Torah Efrat - Rabbi Shay Schachter

it's always humbling to be in ER Isel and to be in the presence of those who I'm so jealous of for the privilege that you have to be living here to the opportunity that you bring to the Jewish people and the sacrifice that you have every day I don't know what to say other than I'm jealous of the experience the opportunities and the Privileges that you have I hope someday myself and my family in the near future will have the same opportunities I know that this evening was dedicated to talk a little bit about Gula coming of Masia of course it's something that we talk about all the time but of course there are certain times in the year when we have a hyperfocus when we're supposed to be more intently looking at what Gula is supposed to mean for all of us so when I want to share this evening is just a quick understanding in auk when the Nai describes one aspect of gula and the coming of mashia Zar writes which means the Jewish people will be excited the Jewish people will be celebra haras sh your M has come theia whoever the mashia is going to be I think all of us can agree will be someone who all of us respect someone who is very impressive Sosha but then the Nai gives a description of the coming of mashia that seems almost irrelevant inconsequential to the whole story we are told the na zakar says that mashia will arrive mashia will come writing on a I don't know this is not a detail that was troubling me before the Nai told me I'm not bothered how mashia is going to come how he'll get here what mode of transportation he's going to use the Nai doesn't tell us what color outfit he's going to be wearing or what color head covering he's going to have so why do I need to know that he's going going to come riding out a donkey what's the significance and if you think that that detail is just something that is worth glancing over and maybe ignoring the truth is for those who are coming in now my name is Nott I'm sorry I'm also not of scho cats or of D wiberg but I can't wait to hear them sing for those who think that this is a detail that's not relevant let's take ourselves back to saos mosh Reno as we know goes down to midan he's a fugitive he's running away for his life he meets the daughters of M the daughters of is he ends up marrying one of them he has a few children at some point Theon sh tells him it's time to go back to MIT the Jewish people need to be saved he packs up his family and the TOA says by Al a and he rides his family back on this says rash for anyone who's a careful studier ofish we all know that when there's ay in the beginning of the word it means to indicate something unusual so Rashi says don't think this is any this is the that used to go to the this is the same that was recycled by m and used again to go down to and this is the that the refers to this is the animal that is going to ride now I ask you let's be realist for a moment how old is this at the time that mashia comes and if you go based on the who writes that thear actually was created in it's a pretty old how long can an animal last so first of all what's the significance of thear second of all why is this going to last from the beginning of creation until today it can't be it's not realistic and what is thei trying to teach us the maharal has an unbelievable Insight the maharal tells us perhaps the significance of this isar is representative of of materialism what the navi is trying to teach us here is we all live in a materialistic world that's the nature of things we are human beings after all what the Nai is telling us is that Mia will demand of us you know when we say in English I'm in the driver's seat that means I'm in control what the na is emphasizing isia will demand of all of us to be we are going to be in complete control of our materialism so often we make decisions that are clouded by other values by other things because of the nature of the world that we experience and we inhabit what Mia is going to show us is that we have the ability to live and to inhabit a materialistic world but we have the ability to be Ro to be the ones who are in full control of every aspect of Our Lives of all the materialism that God has put into our world and that is a utopian dream that is what most was able to accomplish in his life that is what AB a was able to do in his life to put the materialistic needs as secondary to his own and to realize there's something so much larger in the world that is the focal point of my life that is the reason for every decision that I make that says the Nai is what a unique and special quality the mhia will bring to all of us that reminder that we all have that ability to be to overcome the drive for the incessant materialism that all of us feel pulled to gravitated to work that's what MIA will demand of all of us and that is what we look forward to that is what we want I know that this is not a message that is so relevant to Jews living in AR Israel who have a great Mastery over their Kus or at least a greater Mastery than many of the Jews that I'm familiar with in the United States but when we look at you we remind ourselves it is possible it is possible to live this dream it is possible to overlook the materialistic drives that drive so many of the decisions in our lives and you are in some way the models to us of what that could look like of what that could be and you should just know inspiring to us and it's meaningful and it's noticed and it's appreciated and it's a dream that we all look forward to for anyone in the room that may say peric Shir what time are we supposed to begin what an hour ago in that case I don't feel sorry it's just should I end with one thing two minutes for those who are familiar with peric sheir we're talking on devil speed now for those who are familiar with per you'll notice the in the per says one what does he [Music] say why is that appropriate for the to sing that to what does that have to do with the there are many in the Tor that we could have chosen and I believe the answer is because that represents what we say to Theon is we take all the that we have everything that we've been blessed with in our lives we understand is for a greater purpose who is the one who authored that P it's you know what what stage of his life he said that after he spent his entire life planning to build a bash doing everything to have the bash built under his watch under his offices and all of a sudden the last moment comes and he tells him I know how much you have tried I appreciate all of your efforts but I want you to know you are not going to be the one who's going to build the base can you imagine what a devastating feeling that was for and you tell me I murdered people who did Kill he murdered the enemies of the Jewish people he was out inah and I'm disqualified from building because I defended your land and your people it's not that I'm response what does he respond it's not about me everything in my life was only for you anyway I was doing all of this for your honor For Your Glory you think I'm upset you think I only wanted to build a base Onish because I wanted a plaque that says this was founded by D I laid the Cornerstone that wasn't the corner I did it for you representing reminds all of us of that comment every bit of that we have in the world is to be used for a higher purpose and that is the goal of Mia to teach us that it's possible to live in such utopian world to live in such a perfect Society where we can continue to be a part of the materialistic physical world that we inhabit but to do it in a way everything is to the prison of that understanding our perspective I don't think it means our eye but it means our perspective should once again match the perspective of Theon he will come back and reveal himself himself to us we will again have the opportunity to regain perspective and to understand that all of the different facets and aspects of our lives are all here for one purpose and that is to help us in the service of [Music] [Applause] [Music]