Time to Announce Teshuvah-Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook's Eretz Chefetz 12:8 by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

next few minutes all right good morning everyone Booker to and I welcome everyone great to see everyone here this morning and uh we're going to uh we're going to begin our learning um the topic today and of course we'll see the writing of rev cook and u a very very beautiful beautiful Insight inspiring teaching of ruk I think is very much in Yana in the sense that we uh that we're about to enter the three weeks shasam the fast is tomorrow and we begin the three weeks as we move towards the nine days and Tish and as the ramban famously writes he says when it comes to a fast day and tomorrow we're going to be fasting please God is uh that it's not so much about the fast but it's about the chuva but it's about the the return to Hashem that we are to feel closer to Hashem and do those things that are necessary to be closer to Hashem and shua also in terms of the nation of Israel to be close to one another and to be closer to the nation of Israel and this is uh this is the topic of our uh of our learning this morning and that is am Israel and in particular the chuva of am Israel and this I think is unique to rev cook maybe he's not the only one to say it but certainly he highlights this idea that he sees and that he believes deep in his heart that the Jewish people people returning to the land of Israel is a uh is an act of chuva that what we're seeing is the chuva of am Israel so let's let's begin with the words of ruk and um and again I think we can we can not only learn this as a uh sort of a hypothetical idea but something that's very much Lisa that we can think about in terms of our own lives and as we're entering in particular today as tomorrow we enter shivas saamus and we enter the three weeks to have uh these ideas these inspirational ideas in mind okay let's begin with with the words of R cook we're at the top of page one and this is taken from his work oot and we are in the 12th chapter of eret and this is the eighth piece that is found that's found in and here we enter the the beautiful words of ruk we have the Hebrew on the top and the translation right below love the endless love Bel without any boundary El for the nation of Israel which is the mother of Our Lives which is the very essence of Jewish life is the nation and the love that we have for the nation it cannot be lessened it cannot be weakened for any reason sh there is not anything that can stand in the way of the love that we have for the nation of Israel and and the P that he quotes the P that we just read the other day on chabas and he beov in the words of balak which uh he intends to curse but it is words of blessing it describes the Jewish people in the relationship of Hashem with the Jewish people in the following way Lo he beaten that God does not see any oven any sin in yov does not see any shortcoming in Israel Hashem elav IMO Hashem the god of Israel is with them and the TR which there are two ways of interpreting TR TR we know we're familiar with the chauffer of CH but it also refers to like graim which means the Friendship the Friendship of the m is Bo is with them so a very beautiful P that speaks about the way that Hashem sees the Jewish people that uh they are sinless they are without transgression that that Hashem sees loov he does not see anything wrong right any shortcomings in Yakov in the Jewish people and ruk is saying that that is that's the relationship that we have to am Isel as well the the overwhelming love that we have whenever we think about am Israel just walking the streets and we see our fellow Jews here in youal and Eric Isel or anywhere in the world that we just we are just in love we're love we are in love with the Jewish people so uh ruk goes on and now he's going to move into uh a beautiful theme of of chuva and it's particularly through this this love this faithful love that we have this expression of Honor that we have with all of the warmth with the warmth of our heart with all of our spirit and soul we come and we can this is going to be the topic of our discussion our convers ation this morning we come to announce that we come to announce meaning that we that we see that we see the opportunity we see the potential of a great Chua that is happening says rook in 1910 1920 a great chuva that is happening a great a uh a Resurgence of uh of love for AEM and for the Torah for Torah for mitzvah eles for Holiness for faith El for the tradition of our fathers and the of those that have come before us Isel to the light of God who is uh the god of Israel that is Manifest on his nation and on the land of Israel forever and ever with great strength and Rook goes on and says the following again we can certainly take these words to heart today and very important for all of us and for the nation as a whole at the top of the second column let us distance ourselves from any Grudge that we have towards other let us lift ourselves from smallness the smallness of our mind and heart by looking at people and looking at things in a small way let's look at things with a much uh with a with a much bigger picture let's lift our eles up from any hatred V and any enmity NPA let us be saug like the word sponge let us be saturated with with a fresh love from a place of delight n let us make a a combination a grafting literally the branches of with the root of and I think here he's talking about that when we talk about that we means we're judging people from a more logical from a more rational point of view but let's let's fuse together let's combine together also the the way that we view others with a with a kind eye with an ey in to let us look at the beauty ofes now interesting that he uses the word KES what is he referring to here possibly let's look at the be the beauty of Kes in those choices okay there's one there's another element here as well and that is you know we call today the uh I guess the secular that they're the again Rook say we should never use those words but those are words that are used in in those years they call them that's right they use that term and we have that in the as well that we should be how's it go yes so yes so so there are those that were that's why some in the religious Camp weren't so happy saying that we should say that we're Ines not they were on and what does K mean where we are free free of what free of mitz vot right free of we're no longer under the shackles the the old mitzvot that we finally could be free of that so it had that it had that connotation as well especially in those years but what does Rook say Rook says let's see the beauty of those that want that right there's something beautiful in that as well that they're looking for for for life and for spirituality and connection to the land of Israel even though again it's not for shabas and not for Kus but they're they're looking for that hes they want to build a new nation that they want to to start you know a fresh start but he says we have to bring Together Al with also the the Beauty and the recognition the beauty of the SA what's the referring to the elders in other words the old tradition that tradition as well we have to find a fusion of the two that we have to have that belief that faith in the kodim the honor that we have for our parents and for our teachers again ruk is trying to find the the balance here between the tradition of the past the great teachers the tradition that we have of thousands of years but with a new generation with the that are coming to the land of Israel that belongs to this ancient people this noble people what does itan mean strong that's right the strong Nation beautiful and say of cook the last two three lines we are calling for this uh this great this revitalization the Jewish people coming back to life and we are we are on our way we are we are going to reach that this land of our forefathers that's so precious to us he this is the land of life and it's this land that will prepare us that will bring us theim to this highest of heights and he quotes a from elu we may be familiar with that from the sh shom Our God for eternity I'm just looking the translation below will conduct us through death or will lift us up meaning that this is the place that the land of Israel is the place of Kim of eternal life okay so uh we have I would say some very classic ideas of R cook here but what I'd like to again the classic idea of bringing the communities together of seeing the best in the in the Ki Community as well that we have what to learn from them they have what to learn from us but he says something interesting here which is which I'd like to make the the focus of our learning this morning and that is that he that he says in the second paragraph that it's time for us to that it's time for us to to talk about to talk about chuva and to recognize that there is a chuva that is taking place uh amongst the uh the Jewish people okay so what is this chuva what is this repentance that Ru cook is referring to again where if if if you're asking where that is second paragraph on the right side two lines down he writes so again many many at the time of Rook would say well look at this secular group that they're not keeping Mitzvah they were very much offended by that group of people there was a lot of a lot of tension maybe an animosity as well between the religious community and the secular community and R cook comes along and says no I see that there's that there's chuva that's happening I see I see repentance that's what I see right you're you're you're pointing out all of the all the faults right everything that's missing in that Community I see a lot of chuva that's happening in in uh in arus so I want to begin with the following I want to begin with a uh with a gamar we're going to skip number three for now to go to the bottom of the page and just to highlight and I think R cook is certainly II to the idea that there's something about the land of Israel itself and we touched on this last week for those that were here that there's something about the land of Israel and chuva that there is a that it's uh that those go hand inand with one another there's a gamar that says the following this is the the bottom Source it's from The gamar Yuma D and in the gamar Yuma it speaks about four different kinds of sins four different kinds of sins and chuva is always necessary but there are have become so serious that it's difficult that chuva itself is going to remedy the sin that's what the gamar says so the gamar says this again Yuma D this is from just the The Source itself is from the Yakov where he brings this gamar anded so he asked the following question and it took place in Rome which is interesting the gamar does not usually mention the place of the where the conversation or the makus took place or the discussion here and we'll come back to that in a moment and just quickly to go through it it says there are four different kinds of kapara that we F find number one you can look at number one say if you are over on a say what do you need to do forgives you so if you got up in the morning you didn't put on that's a to put on you didn't do it and now you say I'm going to I'm going to be better tomorrow morning I'm going to do it so that sh works right away that's one kind of chuva number two now it gets a little bit more serious not you have to wait until ypp for the full atonement for the full forgiveness of the sin when it comes to a low right you were over you transgressed a negative commandment next number three now it becomes even more serious what's called an right a kind of AA that you that you receive the punishment of you need a little bit well you need to do cha you need Yer and you also need a little bit of yur what's yur a little bit of what a little yeah a little little bit of pain you're going to have to go through some some some s a little bit of tus right and with that tus because you did such a serious sin of being over you have to do a little bit more what's the worst sin of all and the gamar is going to say not until you die with the death in other words you need all these pieces let's look at the following we've all heard that right that the worst thing you can do isem it's true it's the worst thing that you can do right so when on the front page of the New York Times you have a Jewish fellow that just swindled millions millions of dollars how does that person do chuva can he just say to Hashem I'm sorry for what I did does that work the gar says no that doesn't work what do you have to do CH is not enough Y is not enough a little bit ofur is not enough either what else do you need you need Misa as well with death so Hashem finds a way to forgive that person but death is also so there you see what's required so here we have all these different levels of Chua yes please that's a good question good question excellent question I'm not sure it's it's a really good question the question is does that mean that you're dying before your time in other words that hasem what do you say Rabbi no okay good good good okay so just death alone so we have one of the uh one of the ofarim on the a Yakov is known as the Eon Yakov the yak you have it here on the left side and he asked the following question he says I don't understand why is it that this this discussion tells us where it happened that was the opening line which I mentioned before that was RA he asked the question Roi that they were in Rome you never have that's really rare in the gamar I don't remember ever I mean I've learned many D and I don't remember ever it's saying in Rome you had the following discussion so he says the following and I'll just and I'll read to you you can follow along so he quotes the gar the reason why the gamar it's the first line in that that paragraph right under where it says Yakov the reason why thear says it happened in Rome because when the Jewish people were in ER is that there's another we just spoke about four different ways in which you receive kapara but there's a fifth way that one receives kapara which is not mentioned here in the gamarra says the on yakob and what is that when you're in is there's another kind of a kapara and that is that living in the land of in the land of Israel is an atonement that in itself is an atonement now how that works in each of these cases I'm not sure you know exactly how that works but this is another way that Hashem atones and forgives any sin that you do here there is a kapar that you have in that's not found outside ofel as the says that the land itself serves as a kapar for for the nation and you can look at the as well and this we quoted last week where it says that anyone who lives in the land of Israel call hasar the AR Israel sh below you are forgiven when you live in the land of Israel for your sins that there's a kind of kapara for your sins in erit Israel okay so by the way I I I I share this because I think this is you know a the beginning of a conversation and to understand where R cook is coming from Jews that are coming back to the land of Israel right you point to them and you say that they're not religious that they're not keeping shabas that they're rejecting this rejecting that and yet we have a gamarra that says just living in the land of Israel itself any sin that one commits in the land of Israel that there's a kapara for that's in the land of Israel so don't tell me that these people are sinners because the gamar says that if you're living here and especially if you're sacrificing and you're building the land and you're cleaning the swamps you're going to tell me that these people are not that they don't have kapara for their sins so I think that's that's uh that's step number one step two let's look at the following this is go to page two now and here I share with you a um a teaching from Riv cook a teaching from Rook which is found in I would say maybe his most popular safer which is orot chuva lights of chuva and as I said earlier I think we can we can learn this piece not only as a as a as a teaching but something to think about also we're moving into a time of chuva tomorrow begins a chuva season as we begin our the fast tomorrow and the next three weeks and we're not far off which I won't maybe won't mention but not far far off from El and uh and rashash as well so we can start thinking about Chua so this is the very this is the very end of of the saer peragut Zion it's the last chapter in the safer and he speaks about the chuva of er Isel and the Jewish people the name of the chapter is the great Revelation in the life of the Jewish people art so I think that should say art so I think that's a miss all right be art so so um the Jewish people in the land of Israel that this is a that that he sees this as a as a Renaissance in terms of spiritual the spirituality and the return to Hashem all right let's let's read this piece let's take a let's take a a minute or two and read this piece he opens with chuva where he speaks about chuva on a person personal level and then he's going to transition to the the Jewish people as a whole and I think on a personal level we can we can begin with that and appreciate that when a person wants to do even though there may be many barriers many difficulties in the path to that cha maybe the per person does not have the frame of mind to do ch you just don't have the strength for it you want to do chuv right you want to be better in a certain area of of of DAV whatever it may be or in relationships but you just don't I don't know you don't have the K you just don't have the strength to to kind of deal with it and overcome that hurdle here he speaks about also things that are really difficult to fix in there are times that it's difficult to fix things you had a falling out right you're not speaking to this person or the relationship is not what you want it to be and it really is right if we have to be to be honest with ourselves just difficult to to correct those things or to really make Headway so what do you do in in such a case even though yes it's very very difficult there there are large barriers and the truth is we should feel pain we should have a broken heart knowing that we have an obligation we know that we need to fix things and that should that should hurt us that should bother us that that really is the ideal that we again in our own and our relationship with others that that should be corrected now here's the key but nevertheless and again Rook is always optimistic he always finds something positive but being that we have a desire to do chva that's there's a strong desire there even though we're not able to do it even though we're not able to remove all of the all of those you know the issues or the items that are not allowing us to do CH we should receive that light El the light meaning the positivity the fact that we want to do it right that that is our that's our goal that's our intent even though it may be difficult but to receive that and to know that and to be uplifted by that let that be something that brings a purity a purification and that sanctifies don't move from there in other words just receive that in other words be aware of that let that kind of sink in the positive of that I want to change I'm not able to do it okay for these reasons I want that relationship to be better for some reason I can't can't make a change there but the fact that I want it let that be uplifting let that be purifying as well let that be positive even though again their difficulty in doing let that let that the fact that you feel elevated to receive that to be aware of that for that to to be purifying that's very much a part of your soul and let your soul feel that interesting idea in other words okay we can't we can't go the full distance there are things that are really making it challenging to do chuva again between myself and Hashem between myself and others I recognize that but the fact that I want it the fact that that's my desire to to to receive that in a positive way and for that to be uplifting and maybe with that you know maybe with that desire who knows you know who knows if there you know there there may be a chance there may be an opening to ju did you want to say something yeah yeah not yet good very good very good no very good do youing yes you don't not yet not yet you don't have it right now you don't see a way through you don't see a way of of correcting you know that that fault or that relationship but yes very good a Dian it may not be there now hold on to it hold on to those good thoughts hold on to those purifying the feelings and that's that's a positive okay now Ru cook writes the following so that's on a personal level and how about the nation so he says just as this is a this is a um a good rule of thumb when it comes to the a individual this is also true for theor as well for the congregation for the community for the nation of Isel he says that there is a desire to do chuv among the Jewish people the fact that the Jewish people want to return to the land of Israel again he's referring particularly to those to that time period but I think it's true today as well right those that returning to the land of Israel that there is a desire there for cha El mAh they want to connect with the m with the very essence of of the Jewish people of peoplehood to the spirit of the nation to the very nature or the essence the toen of in other words to recognize that and again what he's going to say in a moment is even though it may not be perfect even though we can't necessarily it it's not necessarily a full chuva but that people have a desire and to recognize that desire in one another and again even amongst those that are not necessarily what we call the religious community to see that and even the imperfection of that to recognize that that is that is a that's a form of chuva as well or shall Chua there is a light of chuva that is found in that again the fact that Jews are are here return to the land of Israel that is a an act of chuva again looking at the world today looking at the uh looking at the state of Israel today we can talk about secular people but about all of those that are serving in the Army those that are risking their lives those that are giving up their lives do we not call that R of cook I think would say would we not call that chuva that they want the the love that they have for the nation and for the land of Israel that's certainly chuva and again we've seen even even a Chua that goes beyond that a classic chuva of people of wearing tius and ofin which we've spoken about so and here he says something very interesting and he says if you look at the Torah itself if you look at the Torah where it speaks about the return of the Jewish people to land of Israel in chuva you'll see that this is exactly how the Torah describes the return of the Jewish people and chuo and we'll see it right now the P says they'll return unto God and they will return to the chuva that is going on is an inner chuva yes we don't necessarily see it see it um see it on the outside per se it's covered up a bit it's covered by many uh many coverings what's that masks masks okay masks I'm not sure if he means mask per but maybe yeah maybe and there is no power that's going to uh refrain or restrain the Jewish people there's nothing that can hold back this great light the light of Hashem the light of chuva that is that is unfolding that is unfolding before us again amazing that Ru cook is saying this in his day I would say it he he to to see this and to say this at his time is really like a uh a person of uh you know absolute optimism and um but today I think we are seeing it I I think we're seeing more and more of it and again with all of the the pain and the uh the tragedy of the last nine months that uh that we've gone through we've seen something else as well in terms of what many are are identifying as a chuva of the nation of a return of a of a of an interest in in Torah and mitv and and ofus so what is ruk referring to here when these twoim that he quotes he's referring to the following par this para comes towards the very very end of the Torah this is and this is a famous you can just study this take time to study this uh this section known as the par of chuva you have chuva God speaks about chuva God speaks about the Jewish people finally returning to the land of Israel and the chuva that will take place peric lamid I'll read the first P describes all the bad things the gal all of the tragedy all the trauma there's blessing and curse you return to your hearts amongst the other nations you've been spre spread throughout the world and what will happen now Rook says that the word here is an interesting term and we go to the end of the paragraph which I have underlined it says ruk says there are two stages that will happen that the Jewish people are coming back to the land of Israel What do the wordan and what does the word El mean so if Cook argues that ad what is AD until ad means you're not quite there yet right and what is l l is UN unto or to or towards well ad is a little I would say Ad is a little bit more again question L is okay L yeah could be L yes towards or to I think here R cook understands it more in the sense that it's that you finally you've come back to so what's the difference between the two R says yes step number one and this is with the Torah this is what hasem tells mosu the prophecy the Jewish people will come back to the land of Israel step number one is that they have not reached God yet we're back and we're back again for good reason for a lot of good reasons and again R cook reads into that a lot of chuva that there's underneath hidden away under the mask right there is a yearning for Hashem there is a yearning for Torah there's a yearning for Mitzvah we don't quite see that yet that's just up to they haven't quite reached Hashem that's again that's that's Hashem speaking the prophecy to mosu and ultimately what will happen the last of the CH look at the entire and you will hear the voice of God the Jewish people will will observe the Commandments okay beautiful let's turn now to another prophecy fromel andal also speaks about the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel it's actually the A ofas and it's per L 36 inel I just want to read it to you I have it above in the Hebrew but let's just read it for a moment let's read it in the translation just to uh maybe to appreciate a little bit more in a language that some of us are more familiar with uh it says look at verse 24 24 and I will take you from among the Nations and gather you from all the lands and I will bring you to your own soil so that's a prophecy of ezel is that prophecy coming true today oh yeah oh yeah that's right oh yeah that's true we have 7 million Jews in the land of Israel in with Cook's day I always mentioned when he was writing this we just read a few moments ago how many Jews are living in the land of Israel R cook writes what we just read the opening peace and chuva anybody know four 500 thousands no actually much less than there were 70 80,000 Jews in Israel I mean just a handful of Jews that are living in Israel 1948 how many Jews are in Israel 600,000 right that magic number which we just read about this past chabas as well 600,000 actually par Pinas as well 600,000 Jews are in Israel but when he's writing it 70,000 880,000 Jews in the country but what doeses say a time will come I will take you from among the Nations and gather you from all the lands from Muny from New Jersey from from tenek thank you right you will come from all the lands and I will bring you to your own soil and what will happen when you come back then I will sprinkle pure water upon you that you may become cleanse I will cleanse you from all your contamination and from all your Idols I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I will remove the Heart of Stone from your flesh and give you a heart of Flesh I will put my spirit within you I will make it so that you will follow my decrees and guard my ordinances and fulfill them so here yzel speaks about not only return but first is a return and then a as ruk says a great chuva that's going to happen and B we're we're in the midst of that uh in the midst of that Chua today look at uh look at the rambam now all of this again prophecy and maybe some of the Poetics of uh of Rook but here we have and I always like to find it just sort of grounded in the AL itself so the AL this is the ramb this isim and he writes the following this is the rambam again this is not a philosophical work this is his work the Mish Torah whoever is living in the land of Israel his sins are forgiven again not only gar not only that IUN Yakov that we saw earlier but it's uh but the rambam paskins that way that that is that's the the inhabitants will no longer say I am sick the nation that is sitting in the land of Israel that dwells no is lifted from their sins a PK in yesu another PK in the prophet speaking about the return of the Jewish people and the chuva that's going to take place and we'll just read another line just for the sake of it in the ru right famously and this we should always have in mind when we're schlepping around when it's hot outside and walking in or in Israel even just four steps in the land of Israel that gives you a portion of the world to come we shouldn't talk about this after 120 years but even being buried and so too being buried in the land of Israel it's a form of kapar that atones for sin one who's buried in Israel it says if you're buried under the like them is that gives kapar being buried in the Earth ofel gives you kapar okay so um one other idea about chuva from ruk and I think this is not only we've been really talking we've been talking about chuva in terms of personally and communities doing chuva but ruk also sees it in a much larger uh in in a much larger way and he writes the following this is actually the first this is going to the bottom of the page page three number four this in the last chapter this is the very first piece that he has in the um the the nation of Israel coming back to life again he's referring to in our modern times he this is the very Foundation this is part of great the part of a great CH this is the highest form of CH there's a Chu of the world that will come after this what is Rook referring to here he says is this chuva or this Return of the Jewish people to land of Israel is not only chuva on an individual level I think that's what we've been talking about up to this point how people even the non-religious are going to do chuva we're all going to come back the kapar that we all have but he sees this as a great chuva for the nation and ultimately For All Mankind and I think what R cook is referring to there's a note here on the left side ruk is referring to the fact that when we return to the land of Israel we will have things dimensions of the Jewish people that we have not had in the galut and all of that is part of chuva and what does that refer to so I'll refer to niua the fact that niua is going to return to Amel um theide idea of bet mikdash the rebuilding of the BET mikdash what that represents and um and I'll share one other example which I think is something that we can all relate to is the war that we're in right now we had a rabbi from yiva University who was with us uh two shabas ago Rabbi herel reichman who is one of the Russa Yu and he said that the the war that we're in right now again this I don't think it's Unique to rman but he spoke about this the war the battle that we're in now in Gaza is a Mitzvah and mitzvah for three different reasons you know there's a whole discussion if it's a Mitzvah so one he says whenever the Jewish people are defending themselves defending the nation of Israel that's M Mitzvah it's a war that's considered a war that's a Mitzvah also when it's land of Israel when you're Conquering the land of Israel that's also considered Mitzvah and Gaza is part of a Isel so it's a war in which we are acquiring or possibly returning land to the Jewish people that is M Mitzvah and the third reason why it's a Mitzvah and this famously the salvic family would highlight this idea is because we're going to war against who Amal very good Amal it's a war against Amal and the salich family said going back toich any people that wants to destroy the Jewish people they have the status of a mullik they don't have to be direct descendants so to speak speak of a Malik so we have three different reasons why this war is considered to be a Mitzvah so I think R cook when he talks about this return to the land of Israel as not only a chuva where individuals are doing chuva but as a nation this represents a great opportunity and the great Merit of doing chuva what's the chuva that we're doing today I think the chuva that we're doing today again could be that we you know wearing Fillin and putting on Talis and situs that soldiers are interested in doing again but we are in the midst of eradicating a Malik which is considered to be one of the great mitos of bringing light to the world they're bringing the goodness of Hashem to the world so that's part of chuva as well chuva isn't only individuals that are you know do you keep chabas or you know do you put on Fillin but who are we as a nation and what are we doing for For The World At Large to bring the Messiah to bring the ultimate chuva right the ultimate day of peace and serenity and I think where cook is referring to exactly this he says the return of the Jewish people to land of Israel that we have an army again right this is not only a chuva for Israel but it's a chuv right this is a chuva that we're bringing to the entire world again it goes beyond just you know doing certain mitz vote and a uh an appreciation for mitzvot that we have not had in the past so this is what ruk sees as a great Chua that is that that the potential that it has for the nation of Israel and for the world when the Jewish people are back in the land land of Israel yes did you want to oh rec fighting their War that's right we are fighting a war on behalf of the world that's correct absolutely we're eradicating evil for for the world for the world and that is a they're all afraid to they're all afraid to do it and that is that's chuva that again that's that's chuva in a much in a much larger sense but that's that's sha in other words bringing godliness bringing safety bringing goodness to the world yes Harry did you so this kind of philh guess and there's no writing okay I want to end with with two items two interesting items and this is Page four there was a great Rabbi who um who lived uh lived in America raimon Schwab you've heard that name so he was in Baltimore for many years and he then became the head of the uh the yish community the Yi community in Washington Heights and he was there for many years I think 30 years or so heading the community and he has a beautiful safer called Mayan beta which is his Torah on the par and he describes in one of the one of the par he describes one shabas that he was together with the that he was at the table of the and theah that the gave on that on that chabas so the asked the following question I'll and I'll read a few of the lines inside to you the asked about this is the question it was a shabas table with the and he asked the following questions of the people sitting around the table and we know that the man that we eat is whatever we have in mind whatever we want it to taste like it t if we want it to taste like sushi or I don't know if they knew about sushi in those days but whatever it is Chinese food um so it would taste that's what the man tastes like but the question that he asked was if you didn't have anything in mind and you just ate the man what did the taste like that was the question that he asked the people at the table so he writes the following I'll just share it with you uh in the words of RAB and the way that he describes this uh this episode with go to the middle of the page where it says this page four and um and where it's the the third paragraph AMU razal so this is the said that the rabbi say the taste of the man would be different based on what everybody would think what would be the taste of the man if you didn't have any thought while you were eating the man and he turned to the people at the table to ask what the answer would be everybody was right if you're sitting with the we asked a question I'm sure you know was a little bit overwhelming toh to try to offer an answer so then the said the following I'll tell you and here if if anybody knows yish you can help me with this line it's going to be translated you say it say it say it properly because I won't very good so he said the following and it's translated in Hebrew he says if you don't have any thought if you're not thinking about it doesn't have any something spiritual that the spirituality is really based on the effort that you put in the thought that you put in and went on to say t somebody who studies Tor and the person puts effort into what he's studying and he goes deep into thought puts it effort into Torah the effort that you put in then you taste the sweetness he put his fingers to his lips with a movement so he did right like that exactly and said and that's why we start our day every morning asking AEM please make sweet but if you just sit in front of the book or S you just Mumble words then there's really no taste to it but why do I bring this for the next three lines then the then the said the following then added then added this is true in the days of the M when the Messiah is coming if you open your eyes and open your mind to see the revelation of God then you're going to taste something so sweet said you have to look for those signs of the Jewish people return to land of Israel of chuva if you look for them if you highlight them then there's going to be tremendous sweetness but if you don't give it the special attention it deserves the G can come and you're not going to feel anything at all and I think this is We Know by the way that Rook studied with and I think Rook is very much a believer in this idea that we need to look for those signs of mashiah right to look and to see that we're in those days we're in the that we're at a time 7 million Jews that return to the land of Israel the Faith of Our People the heroism of our people right the the interest again in mitzvot of andin and and of the heroism of the army and to see all of that is ruk sees that in the light of a great chuva of a great return um I'll just end with the following and uh you can look at the last Source yourself so there was a um another just story which relates to uh to this idea there was a tal that came to the and asked can I spend a day with you just to see how you you know I'll be at your side I want to watch like all of your all of your movements and everything that you do during the day to learn from you so he said sure again the was a very very sweet and very open person so he was with him he stood by him by davening and and his learning and the way that he interacted with others and and throughout the day he was there at the end of the day he said to the can I ask you one question and he said that I noticed that when you dve in the amida that you dve in a very very long okay not surprising that a g like the would have a very sh very long amida so can you tell me what your you know what your thoughts are and maybe do you use certain like cabalistic because again there's a lot of capitalistic ideas and one he said no it's not about that he says I have a very long sh says the the early part for the most part it it goes very very quickly in the sh EST I'm just kind of saying the words I have kavana but when I get up to modim when I get up to that moment where I have to thank Hashem so at that point it takes me a lot of time because I have so much to thank Hashem for and when I look around the world and when I see what Hashem is doing for the Jewish people and I see all the blessing when I think about all of that that's where it takes me a lot of time to Davin at the modin and uh I think that's I think that's true for for us today again with all of the with all the challenges with all the difficulties Ru cook is highlighting that the Jew is to see that the Miracles that are around us the blessings of Hashem and to see R cook said in 1910 1920 to see this revitalization to see this Resurgence of the Jewish people he saw it and for us today to see that to recognize that and to and to say modim every single day to give thanks that we are here that we study Torah here that we're in y and um and to say modim for that