Overcoming Today’s Struggles • Rabbi Yossi Korik

I once had an incident with one of our Tamilid in the school. So, so there was I was walking down the hallway and I saw Tom was standing outside the class. So, I said to him, "Why aren't you in class?" And he said, "Because uh I I don't I don't want to learn. I don't want to I don't want to learn what they learn in class." So, what are they learning? Learning math. He said, "I don't want to learn math." Okay. So, what do you want to do? He said, "I don't want to do I don't want to do something else. I don't want to do anything. I don't want to go in. I don't want to learn." I said to him, "You don't want to learn it?" said he said, 'No. I said, 'Wow, that's really, really amazing. He said, 'What do you mean it's amazing? He looks at me, what do you mean? I said, 'I think you have an amazing opportunity. He said, "What opportunity do I have?" I said, "You have an opportunity now to go and learn something you don't want to learn just because that's what the sa is right now. That's what the wants you to do right now. The wants you to go and learn this math. So, if you want to learn it, that's great. That's beautiful. Then you're learning it because you want to. Maybe you're also doing it because that's what you're supposed to, but you want to. But do you know how happy the Aisha becomes when you do something that you're supposed to do when you don't want to do it? He's much happier then than if you do it because you want to do it. So because you don't want to do it, now you have a huge opportunity. If you go in the class now and sit down and do your math work, the aish is going to be smiling like you've never seen before. He looks at me. Really? I said, absolutely. He ran into class. He went and learned. I think that if a kid goes out of with such a value, I don't care how much he learned. I don't know how much I think if if if such a concept is successfully ingrained in the mind and the heart of a child. I think it's the most successful can have these values. This this these are the things that are going to help this person when he's a when he's a younger man in his own when he's a a businessman whatever he is these are the values that the world doesn't have today the concept that a person is is given over committed to doing something because that's what you're supposed to do this is who you are these are the values and and if you look a lot of the rebba's responses and things even when people responds to people dilemmas and challenges often times times it's it's kind of this idea the Reb shifts the perspective the person is saying you know I don't like it it's I'm in pain it hurts I'm upset I'm this and the Reb instead of like dealing with the actual emotion that the person's having it just shifts the view and and and essentially takes him out of himself and brings him into recognizing the the opportunity the he has and then say you know you're like in a different place now You can't get that in the world. The world doesn't have that. It doesn't >> just just the opposite. I think the world today >> the world pushes you >> tell tells you how you're feeling and therefore don't do what you don't want to do and don't do something that makes you uncomfortable and uh and um raises the generation or generations that way. Lav Davka are the results so pretty. >> 100%. I think you're saying it very politely but I would say dava love. No, it's actually an interesting concept because um you you hear the way people talk about you how to deal with hardships and to me it was always what what people are um talking about doesn't seem in line with I guess values are very hard to you know which which page or which are you referring to. So I'll tell you the t value is that I learned from the rebba it seems if you read the if you read like you said if you read the rebba very much is pushing people you know towards what's good for them as opposed to what they perceive to make them feel good in the moment and you know flipping the conversation and I think I think if it comes from a harsh way and you tell someone you're no good and therefore do that's not really effective. But the reb I think brings out how they have the ability to rise to the occasion. I think that that that's uh I mean the letters the Reb is usually talking to adults right that are that are >> deal even have letters to kids. >> Yeah. We just in the hair for kids magazine we've been featuring uh letters to a letter to children >> every single every single month. Yeah. >> In the upcoming ones a kid wrote to the Reb, is it true that the Reb speaks all languages? And the Reb says, "No, unfortunately I do not I do not speak all all languages." Um, it's very interesting the the story that you said before that you told the child. It's a story of >> I think that he said I think it was >> Oh, that he said he doesn't have what should I do that I do have. It's a It's a You know, you have an advantage.