a close I haven't spoken to in a while and now I can open up again to hem so and those natural feelings of Holiness that's now been it's sort of like been hidden in your heart now I can now that now that can be that can come to life again again and that's the he's using this beautiful metaphor which reads in the P of the that is not just speaking but he's like blossoming like the flowers and like the trees that he uh that's the description of how he's praying that there's now the branches and the fruits of the tree it's as if you're standing there like a like a beautiful like a beautiful plant like a beautiful tree that you're opening up to Hashem that you're blossoming this is what's Fe it allows the soul to open allows the soul to to to Blossom now what's interesting I often point out and they not me but many point out the relationship between rook's teachings and rman ab BR that he was influenced somewhat by R nman interesting there's a piece nman also talks about the and here he talks about which is really not really not found in ALA per se and you probably are familiar with this the importance of praying outside in the field praying outside in the field now by the way I would point out that there are different kinds of prayer there's let's say in maybe we should be in a we should be but then there's other prayers certainly rman says we should be praying at other opportunities as well so we can go outside maybe we've done the Min we've done Shak in our setting maybe in a maybe in in our home where we normally DAV but there's other times to Davin as well we're not limited just to those three look at what writes this is from these are the words da you should know this is Source number two it's in that it begins it says Al in that uh in that box there you should when a person prays in a field the grass joins you in prayer that's what he writes and it actually helps your prayer again what exactly well I'll put it very you know in a very basic sense just the nature right the beauty of nature around you and to pray in that setting says it's a very positive thing actually gives you a strength particular strength in your prayer he says that's why is also called because the word doesn't only mean to speak it also means to grow it means to Blossom it means to flow flourish so go into this place go into a setting where you where you can feel that where you can sense that flourishing and let that be something that that impacts your own the the he says the Shrubbery the grass the plants gives you a K in your prayer that's what it means why did y why wasn't he praying in his tent why wasn't he praying in his house well he liked being in the field he felt that there was something that that was inspirational in the field it's one of the reasons why is called and interesting it's very possible that ruk definitely knew this piece but he was influenced by this piece when he wrote about this as well that when we think about what do do for us it opens us up it helps us helps us blossom as people spiritually and we should think about in that sense so that's the second kind of yes please this is what we just read is RAB Froman from his classic work his writing and this by the way I'm sure you're familiar with this of this idea of going out into the field going out into the forest his bodus of praying and of being in that setting and um some of that's become very popular in Israel today it's not I don't think we like grew up with that but you have in certain certain communities that they do more outdoor davening and and being connected with nature very much imp very much influenced by the writings of Rak abov and you see it here in Rook as well okay we now go to the third Tor which Torah is this you know what I and I was looking I left that out I'm sorry that I left that out I'm sorry that I left out the actual the mucker oh actually it's you it's I'm sorry it's there it's it's where it says by the it's the 11th piece I believe it's split into two parts I believe this is in the second the second section of thean okay we now go to the third which to Me Maybe the most interesting of the of the three and we speak about now Yakov Yakov it says that he comes to that place and he has vka he has an encounter in that place I think over the years when I've thought about or when I've heard about when we've learned about Yakov prayer at night it's the night really represents you know the galut and the Darkness of the night and the fear of the night and that's what this prayer the Marv is about the AR prayer that's not what Ru cook is going to say Rook is going to offer a different explanation of what this represents what does it mean vka okay and this uh we now look at paragraph three so this is we're about to talk about and his his encounter at night however there's another great benefit of again what do we speak about so far that it's time that fortifies us two that it allows us to Blossom to flourish spiritually but ruk says there's something else and here it sounds like there's something something great there an additional aspect of it's something that's found it's a very elevated idea and really it's something possibly it's reserved for very holy people and I include all of us in that group we're all of the Holy people people that encounter God the that you can have an experience in that's that's prophetic like or something that's close to prophecy to feel in our or to experience our something that kind of takes us outside of the the Dal of this world there is that we experience something that's very lofty something that's very elevated I'm not sure if this is something and I would say personally it's not something that I that I experience often or maybe at all in Fila but I would I would I would I would um suggest the following maybe this isn't per se but how about in a in a setting of a kumzits where people are singing together that you feel something where you're you're elevated that your your thoughts that experience is something that kind of like takes you to another to another place um I was thinking about Also let's say at a wedding you know you're you're hearing that singing really that prayer and in that in that atmosphere in that environment you know you're kind of you're lifted to uh to a very you know to to a in a meditative kind of state into a place that you're kind of you're beyond this world Beyond just the dalad of this world R cook says you can have an experience and this is the ideal this is and again maybe it's not for everyone he kind of opens it's not something that's simple to attain but in prayer that we can kind of we can leave this world interesting you have Arya Kaplan I'm sure it's a name that you're familiar with he has a book called meditation and prayer he talks a lot about how prayer is really meditation and that meditation again we talk about that term meditation he believes prayer at the essence is really about meditation and that's where cook is speaking about here as well that it kind of takes us Beyond right this physical world right it takes us beyond that and we think of things and we have visions of things that we wouldn't necessarily have otherwise and prayer allows for that and he writes the let's read on he says this is mentioned by the tour as well now what does it mean to be why is that word what does the word yka mean I said before it means that you have an encounter with so what is a word for it means I have an encounter with Hashem I'm feeling the closeness of we don't always feel that prayer is a time that we can feel the Embrace of Hashem you know RAB salvic he didn't talk about this in the context of prayer we'll see in a moment but he he he spoke about late at night when he would sit in his office in his study and he would study Torah with his blat gamar with the gamar open he describes how he would feel hashem's arm embracing him as he was learning he felt that Hashem was looking over the gamar with him that's what he describes as he was sitting with a gamar he felt Hashem in the room and this is what ruk says what yakob in this aspect of it fortifies us in the morning it helps us Blossom but there's something else that is about it's about an encounter with and feeling something that really is out of this world right this a little taste of Kesh a little taste of of Neva a feeling as if Hashem is speaking to me as if Hashem is in the room with me so that and ruk is going to say do you know when that is is when the possibility or the potential for that is greatest he says that's in the night time during the night and we'll see that right now let's read on so he writes um yeah back to three four lines down you can experience something that goes beyond that which is just part of regular mundane life you go beyond you lift yourself beyond the and you feel a you feel a closeness you feel an attachment with hem Bel you feel in your heart in your soul the purity of feeling hashem's presence he says when is that most apt when is the potential for that that's during the night time when you're alone at night and the kind of The Quiet of the night The Still of the Night that is a time where you can experience this as explained in the and he speaks about what is exceptional what's unique about nighttime prayer and here I want to turn turn to page three and I just I want I want you to see the reference so Rook just referen one of the most important SP that we have going back to the time that we sh him ruak who writes a saer called I'm sure youve heard of this saer is a saer where Ru Baka asked the question well I know what we're supposed to do I know all of the laws but what are we supposed to feel that's what this whole safer is about kote obligation of the heart okay God you told me 613 Commandments but let's talk about what we're supposed to experience what are we supposed to feel in our heart what is the experience of doing Mitzvah that's what the safer is about towards the end of the saer he has Shem the Gate of loving God and here he speaks about nighttime prayer and I'll read a few lines to you from this this is page three top Source he he says nighttime prayer is purer it's more pure than daytime prayer for a number of reasons for a number of reasons and let me just go through he has four or five reasons here he says number one first of all you're not as busy right as we were talking about you're done with all of the the hectic day you've put that aside there's now a certain quiet number two you're also not concerned that he longer with your meals and with eating he says right during the day well what am I what am I doing for lunch right this class is going to be over in 20 minutes where am I going to be having lunch right so everybody we're thinking about those things the night time comes late at night we've done our meals we're done so we're no longer thinking about the physical so much number three also we're no longer really interacting with people it's a quiet time right we're not in the office we're not on the bus we're not on the train we're it's a quiet time um right in the middle of the paragraph was the fourth reason though it's the time that we all of these sort of I think I would translate this as the anxieties of the day the tensions of the day have settled down but here I want to go to the last his last argument of what's so special about the night time and this I guess it's the fifth one that we if you go four lines up umem the word the first word in the line is B and the second line second word the line is umem so umem means one of the reasons why night time is so is so uh is is is a pure it's a time that we're thinking more about Hashem and we feel a closeness with AEM at night and here's the key it's a time where people in general where there's a closeness between people or those that love the one that you love that you feel a closeness with that person at night the people that you want to be with and to be with them at night it's a different experience and I think what and we're going to see in a moment that R salvic speaks about this as well what he is referring to is what is special about the night time when we think about people that are dating one another people that uh people that love one another or fall let's say falling in love with one another so if you kind of like picture a scene from a movie or from a novel of people falling in love with one another so you can fall in love with one another I guess in the morning or in the afternoon right but there's something about late at night right late at night the dark of the night and of being with somebody the conversations that we have with people late at night as it gets later at night the intimacy there's something about that late night hour of feeling a closeness and here according to Theos and R cook says as well the nighttime prayer praying at night F at night has a special quality of feeling closeness with Hashem that we don't necessarily or it's not as easy to feel at other times I mentioned before the uh Rabbi salvic describing his experience of learning late into the night and here if you go back to page two go back to page two for a moment on the bottom of the page RAB salvic was famous this is it says number four on the on the right side it's slanted on the side it says sh ABI Rabbi Rabbi salvi was famous for a talk that he would give he was famous for his chuva lectures that he would give before before yum Kipper shanam Kipper time but there was another famous talk and thousands would come every year to hear this talk it was a talk that he would give in memory of his father a Shear that he would give in memory of his father it was called Lamport Auditorium it was packed with people people would come hours before they would put their stuff down they would save their seat they wanted to be there for that uh for that sheer it was then written up these sh were written up by RAR lienin his son-in-law in shur ABI and we're reading right now or I'll share with you the following teaching that he gave it was a Shir Torah and F we know that RAB salich and the briskers they love the rambam the writing of the rambam he went to the rambam the writings of the rambam about learning Torah he saw that in the third chapter that the rambam says that there's nothing like nighttime learning in terms of talur learning at night RAB salvic said I simply do not understand what the rambam means because there is there is no difference between learning during the day and learning at night right and by the way one could argue let's say in a Yeshiva that morning seder like that time where we sharp in the morning is maybe the best kind of learning so this is what the rambam writes you can you can follow along with me so this is again this is a uh this is the shear that he gave and it begins chapter three 13 this is what the r writes even though one has an obligation to learn both day and night but the night time is when a person learns the majority of their Torah learning if one wants to attain the crown of Torah be careful with the Knights you shouldn't waste your time at night says the ramb which is eating and drinking and just talking what does Rea mean the joy of Torah is night time whoever studies Torah at night there's a strand of that is tied around you for the rest of the day for the coming day RAB Sal says I do not understand what the rambam is talking about what does the rambam mean here the p in the Torah says there a mitvah Torah day and night where did the rambam get this idea that there's something about nighttime learning this is the answer that he offered and he you can look at the answer it's one line there's more to it but we're going to read one line this is the last paragraph bottom paragraph on page two says I want to take one more step forward in in explaining what the Ramba means the scho The Singularity of nighttime learning we're not referring to the actual learning of Torah meaning information the facts maybe that's better during the day maybe that's better during morning seder what the ramb he believes what the r is referring to is now a is a term that's usually used for what is usually we call it a it's the worship of the heart R says Torah also can be a worship of the heart as well and he says the night time when we're learning Torah we're not just it's not only the experience of of of the facts right the wisdom that we're gaining but we're feeling the presence of Hashem when we're learning Torah and there's nothing like the light the nighttime and that's how he understands the rambam the rambam is referring to and again he says this is per giml he already went through the he's talking about something else now he's talking about the experience of learning and the closeness of ashem that we feel in learning and he says that's the night time and that's why one receives the the Torah is a night time that's the that one receives during that time so the third aspect of third aspect of is is an experience of closeness with hasem the love that we have with Hashem the the vus that we have with Hashem That's Unique for the night I want to read to you the following and we'll come we're coming to a close uh the ramb the rambam wrote The Following we were just speaking about the rambam we're going to look at another rambam this is the Bottom now of Page Three this is it's it's small I wish I would have it would be a little bit larger but we're going to read just one line from it I'm sorry yeah it's small small for me as well okay so we're talking about we're talking about the experience of praying and here we're emphasizing the nighttime prayer of feeling a closeness feeling a closeness with Hashem which is unique to the night so the rambam this is the 10th chapter of hilos CHA I think we're many of us are familiar with the r many study it you know over the week of Thea but this is the last I think sometimes you know it may happen people don't get to the last chapter so look at giml and we're just going to read one line here he talks about in chuva how does one attain how does one achieve real love of God what does it mean to love Hashem this isim again we're just a few lines up from the bottom the very bottom of the page page three we're going to read one line help me translate that by the way what does it mean to love Hashem what is the r say love and love and love the strongest aah means strong g means great means extra additional I'm sorry that you feel aond of love to and a person is sh like the word Mish they are absolutely crazy for God you ever hear that phrase be crazy to be in love yeah so the rambam says that's the relationship with Hashem he uses the word that you should be crazed and you see the aah and right what does he say you should compare it like being obsessed about a woman that's what the RAB says the way that you're you fall the crush that you have right on that person the love that you have when you fall in love he says that is the love that one should have for AEM and I think R cook is describing here this love at night the vacas that we feel at night is the love that we feel it really goes beyond an attachment a feeling of closeness with Hashem I want to I'm going to end with two stories Story number one ruk is on his way up North and this was a famous called the m I'm sure some of you have heard of this he brought a group of rabbis rimfeld and he brought rakov map he invited a group of rabbis and they went to visit the m shabot and the Kim really the first you know settlers and he wanted to he wanted to share with them Torah he wanted to show how much he loved them so the story is told by this his good friend R MOS RAB yob MOS his base matters is just a few blocks from here so he was together with him they woke up in the morning they were on their way to sh and um as they're going to sh he notices that rabab stops and there's somebody that's working in the field and he stops and he's speaking to this person and he's asking him about how do you grow th things and what's the best way to plant things and it's like a 10-minute conversation you know back and forth about this planting and so harab just can't get over this like this is what RI cook is doing before daving he knows that RI cook being this very spiritual personality that he never does I mean he doesn't stop and even halachically if you're on your way to Davin and the first thing really you're not supposed to begin a conversation with somebody before you DAV in the morning and what is r cook doing so he's curious about this he waits till the end of daving and uh he builds up you know the courage to ask R cook well what was that can I ask you you know what was that those that 10-minute conversation that you had before daving and Ru cook said the following it's one of my favorite Ru cook stories Ruff cook says you know all night I was thinking about Hashem and I could barely sleep at night I was so in love with Hashem and I was on my way to DAV in the morning and I felt that I would pass out just from the love this passion this feeling that I had from Hashem I had to do something to kind of bring myself down just to be able to dve it in the morning I felt so I felt so so drawn to Hashem so close to Hashem I was on fire with his love of Hashem I need I I could I could not Davin without first being you know kind of brought down to earth and that's uh to talk about what the rambam by the way when the rambam writes this I believe that the rambam experienced this he didn't just write this to put it in a in the mishna Torah that he experienced that kind of love of hasem the way that one is just Lovick he uses the word to be Lovick for Hashem that you can't get Hashem out of your mind that whatever you're doing that you're thinking about this is what this is what um this is what Ru cook says where's my bag did I leave it outside okay I wanted to read it to you but maybe it'll it'll come out it'll be better just I'll share it with you um one other we'll end with this we have two minutes um so we spoke about three today we spoke about aov that they all that they each Institute AA in the cabala which I know little about the cabala says that there is a fourth there's a fourth F which is instituted by David so we have abov and David does anybody know the of DAV very nice beautiful there's one more the gar says that the beginning ofos that he had a harp that hung in his room and there there was a wind that would come through at the Midnight Hour it would play the harp and he would would be awakened and he would begin to DAV at that time what's called t t is known as a prayer for the destruction of the bet mikdash we pray for the bet mikdash it's also a time to say to say to say sections of Psalms that speak about a love for Hashem a closeness with Hashem interesting that we have another which I would say is not it's not commonly practice today and there were great people that that davened this it's Des we know that the the vnon that he was makit himself on on every night reciting T talk we just spoke about R bre that the breim do this as well that they wake up at midnight and they recite it R cook did this as well ruk in his lifetime when he came to erel that he would recite this and the one story that I want to share with you is uh is a student of him of his that stayed up late that in at night and he snuck into the little office I don't know if anybody has ever been to the home of ruk but you can see the office where he would write where he would study he would go into that room R cook every night and he would recite the and he describes that one night he kind of secretly he hides like behind something and he's there to see him and he sees that Ru cook sits on the floor he takes a candle and he begins to pray and he sees the passion of Ru cook late at night the way that he's doing and at that moment he feels like he can't even be in his presence any longer that he runs out of the room seeing the intensity of his prayer at that time so that's another another nighttime prayer of tun so we've seen today that there are three different aspects of prayer I don't think that they are only to be you know to be understood or identified with those at that time every time that we pray we have that opportunity or that that Merit to be able to uh to gain from the prayer to benefit the Tois of the prayer that it strengthens us as Abraham that it strengthens us the prayer that we begin our day with every time that we pray it strengthens strength strengthens us for the nissos the difficulties that we're going to face in life prayer gives us a way to uh to flourish to Blossom as people spiritually and ideally as Rook says ideally it's also a time to feel a closeness with hem a Deus with Hashem even a little bit of rues even a little bit of n that we can experience during our yes to everyone good to see everyone I thank you for being here look forward to seeing you next week wish everyone a good day and a good week zun [Music]