Rav Kook: Achdut | Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

we uh we welcome everyone great to see everyone this morning and uh a great as always to uh to learn together and to learn the teachings of R cook the wisdom of R cook let me just uh announce our sponsor we have a sponsor for the Academic Year shom we thank our sponsors our sponsor for today okay uh we're going to look at a topic today which is a uh a very very beautiful topic from Riv cook I would call it a topic that is in Yana y that it's the one of the topics of the day and you'll see why in just a moment it's the topic of being a part of Amel feeling that one is part of the great nation of Amel the idea of aus the idea of unity of Amel this is something I think you'll find in the writings of uh of many great rabbis they speak about this but Riv cook is is going to speak about it in a unique way and you can already sense that Ru cook as a uh as as the great Seer the great Visionary of the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel that there's something unique about the Jewish people in the land of Israel and their feeling Aus and I think that's something that all of us have been feeling we'll touch on that a little bit later in this year especially over the last number of months and I would say this week there was a uh unique feeling of aus that we all felt uh this past Sunday Sunday night as we saw hostages being returned to their family not only a happiness for for those uh for those individuals but a real sense of of a Oneness of an Aus of a togetherness and the way that we care for one another the way that we uh that we're joyful when we see the joy of others at am Isel so this is going to be our our topic this morning really a very very beautiful topic and as I said I think something that's that's very timely I want to begin with a teaching that comes from a rebi in one of the uh the influential personalities in life of rev cook his name was the Nan Berlin and when Rook studied in ban as a young man he was 18 19 years old so he had a very close relationship with the rashash Shiva with the NV the NV is famous one of the things that he's famous for is his commentary on the Tor which is called the ham DAV and he was unique as a rashash Shiva that he gave he gave classes in KES as well I think from what I've from what I've read every week that he would give a class in Kash which is not typical even today the great rash Shiva you give gamar you don't give a you don't give a here that's for like you know a Pulpit Rabbi gives a here but for the he gave he gave sh as well in is what we have today in his great work of the ham D and he has the following just one comment quickly that he has which I think U will kind of open our discussion it's the BR we just read this uh not long ago as we came to the close of the book ofit one of the blessings and we have actually it's a long set of blessings to yose but one of the blessings is RO evanel that Yakov says this is the First Source page one that you will be the RO Israel but what does it mean to be a ro evanel so re we usually think about Ro as a Shepherd you'll be the shepherd of Evan of the rock of Israel by the way rinal changed his name laab rebi said I would like you to change your name and what name did he choose does anybody know Evan Israel right based on this I think that was his choice but Babi told him that for some reason I don't know if it's if it's explained anywhere I looked it up but the blab said it's time for you to change your name and he took that very seriously laabi and he changed it to Evan Israel now what does it mean Evan is well we mean the the rock right the stone of Israel that's right so what does it mean when Yakov is blessing him that you should be the RO is so look at what the again this is sorry AF so what does the word Ro mean Ro either Shepherd but also it's from the word raay a Ron is an idea an Insight that you will have the Insight this is the blessing that yob gives Yosef that you will have the Insight you'll be able to have that Vision that perception that you'll bring together the EV Isel what's an EV Isel according to alav that's the afit afit is the afar what's a fire a fire is the dust now the dust is spread all over but what is a stone what is a rock where we bring all of that together right where it's all one gush so what's the blessing to Y and what's the blessing for the Jew the descendant of yosf we're all descendants of ysf and that is that we should have the raon that we should have that kind of insight that kind of perception of how do we bring all of Amel together how do we unify Amel and that is a priority that's something that we need to think about ra to think about that to think about what are the the pathways to that to that Aus okay so that is that's what he heard from his rebi I imagine that he was ruk was in those you want to make a comment I want to ask yeah that was the to which this is Yosef this is part of the yeah this is the the blessing to Yosef and we'll actually we'll come back to that interesting to that in particular by the way why is that the braa to yose well one is that but I would say in the story itself why is that the blessing because he brings the family together in other words he could choose to to remain separate to remain divided but as they come down he says I'm I'm forgiving you right this is all that the hand of God so he has a whole discussion you know how much he he forget but he he forg they're together they come together so he does that in the story and that's the blessing you should continue to have that insight and that perception to be the RO the rayon of how to bring how to create Evan Isel maybe that's why steinel chooses the name Evan Isel as well that idea that and he was all about that was one of his great teachings and contributions he wanted to open up the talmud and Torah to everyone that was his that was his Mantra how do we bring Torah to everyone and he translates the the talmud for the first time which was actually there was some controversy around that R I believe that he put in for the way that he did it and uh that he changed the page the and for the first time that you have a gamarra that doesn't have the regular but shinel felt that this is the way that we need to teach it and to try to reach more and more Jews okay so maybe that's part of his idea why he chose of all names Evan yrel so here we have the following midrash quite an amazing midrash and it speaks about what is it that God had in mind and what did God create first in creation well we can open up AES and we all know what's the very first thing that God creates but the midash has a little bit of a different take and says that God had other things in mind even before creating the world and this is midash Raba braid Raba from the very beginning as you see at the very this is Source number two par ala and it's the fourth teaching in the first section from the very beginning of there are six things that God created before God creates the world certain things he actually created other things he had in mind before he created anything what was the first thing that God had in mind when God created the world so it gives an example first he had Tor mind he creates Torah I think we've heard that idea that Torah the idea of Torah Torah that he looked at the Torah that somehow Torah preceded the creation of the world again these are these are sort of esoteric ideas but here we have the following statement rabi hun what was the very first thing that God thought of before creating the world the Jewish people creating the Jewish people that was God according to this opinion that was the very first thought even before Torah even before that what's necessary for the world what's needed for this world that's the very first thing that God so to speak thinks of is I need an amist In This World by the way you can make an interesting argument how effective is Torah in this world if you don't have an AM Israel that's going to learn that Torah and teach that Tor how effective is kak cavod is God's chair or throne in the world God's presence in the world world if you don't have a people that's going to share that with others that's going to be a manifestation of the Divine in this world so we need the Jewish people for all these other things to be effective look at the note here this is uh it's brought in the art scroll midrash which by the way a great a great uh a great addition the midash and with with notes this from uh if you look at the side there is no concept of Precedence or subsequence with regard to God's thoughts you really can't speak about thinking about one thing first and something second and when you think about God rather the statement that the thought of certain items proceed to Creation means that they are essential to the world okay that's what it means that's what the midash not to take this literally but what is most essential in this world and here look at the last line and again this is from one of the commentaries of the midrash here to the midrash means that the people of Israel are more essential than any of the other items mentioned it's quite an amazing thing to think about you know we think about Torah if I were to ask you like what is the most important thing in in Judaism right in Jewish life I think for many of us we would say we would say Torah certainly many communities would say there's nothing more important than Torah than the Torah than studying the Torah than the existence of Torah and here the midra says what is most important what is most essential before anything else I'm Israel the Jewish people the nation of Israel and look at the following R cook this is a very interesting passage I think there are different ways of interpreting what Ru cook says here sometimes maybe more than sometimes when you when when one reads Ru cook uh we we do our best to try to understand exactly what Ru cook is trying to convey but he's going to talk about the following and it's interesting you know when you think about the Torah you have the the opening of the Torah we're in it right now um the book of Brit the beginning of the book of scho which is really not about any yet right there are no laws essentially what are we learning about what have we learned about over since the beginning of the reading of the Torah from Brit and even through the book of Schmo the lot of Schmo as well what is it that the Torah is teaching us is there any law there there's very little law we're learning about amus we're learning about the family of Israel we're learning about the nation of Israel we're learning about the the Mish Israel the children of Israel what does it mean to be a part of a nation and I was thinking about that this morning in other words and and it's really true even through the end of schot I mean you have the beginning of bet mikdash the laws well not actually bet mikdash the mishan but that's not really law either that's really just a description of of where the Jewish people come and gather where you have the presence of God so you have two out of the five books of the Torah that really are not about law it's really about the people it's really about personalities and the forming of a Nation now with that let's look at the following the following words of R cook and this comes from his classic work in the section of and he writes that theot that the forefathers the mothers and the fathers of the Jewish people they impact or they leave their mark on what is natural or the the the very essence of what it means to be part of Kess Israel the Jewish people the people as a whole the nation umu and what is the what is it that mosenu brings to what is mosenu by the way we call him Moshe Renu what's rabenu he's the teacher that's right he's teaching he's teaching law so we have MOS Renu as the great lawgiver as the great teacher as a great Rabbi but then we have the avot which really represent not lawg giving but really represent what is what it means to be a Jew what it means to be part of the Jewish people to be part of the family of the Jewish people and he writes the following that they work with one another they interact with one another and they both influence one another both aspects there's a relationship between them and when in the future there'll be a a full-fledged bonding that that world of Law and that world of nation that and family that will all come together in a holistic hole in a very beautiful way and this will be revealed in the mashia in a integrated in a fully integrated way again what that means exactly okay we can think about but here's the point that I want to what I want to highlight which we'll see underline but first and foremost what are we going to see as we're moving closer to Redemption to a Messianic time we're going to see this aspect of family and of nationhood in the Jewish people and here he quotes what we just saw a moment ago in the midrash that the very first thing that God had in mind even before creating the Torah even before creation was the Jewish people and all will see that that's the very essence of the Torah so what does ruk mean by this it's it's a very interesting idea I I would say the following you know when I grew up when I uh and I remember you know asking my father I would say like is that like like we'd walk down the street as a young boy I would say is is that person Sher shabas you know is that person like that's like how do we judge another Jew right based on their is he sh shabas is he sh shabas what ah that would be a better right okayu but but if you're judging somebody based on Shir shabas that's really that's the most raenu Torah so to speak right that's looking at somebody that's judging somebody based on the law are they keeping the law are they sh Shabbat but is there another way of judging is there another way of looking at other Jews and R cook says when as we're moving closer to a Messianic time we're not necessarily emphasizing that's not going to be the emphasis that remains and he says that's there's going to be a perfect integration of those two worlds the world of law and the world of nation but we're also I think this is what ruk is saying we're going to recognize other features other factors as well when it comes to looking at another Jew and that is do they have the qualities of the aot do they are they people ofed right that's aam a person ofed the love that they have what do we know about the avot I always say there's very little that we know about the avot in terms of their you know observance other than that they lived in the land of Israel and they were told to go to the land of Israel and not to is told never to leave the land of Israel and yakob wants to make his way back and has the children promised to bring my body and to bury me back in Kevon it's all about Israel when we see Jews that are committed to the land of Israel sacrificing for the land of Israel is that how do how do we judge a Jew in that sense that becomes R cook is suggesting that that aspect of Jewish life becomes very very important as well maybe we've overemphasized the other maybe that's just part of the the experience of the Galo we had a kind of hunker down and kind of hold on to the mitzvot but there's something bigger and that is family that's nationhood that's your love that's and love the land of Israel and sacrificing for the sake of am Israel believing in Hashem a sense of Covenant so all of these are also very important and R cook says that's part of what it means am Kalel that unity and to see that aspect as well I want to share with you the following Insight which is really a very beautiful insight and here we'll we'll kind of sharpen this idea from R cook this is I would say one of the most famous rashis that we have in the Torah it's when the Jewish people are standing at har it says it's in Source number fouram what what does Rashi point out the word byan anybody know very good it's in the sing yeah it's in the singular that's right it's in the singular should say Vu we're talking about the Jewish people that they were all gathered but it says V and famously what does Rashi say and you have it below that at that moment the Jewish people were like a single body and a single heart now look at this other PK and the PK about the Egyptians the Egyptians were chasing the Jewish people they wanted to capture the Jewish people and it says and they saw the Egyptians were chasing them NOA Rashi says same problem here the word NOA is in the is in theing singular that's correct no not no so what does Rashi say this is referring to the referring to the Egyptians take a look Rashi does something turns he turns the words around when it was about the Jewish people it was did Rashi make a mistake here did he just happen to get that off because when he speaks about the Egyptians it says so Rook says the following it's quoted in the name of Rook quoted in the name of rutner as well others Bel means that they all had the same intent in their hearts they all had the same intent the Egyptians wanted to capture they wanted to maybe kill the Jewish people with that same intent they became but that's not true of is even when we disagree right even when we are not a right like this past week right where there were a lot of disagreements there was a lot of discussion about the right and the wrong of the uh of the deal that we just had but what's first and foremost we are one body We Are One people we are a family and even when we disagree okay then but first and foremost that's what it means to be part of that there's an intrinsic Oneness there's an essential Oneness to Amel we are connected and we are connected going all the way back to the very beginning of time according to that beautiful midrash that God had in mind the Jewish people even before creating the world what's that yes and yes very nice Rashi says it as well beautiful he in the first Rashi that God says that the very first right that's that braet also is a reference to to my first uh to creating the first which is which is Amel okay one other very interesting comment that uh that that Ru cook makes also about the the giving of the Torah about the giving of the Torah is we know that it says kafa well that's a the gamar says kafa Alem harig gamar chabas which is a very strange gamara it says that God you're familiar with this they okay we're going to read it in moment this is number five this is number five which we'll read inside in a moment God lifts the mountain Ka Alem H kig that he took the mountain as if it says like a barrel and he and he says to the Jewish people you're now standing below the mountain either you receive the Torah or I'm going to drop the mountain on you you've heard that that that gamar that medish Ka well what does that mean it's a very it's a very strange midrash and by the way we're usually under the impression that it was it was by the valtion of the Jewish people that they choose Nan isma that was a be we always quote that the N isma that they accepted it this mid says I don't know it doesn't sound like that was such a such a wonderful acceptance it was that God said either either you accept it or I'm going to drop it on you so look at what RI cook writes the way that he the lesson that he learns from that gamar again I don't I'm not sure if that gamar is meant to be understood literally but there's a lesson that should be understood so he writes the following this is from a very interesting safer called which were the talks that he gave at shalis the third meal that somebody one of his students wrote down and we have these notes from um from the talks over of cook at those at the third meal what WR no no after shabas he wrot after that's what I say these are the notes that he wrote after shabas yes after shabas so look at what R Rook writes Miko are actually the student writing from what he remembered from from what he heard in other words the Oneness of the Jewish people that wasn't just a afterthought we had to be one in order to receive the Torah that's right quoting what we just saw above even though within the Jewish people you had there was a kind of there was a separateness in other words everybody everybody is different from one another maybe not everyone got along with one another could you imagine that even at that time and it says mosmo I mean everyone was different and maybe there wasn't you know the the sort of the perfect Unity but this is what he writes in order that there should be an absolute Unity kaem that he says is the image of taking the mountain lifting it above them and saying all of you are now in this together you're all in it together right now now there's everybody is is standing underneath the mountain and and it was it it now became not a prerogative everybody we're all doing this together right it's like if I announce right now who wants to volunteer after this class you know okay some people hands go up some people don't but if I lock the door and I say everybody is doing we're in this together right now we're all going here you know from here so we're all in it and that's what Hashem wanted according to rev cook that's how he reads this midash Hashem wanted everyone to be in it together I'm going to lift this mountain all of you going to feel this moment that you all need to huddle together and receive the Torah at that moment there was no more Choice nobody was like choosing the Torah there was an absolute there was an absolute sense of unity literally maybe they were holding on to one another as they were about to accept the Torah that's his uh his beautiful very interesting novel interpretation top of page two now Rook writes in a very powerful way just how sinful it is how sinful it is if we divide any divisiveness within amist creating any sense of a divide with amist is something that we'll see in a moment he considers to be one of the one of the most serious of all transgressions and again if you think about it going back to that beautiful language of the midrash that it was the first thing that God had in mind is the people of Israel that I did Amel so to break that up in any way to break that down in any way that's considered a sin and he uses the following this is from aot this is his what's considered to be maybe his most important work along with KES and here he cites the story from MIM uh which is a story that we all know and that is schl h two women come before schl they are together in a home they just had babies they gave birth to babies together that night one of the babies died the baby that died the other woman placed under the the breast of uh of the woman that had the live baby she took the live baby they come the next morning to schom they're standing before schom there's one baby that is alive and they are both now making the claim that it's their baby so what does schlomo do what is his response and his very wise response he says somebody please bring me a sword and with this sword I'm going to cut the baby in half and that's now fair that each of you will have half of this baby what happens at that point at that moment in the story so the woman one of the women call out and say do not do that do not cut the baby do not kill this child and Sh said says that's the that's the mother right that's the mother who has Rahim on the child I know that that's the mother so R cook says that is that story that that is a that's a true story but there's a message here and the reason why it's in the na'vi because of the message for all time and this is look at the words of Rook I have it in the Hebrew on top in the translation the mother who is the merciful mother a that is the mother who is the true mother and what does she say give that woman I rather her have this child even more powerful than the way I just presented it let her have this child who is alive but do not take the life of the child and then there is a voice that is really a a voice from Heaven that mother that wanted to ensure that the baby would not be be cut in half that is the true mother and look at what R cook writes what is the lesson and you can already sense maybe where he's going with thises there is no end to the evil in a physical sense in a spiritual sense there's nothing more evil than breaking up Amel then creating division in Amel that is considered to be the most evil of all things even though this thought and look at what he writes the thought of those who cruy try to operate on the on the body of the ofu it's not possible it's actually anyone who tries to do it it's not it's not going to happen because we have a Unity because we are brothers and sisters and look at what he writes last line Z a thought of dividing the nation is a thought of a he Compares it to it can't possibly it can't possibly uh actually happen says ruk why is it aara why does he compare it to aara AAR and I think one of the reasons why he does is because again going back to that midash that we speak about am Israel we're we're speaking about an entity which is a holy entity we're speaking about an entity that represents that is the manifestation of Hashem in this world that's who we are that's who we are as a nation we are representing we are the ambassadors we are the light of God in this world and to break that up is actually to to do damage to Hashem that's aazar so I think that's uh I think that's a way of interpreting that let's look at the following also a memorable you know teaching from of cook not to scare anyone but we're about to this shabas shabas MIM ISAT shat Nissan we're two and a half months from PES we're two and a half months from pesak you can already begin to to clean the cupboards this afternoon if you like so we will we're going to look at one idea that Ru cook it says that every year he said this at his Seder and that is about the rasia the rasia who is the rasia the Seder we know that we have the arim we have the four children the four Sons at the Seder one of them is the Rasha what makes him a Rasha right what makes him Wicked and this is what Ru cook said what does rash say he says what is it that you are doing what is all this ritual what is all this worship that you're doing that's for you it's not for me that's says the same thing okay that we'll wait for the uh the the hag for that but yeah it's a good question says something very close but what is the Rasha doing look at what ruuk writes and what is the sin of the Rasha what makes him a Rasha look at the very bottom this is in the hag of Rook we have a collection beautiful collection of teachings and this is his son R the cook would say he would always say this each year at the Sor it's the very last two lines there the fact that he's removing himself he's dividing he's separating himself from the rest of the nation mikad from the Holiness of he he that is what's so terrible about the Rasha what's the worst thing that you can do is to separate yourself to divide the nation to take this holy entity right the manifestation of Hashem in this world and to break that up and to break that down so that was that's uh that that's uh that's his vort that that idea we can we can hold on to that for a couple of months till the Sayer remember to say it to of Page Three now I just want to I want to share one maybe more like a practical idea which relates to this how do we you know how do we create more Aus you know it's a term that we use all the time it happens to be the word that we've been using I would say it's like one of those words that we've been using more than ever over the last number of months and for good reason the war that we're going through the difficult days that we're uh that we have experienced the importance of AAS by the way you learned something when you're going through difficult times what is it that you turn to when things in traumatic times and difficult days and if that's what you're turn what we turn to Hashem but if we turning to the idea of aus it means that's something that really is important something that we really need to think about and not only in war times but all the time as well so ruk comments on the following gamarra this is a gamar that's found top of Page Three a gamar that's found in chabas davan and it speaks about a a statement that was made in by the rabbis of yav that in the in the language of the gamar it's by the way this Source this is the steinels by the way or the Evan Israel with his with his commentary in English we'll give credit to steinels Z so this was this is in yav what the rabbi would say all the time this became like a like a mantra or what people I don't know became like a popular phrase it went viral as they would say today it went viral in yav this uh this statement so this is what this is what was said and what everyone would say in the city of yav an Bri or I am a creation of God and my my friend is a creation of God my work is in the city he works in the field I get up and do my work and he gets up and does his work he doesn't in any way presume to do my work uh I don't presume to do his work what do we have here a respect for everyone respect for everybody he works in the field I work in an office right he does what he does he does that well I need him he needs me and then he writes the following and maybe I would think it may come to mind that I do more than the other or maybe that I'm holier than the other sh we learn the following whether you do a little little or a lot what's most important is that a person is directing their heart to Heaven it's all about what a person has in their heart and relationship with God okay Ru cook has a commentary here and I'll just highlight one one idea from this but I'll share with you the following I was as I you know prepared this and I went to sh this morning so I went to sh this morning and um and I'm doing and there's a fellow that comes into right right before the amida now again so I'm there 20 minutes everybody is there he runs in he's putting on his Fillin right before the amida so right away you know I'm I'm judging him of course you know that that I'm here on time and this guy's coming in late and not only does he put on his fill in DAV amida but within he's like already taking off his Fillin before daving is over and he's making his way out of sh so here I am of course judging this guy you know I'm I'm the sadik that I come early and I come on time and I stay till the end I try to stay till the end and here he is running in late and he's and uh and leaving early so this is what this gamarra speaks about right the gamarra is speaking about the judging that we're doing of others what is r Cook's comment here he says the following he says that we're making a mistake when we're judging others because it could be that you see yourself as a holy person but are you really as holy as you think you are you know I think about myself and I often I try to remind myself of this I sat I in in shiur with literally G Torah I was in R arenstein she who one of the G Tor here he's considered one G and look at me like I I had the opportunity and here I was and this fellow that came into Sho this morning I'm not sure if he had that kind of background and for him maybe getting to sh and pulling himself out of bed and putting on maybe that was a great test for him so for me to judge that person and that's what it says in his heart in his his whether you do a lot or a little that little for him may be tremendous right that was his intent and R cook says if we view others that way right if we begin to see others that way if we take that into account instead of the way I was thinking about this guy this morning and I had to kind of pull myself back and try to try to think about it this way then there would be a lot more Aus there would be a lot more togetherness okay I want to share one H and then just three I guess three little stories to uh to close to close out rabbi salvic RAB y Sal so um he has a very interesting comment and and really a different way of thinking about the the amida and what's called the karat so we're all familiar with the idea that we say the amida and again I'm bringing this is maybe like as a practical sort of a practical way to take this idea which is a bit amorphous the idea of AK and cl how to bring it how to kind of bring it into our life so we dve in and Sh we dve in could we go every morning we go shab and then we have what's called we we're there for mus we have the we just said AR and now the the B theor is now repeating the amida why is it repeated does anybody know we just said it why do we have to have a second a a repetition of the amida very good that's exactly right did you want to say that for for people that that people that are not able to say it themselves and yeah the source is say that the maim say that that it really goes back to a time where you didn't have sidur or maybe people were not not as knowledgeable and people stood for the amid but then you had people that either they didn't have a sitter or they didn't know how to read so you had a repetition and by answering a main and by listening y the that's the that's the standard yeah I wasn't GNA say that oh when repebody it's ah okay beautiful beautiful okay you're already withing to Sal ra Sal says the following and look at the words this is in a safer called neav which is the an that that I just said that I just shared without just for the sake of time you can you can go back and read it but I just shared the basic point from ruk this is Source number three this is Ral Shak has this is a sa one of his on the teachings of RAB salich called NE sharav and he writes the following and I'll just read one line rabenu he's referring this the you see number three Ru referring to R Sal he often would share the following teaching when it comes to daving there are two different elements what's called meaning when we're standing silently and we're all daving the amida we're standing as aor that's bitor and then you have what's called hotor now when we're ding when everyone is together yes we're all ding silently but we're really thinking about ourselves and you're supposed to do that that that that's fine Ru think about your family family members when you're praying for perasa yes think about the bills that you need to pay and the struggle struggle yes that's that's beautiful but that's during the silent amid that's what's called bit you're standing together but it's more individualized but as Reggie said but when it comes to the repetition salv called that the he he that's for you at that moment everyone is now together and to be thinking less about yourself and to be thinking more about Amel that's a beautiful idea by the way I never really I I I was not brought up with that and it's interesting interesting way of thinking about it's not just okay I just said it now you know now there's a second one I have to kind of like listen to but to use that second amid to think about the nation the needs of the nation to be connected the nation and interesting R brings that it was the custom I try to do this I don't do it all the time RAB salvic said for the the the the repetition that you should keep your feet together for that as well right most people are starting to walk around and you know whatever they're doing like during the kazars it was his custom throughout his life and even when he was elderly he was very moid where it was very difficult for him and he really needed to sit down to that point that he kept his feet together the the entire time and by the way he did that also in rashash Kipper when that's not 7 minutes to keep your feet together to stand for the next hour with the feet together and he felt that we should think about the amida in two parts part one yes that's more you can focus more on your needs and that's how that's the kavana we have in the amida but once we get to the the repeating it now that becomes what he calls the okay three St stories and we'll end with uh we'll end with this so Riv cook 1929 uh there was a there was a massacre in Kevon it was called the Kevon Yeshiva I don't remember the number I think it was 60 I don't know if anybody knows off hand but I think there about 60 60 people who were massacred by Arabs and many students young students of Theon yes that moved Yesa that moved toon many young students that were murdered and came yeah there are me that's right there there were many Americans that came to that Yeshiva at that time as well absolutely right um and leevin who was the T when he when he was he was present when Riv cook heard this and he saw how uh the reaction of Ru cook that he tore that he tore his clothing that he that he did Korea and R Lin said from that time on this 1929 he said that ruk was never the same again that is health and he dies in 1935 he dies six years later and R Lin said from that moment that he took that so hard he took it to heart you know the way that we see you know soldiers and we look how do we take that to heart for cooked Amel the pain of Amel is something that that he felt and very interesting Raba who was the Russa of Thea at that time so those were his students and he made the following statement he said that when I heard about it it's something that ripped my heart of course it ripped his heart and he knew the students but he said when Ru cook heard about it everybody knew that he fainted the moment that he heard that and he said I didn't faint and he said R cook the way that he felt the pain of am Isel of every member of Amel was unique so that's that's Story number one um Story number two number uh okay yeah yeah we we we we'll just yeah we'll add that the end thank you for reminding me um I just saw this the other day and the um the nurse the first nurse nurse that the hostages when they came out the three women I don't know if anybody saw this in the news the first nurse it's the nurse at telha shamer hospital that um that first took them in the three young women that came back and then bring and brought brought the girls to their to their mother and to their to their parents is a Woman by the name of Mali Zander and yes and her daughter 22-year-old daughter Noah was killed on October 7th and they just showed pictures of her the the the smile and the joy that she had seeing you know these the young ladies uh reunited with uh with their mothers and with their parents and you can imagine what that is for her but I think just something so powerful about that that this woman who went through this pain who lost a daughter herself in October 7th to be a part of bringing these families back together I just thought that that was astounding and again this the sense of the sense of Amel and one other one other item that I came across which I really thought was very very powerful is a uh a woman a mother by the name of RA MTZ she's an Israeli she lives here in Israel I don't really know anything about her but she wrote The Following poem about her son coming back from Gaza and barem I think everything as well with with her son and it was written in Hebrew and this is a translation of that uh the name in Hebrew is Kon pasim which is a reference to yose's Coat of Many Colors right the coat and that's the title a coat of many colors here just a short poem my son returned from Battle his duffel bursting with things that I had not packed for him socks donated by a community in Argentina a quilted blanket smelling like someone else's home a blue towel from a family from the MOs tius from yam a fleece gifted by a high-tech company a scarf knitted by an elderly lady undershirts purchased by a pay boox group a sheet given to him by a friend gloves bought by teenage girls a jacket from the closet of someone who came and requested to give it to him I spread out all of these garments and weave together a new coat of many colors see yose your brothers were there for you this is a reference to yose meaning that the brothers so she takes all of all these items out of the duffel bag and they're from all of CLA Isel they were all given by different people from different countries Israel friends people that he didn't know and this is what fills his duffel bag such a beautiful just a beautiful description of of of CLA Isel of all of us being together so I'll end with this it's on the uh it's on on the page what we're going to say this shabas what we're going to say this coming chabas and we say every shabas we say the following words that did great miracles for us God took us out of slavery should bring a should bring an end to all the war and the suffering that we've gone through Jews should come from all over the world from M from from Argentina from Spain wherever but then this last line seems like a nonsecretor doesn't seem to fit is and the Jewish people are all friends we all love one another V well what is what does that have to do with anything well it's almost obvious the answer which many people say and that is well how are we going to get to the Gula how are we going to re Reach This Redemption how are we going to bring G there's one way that we're going to bring it and that's call Isel we have to love one another we have to see that we're one nation that we're one family that we that we one that were one people so uh Ru cook said that this is uh this is so important for us especially as we're coming back to the land of Israel you know for a long time we lived in our little and our little communities we had our sh we had our school we had our Co or butcher we kind of like you know we did the best that we could but now we're coming back to the land of Israel and we have to see this great nation and we have to be connected to this great nation um and to pray for for am Israel we should we should only hear and we should only have aot to vote in the coming days amen