Parashat Ekev - What's so special about the Mitzvah of Mezuza? - Rabbi Alon Anava

[Music] we're in the parashat a cave and we learn in this polish' about a very special Mitzvah that everybody's aware of and everybody does that and that's the mitzvah of mezuzah I learned that at the end of the parasha and so many people the mitzvoth mezuzah is a little bit of enigma like it's kind of one of the only mitzvah that has like a remedy in it most people they they also they always like different remedies and there are different almonds but me twelve mezuzah is unique because it has a certain power with it and people know it whether they're observant or not many Jews they're not observant and they still put a misses on the door because they know that a moose is a mezuzah brings the blessing into the house and not only blessing into the house is also bling brings a guard guards the house so it's a mitzvah that it has a certain power to it that that yeah of course Rhys is a big great question that we're not supposed to do a mitzvah for the sake of the reward and if the middle of mezuzah has a power of guarding and not only that it's known to be a mitzvah that brings blessing into the house and if I'm doing the Mitzvah for the sake of the blessing of the guarding or for the reward then it's kind of contradicting the fact of doing the Mitzvah so comes to questions that we want to address today specifically because of this Mitzvah mezuzah and like I said many people that are not observant they they also put mrs. oats remember when I became observant I barely was doing anything I didn't know about anything but when I moved into a new home oh I have to put missiles out everybody knows I went bought a beautiful miss risotto every door posts in my house and I know even then that bought expensive miss resort so you go now into houses of many many Jews even there was another observant there's always gonna be a missiles on the door and one way it's a easy mitzvah all you need to do is bite once and put it on the door but people know I'm a Sousa has a strength power to it it's guarding the house it brings blessing to the house so comes two big questions that we want to address today the first one is why specifically this Mitzvah brings the guarding and the blessing to the house by not filling or why not a tallit or books of a Torah why specifically the Mitzvah of mezuzah brings blessing into the house and since I know that the Mitzvah of mezuzah bring brings blessing and Gardens got a guard guards brings a guidance and security in the house so if I'm allowed to do the Mitzvah because they want to get the reward I'm putting the mezuzah not only because I was commanded because I know it guards the house and if it brings blessing into the house the question is if I'm allowed to do the Mitzvah just for the sake of the reward and for the sake of that it's going to guard my house now just so we understand a little bit of what's going on in the parasha and this week's polish opera shot a key with the third polish i into the book of volume and the first few Powershot in the book of the limb is the goodbye moshe rabbeinu so to say the will of moshe rabbeinu is giving a speech in Hebrews called in the oom Plata he knows he's about to die he knows that's it changing of the shifts now you're sure is going to take over and he's giving so to say like will over yeah a farewell and there's a you know it's called like more like a wheel he's telling them first he was rebuking them in the parish at over him and then he's giving over like a farewell speech and this is the first time that we find in the Torah that Moshe Rabbeinu is saying clearly that the Mitzvahed are it's worth doing them it doesn't say that he usually he says the mid-water commandments of Hashem and so forth this is the first time the Moshe when you actually tells them it will bring your blessing in in the physical world it's good for you to do them it's what a lot of people when you try to convince them to do a mitzvah they'll tell you why should I do it why should I put Phil in on so you want to tell them it's a commandment from God because it says in the Torah sometimes you tell people because it's good for you it's gonna give you blessing it's gonna give you a blessing in your business so here is the first time that moshe rabbeinu says to the nation if you want to be successful in business then doom it vote and keep them its words and not only that then Moshe Lubin also asks from the nation to write what he just said and to put it on their heads which is the feeling and to put it on the door which is the mezuzah so we find in this publisher that Moshe Rabbeinu says very clearly very obvious say you want success it doesn't sense it in that word this is in different words this is by yang schemata Shmuel mitzvah ty if you will listen to them it's not but not at a Kish memory time I will give you the rain and it's time when you're going to be successful and prosperous and business will be good of course it's not using my words I'm saying that Moshe Lupino says in its clear words and you will want success and business and keep them in thought very simple and then of course he tells them and I want you to write it down and put it on your head meaning that feeling and put it on the doorpost which is the mezuzah so this is the first time that we see clearly that Marshall a beggar tells us if you want success in business and everybody wants success in business I don't know anybody who says okay let me go into business and I want to fail nobody does that if you're ready going into business you want to be successful and if most people they they're not independent they have they work for somebody they were employed by somebody but if you would give them the opportunity to make money and to have a business most people will take it before our business owners because they don't have the knowledge they don't have the the money to invest or they don't have the you need to have a little bit of courage a little bit faith but nevertheless most people if you would give them the opportunity to have run a business and to make a much more money than average everybody wants that who doesn't want to make money as a matter you are observant you're not observant everybody wants to be comfortable and to be able to live comfortable and and some people want to just have a lot of money but most people says this of course I want to live comfortable who doesn't you can't kid ourselves but nevertheless this is the first time that we see that moshe rabbeinu gives us a clear explanation and a clear promise one good business keep them it's both very simple and it's not a good for you and we see there's a story in the in the Talmud that there was a certain a sage his name was Rob Hoonah and he was known to have a lot of Hardesty vine yards vineyards vineyards yester had a lot of it was very famously at a little wine it was a big businessman on one side he was a great rabbi a great sage that learned Torah and taught a while but he also needed to make a living rabbi also has to pay the bills so we know in many stories from the Talmud that there were many sages that they were very wealthy they were wealthy that business today if a rabbi has money then right away he's tagged as a thief or that he's stealing the money from the from the organization so but nevertheless I also know in our generation many rabbis that they have business why not why can I have a business I have also kids I need to feed them I need to pay my also my my mortgage in a and their tuition and so one has nothing to do with either you know for many years I had a business I became observing there open the business and up until a few years ago I think we closed it six seven years ago but nevertheless for many years I had a business running a business and I had money so I opened the business because I didn't want to be needin I didn't want to have the need to be depending on support to support my organization so I said I'm gonna have my own business and I'll support my own organization and I don't have to ask for donations and I don't have to depend on anybody but I know many rabbis in our generation they have a business why not is there's nothing wrong with that layer first to run a business there's a lot of meets not in it you have to be honest you have to be straight you have to give myself you have to give sadaqa there's a lot of good qualities in running a business so nevertheless this sage of Hoonah was a great sage but nevertheless also had a very huge business and his business yes by a head wineries and a lot of wine his wine was very very famous one day the story says that in one day 400 barrels went sour now imagine what it is for the business you know there in 400 barrels this is a thousands of thousands of bottles of wine and in one day they all went sour it was became a big deal everybody knew about it was famous in the newspapers everybody a news came out the famous rabbi had all his barrels went sour says she's lost of mine our equivalent to our time thousands of 10 hundreds of thousands of dollars nevertheless everybody came to to comfort him and so the story says that a few great sages came to comfort him and it was known at the time and not only then even now that if somebody has some type of a financial loss then the rabbi's told him listen maybe you should make an analysis maybe you doing something wrong maybe you did something that as a result from that your partner saw your livelihood got affected so that's at that period it was very common that if somebody has something going on wrong in the business check yourself maybe you did something maybe you did something and even up until today if a person something's going on with the business and there's no way there's no a good income or something going on check yourself maybe you did something so the sages that came to consult him they told him listen look maybe you did something we told him the first fish be merciful go through your actions maybe you you did something so he says you know what you're right I am doing something that is not 100 percent the guy that is running the vineyards he I'm not paying him exactly what I was what's on the contract and they're like why aren't you paying him what's it says on the contract so he says because I know he's stealing from me I know he's stealing a lot of grapes and wine or whatever it is and I know exactly what he's stealing from me so I'm deducting from what I'm supposed to give him what he stole so the sages told him listen you know how to do that you have a contract with him you have to pay him exactly what it says in the contract if you feel that he's stealing from you or you want to deduct what he stole from what you have to pay him then take him to the bay didn't sue him take it to the court you can take the rules to yourself and say oh he stole X amount of produce I'm gonna deduct it from what I'm giving him you're not allowed to do that so sure enough he stopped doing it he started paying him again back to what he what was the contract said and it says that right away every doll these 400 barrels they became good again was a huge miracle and he got all his money back and everything became good so we see that this is one story out of many that when a person observes the Torah and emits world fully then business is running good and if classify Shalom something's going on wrong with the business then check what are you doing maybe you're doing something maybe you're not paying the workers right away maybe you're not paying them what they were supposed to get maybe stealing something without many maybe putting too much attention to it which is which is called the Gizem stealing is that you have the intention you know exactly what you're doing but sometimes you can fail and something similar to stealing it's called gasm that you're taking something that doesn't belong to you maybe you're not good at giving the right amount it's not easy being a business owner because you are more subject for different failures and sins when you're running a business if you're sitting all day long and learning Torah that's one thing but if you're running a business you have to be very aware of what's going on not to steal not to embezzle not to cheat and so forth so we see from this story and there's many other stories that that when the person is not following the to 100% or not fulfilling them it's not it does affect their business now specifically in the midst of mezuzah it's not only that we know that it's affecting the giving give is a blessing in business also a the Torah says that the person that does the mitzvot mezuzah he will gain a long life nemanja with whomever the Torah says if you do the mitzvah of the mezuzah you have blessing in your business and not only that long life who wants to doesn't want to live a long life of course you want a long life to be with the healthy and and good I mean some people they live a long life and it's a very hard life but nevertheless the mitzvot mezuzah it has two qualities blessing in business and also a long life now okay up again comes again the same question why why specifically the mezuzah why not Faline or kosher or shabbat maybe I think maybe if you observe Shabbat should also give you blessing in business and a long life why specifically a mezuzah what's so special about this Mitzvah now our sages explain that we have to understand a little bit about the Mitzvah our sages explain that the mezuzah is there to be a reminder to be a reminder because I go in and out of my house many times in the day sometimes they can go in and out of my house a hundred times some people do wake up in the morning to go out of the house they all day long the outside they're doing business and they come back at night some people they go in and out of the house dozens of times our sages saying you put the mezuzah on the Lord to constantly remind you that you have to be doing mitzvahs we need a reminder that a lot of people say I don't need to be reminded I know I have to do meets vote but nevertheless our sages explain that we put it on the door that every time I go out I look at the mezuzah and that should remind me oh I have to do mitzvahs if I'm going to business it has to remind me that I have to be honest I can't cheat I can steal if I'm going to do anything any other thing that I have to be charitable and give charity and acts of kindness but nevertheless this is one of the explanations that our sages give that the mitzvah of Missoula is a reminder and this is equivalent to another means well then is the meter of deceit also when it's asked why should one word tzitzit because it reminds me that I have to do MIT's vault there's a famous story in the Talmud about a certain sage that he unfortunately was on his way to do a very very severe sin of the forbidden relations whatever it is got into a relationship with a with the woman that wasn't his wife and he was going to be with her and the hospital do a very severe sin the story says it when he was taking his clothes off the cities went flying into his face and smacked him into his face as he was taking his clothes off and when the city's smacking into his face in a way that it hurts he suddenly got his act together it's like what am i doing he was already in the woman's house and of course it saved him and stopped him from doing the same and there's a famous story in the Talmud that the titties is also to remind you that I have to do Meatwad sometimes you forget who you are I mean especially a person that is not born observant and remember in the first few years when I was became observant that would look in the mirror sometimes like whoa who's this guy it's not the guy I know so there are total different person family the beard in there and the yarmulke so sometimes we forget that we that we are observing Jews and we have to do mitzvoth you your mind takes you to different places and you need the stern reminder wait a minute what am i doing well what are you doing so there's a beautiful story that I heard at firsthand about some woman lived in France in Paris and she started to become observant and you know like all the famous stories when people become observant something is some spark is ignited and they started going to a Shabbat meal or a tour class or whatever I mean thousands of stories this specific woman started to became observant and after a while she learned about the mitzvot mezuzah so she put the mezuzah on her door and for maybe weeks a month the mezuzah was on the door she lived in Paris somebody told her listen what are you doing you know the whole building here is full of moslems and they use you have a mezuzah on the door this is not so good I mean you can get hurt I mean this is not a place to be so Jewish and fortunately in many places like in Paris people are afraid to show that they're Jewish they don't if they take yarmulkes off they put their mug and David in there in the shirt I mean now you really see that people are afraid to to shoulder their Jewish this is true story so people told them listen I wouldn't put the Misses on the door and this is they can they have a very negative effect so she was afraid that she took the missiles off one day she hears a knock on the door and she opened the door and old man is standing and he tells her I'm the neighbor from from downstairs and I wanted to ask you a question and she tells him okay force he tells her why did you take off the mezuzah she tells him because you know people told me might be dangerous it's not a good so he told her let me tell you a story I am a Holocaust survivor and I was in the in the camps and beaucoup shim I survived but I had an issue with God I was very angry I was angry at God I didn't want to do anything I saw family die and being murdered and I had a problem with Hashem and for many years after that I didn't observe any of them it's what I lived a life like a non Jew just because I was angry for many years up until a few months I was very angry still it ashamed he says but one day I live in this building for years one day the elevator wasn't working so I had to go up the stairs and as I'm going up the stairs every floor had to take a stop you know all the men every floor I had to take a stop a break because this is all the man he couldn't just run up the stairs so he says I which the first time that I went through all the floors and when I came to your floor and Soames was up and as I saw them as Souza suddenly it hit me and I started remembering when I was a kid the house of my parents we had a mezuzah and how I used to go with my father to the show and he's like it was very old memory I was a little kid but I remembered going with my father to show her going to the synagogue and the synagogue and the mezuzah and my house had the ms-dos on it brought these all these emotions and memories how where I came from and suddenly I became very emotional and it caused me to remember that what am i doing and I so many years I was away from the Torah and away from a shame and you know what it cost me too though I started following them it's once again supporting feeling again I put my own missiles armed and he's like why did you take it off because of yeoman Souza I became now it reminded me of where I came from and you're right reminded me to start observing them it's thought now you took it off so I don't don't know the syrup she put it back on or not but nevertheless she's just sometimes you see how the mezuzah is the reminder just imagine this old man for 60 years whatever 50 60 70 years who survived the Holocaust and was so upset at a Shem which you can't question him of course and suddenly this mezuzah of this young lady reminded him where he came from he maybe was a little kid and they know kids they have all these memories they don't remember necessarily everything but they remember since certain things and the mezuzah was there his his connection to Judaism and it caused him to come closer back to the tow bar mitzvah'd so we see again that the our sages teach us that the mezuzah as a reminder whether we acknowledge it or not we're walking in and out of the door so many times sometimes touching the mezuzah is a habit it's not that you really know what you're doing there and then some people don't touch the missiles as some people do so there's no hahaha to touch the mezuzah specifically in Shahana whoo the bit you say if he doesn't face a mention anything about touching the mezuzah it's actually there Rama the Ashkenazi it's a show carnival that he's the one who says to touch the mezuzah and thus nurse you say a few verses but the Johanna often doesn't even mention anything about touching the mezuzah well nevertheless we don't even notice how many times you're walking in out some people it's a habit to them just to touch him it wasn't well don't even touch it but never maybe if you connect keep the questions to the end so the the so we see from our sages that the mezuzah is meant to remind us as they interestingly in the Talmud says there's a rabbi Elazar Aviles Albania called he says any person that has Finland and has a mezuzah and has a cheat sheet is guaranteed that he will never sing so again mezuzah spilling in cities if a person has had one of them is guaranteed not to sing why would he say something something like that is because the the person that is very actively wearing tzitzit and putting tune in and has a mezuzah it constantly gives him a reminder that i can't do any sins now we constantly need reminders just in the morning we were learning here with the men about this fella also and it says in the beginning of the parasha that we have to guard them each month and we have to do the mitzvahs Bush Martell Vasudev what's the difference between guarding and doing so guarding he explained we were learning from the normal America the guarding it refers to the thoughts that I have to have the thought of the mitzvot doing is the actual mitzvot that I do I put Faline on if I eat kosher whatever it is but also has to be always the thought behind it and the the verse continued and this is in our papa sha that if you guard and you do them it's not then a shame will fulfill his part what is his part the Covenant and the kindness pretty well rested what is the covenant the covenant that Hashem says I will allow you to do it spot Shem allows me to do meets what we think that I'm doing a shame a favor when I do a mitzvah I think somebody needs to clap with their hands to me I don't understand it's a shame is doing me a favor that he's gay actually giving me the opportunity to do a mitzvah and the kindness that Hashem gives to us we might not notice it but all day long Shem is bestowing us so much kindness we just got used to it and we tend to complain the real missing things and we tend to complain to a shame about the things that I don't have instead of thanking ashamed 20 million times a day for all the kindness that he does to me so hey I have to acknowledge on a daily basis that when i'm what i'm doing a mitzvah then i have to thank a share for giving me the opportunity to do the mitzvah because he's allowing me to do it if he wouldn't allow me then I would have such a it's at a line I wouldn't do any Mitzvah I always say he'd say the same thing before I do a mitzvah it doesn't matter right now what the Mitzvah is but before I do a mitzvah I say thank you to a shame with my own words because most people they have a Yetzirah and they don't want to do this bitmap and and and I'll give you one Mitzvah that most people they don't like doing it is to save your cat Amazon people will drive half an hour to the pizzeria that sells pizza that is bizarre not just not to save your cat Amazon and if you give somebody to eat something a row or whatever bread they'll tell you is this this emoji yeah not so hungry there maybe an apple so this is the one of the greatest mitzvah we have in the Torah and people go out of their way not to wash your hands forbidden and hostile sure I'm not blaming anybody I'm not saying or or making fun of anybody I'm just making a point that you have one of the biggest mitzvoth in the Torah is to wash your hands say emoji on a piece of bread and eat we just learned that literally last week's polish our invention investor Ahava the Sawada over after you should eat you should you're going to be four full satisfied and surprising takes you 5 minutes 7 minutes 9 minutes if you read it very slow people sit on Facebook for three hours watching nonsense we're watching cats dancing and also to junk for three hours but for 10 minutes to save your karma zone no no eat an apple I'm gonna eat them is donut just I never was able to understand that I understand because I also sometimes get lazy and I'm tired and I don't want to do it now wash my hands but really when you're thinking about it Hashem is giving you a million dollar check it's not even a million dollar check it's a billion dollar check and you're saying I don't feel like going to the bank today this is kind of the same of idea that somebody's gonna come and tell you today here's 50 billion dollars check I really don't feel like walking all the way to the bank standing in line I don't want to this is equivalent so why people have such a etcetera to do this Mitzvah because you needed a merit to do this Mitzvah this is this covenant the regime says I will give you the opportunity to do a mitzvah so when you don't have a Yetzirah and you're about to save your cut Amazon or put Faline on or whatever it is you have to say to us Sam thank you for allowing me to do the Mitzvah I'm the one who's gonna gain from it nobody else I'm not doing a shame a favor Jimmy doesn't gain anything or loses anything if I put feeling on or if I don't put feeling on I'm the one who's gonna gain from that for eternity so I have to thank a shame with my own words thank you for allowing me to want to do the Mitzvah and I know thousands of men that they have feeling it's in the closet they don't put it on they ever get cetera so a man shows up to show and he puts Villano I thank a shame Thank You bomb thank you for allowing me to want to do it so that's why it says in the Talmud that when a person has Faline mezuzah and sits it is guaranteed not to sin why because it's constantly involved in the mitzvoth it's constantly a reminder we constantly need reminders the regime is amazing to us most people they cry and they complain all day long and they whine my wife is hard I don't have this I don't have that you know the secret of getting an abundance is appreciating what you have if you just practice it put it into action instead of whining that you don't have money you don't have your other half you don't have health but this is annoying he's doing this instead of that just thanking holding on for what you have you'll see that your life will change right away the problem is that we just whine all day long and we complain so that's why when a person is constantly appreciative of what he has the nation' ones to give him me so next time instead of complaining that you don't have something then thank a share for two three things that you do have I told you that not too long ago I met this young man I wasn't one of my trips I was in London I made a young man that he came to get some advice and he told me listen really I have everything I have money I have a wife five kids of business I literally physically I have everything I'm healthy but I'm very unhappy I'm not I'm just unhappy and I told him as long as you don't follow the Torah and every thought you'll never be happy that's the matter how many Ferraris you have on your drive range it doesn't matter you'll never be happy because if you saw is not happy you will never be happy so my simple advice to you is just follow the Torah just do few Meatwad not telling you to become overnight the chief rabbi over the world but start start putting fill in every day give some charity every day maybe go to the synagogue once a week and you'll see you'll start feeding your soul and you'll be happy and I told him and another thing is that you're not appreciative of what you have so I want you to do once a day take a break five minutes take a little piece of paper and start writing down all the good things that you have in your life I have two legs that work I have my eyes work my fingers work I've teeth I can chew food I have a car of a business I have a wife I have kids I've write down all the good things that you have and thank a shame for what you have because you have a lot and you know what when you're going to be appreciative of what you have and by default will cause you to be more happy and more content we constantly look at what I don't have and we complain and we whine and we and just be appreciative of what you have and trust me thank a share for for the good things that you have you'll see he is gonna want to give you much more good things so just to conclude what we were talking about so we were concluding in in in in way that the mezuzah is a mitzvah to remind me about the fact that there's a TOA and then i have to keep them it's body very simple now there's another reason why a mitzvah is so unique because you know that a mitzvah it brings protection to the house and not only that it brings protection it's guarding the house we know that we know that for a fact it's not only giving us a blessing in the business we just mentioned and then and there's many places that we didn't mention that though that the mezuzah actually brings you a blessing in fairness on your livelihood but we know for a fact that a mezuzah guards you guard your house you know on the mezuzah it says a few letters not on the parchment from the inside if you look at the mezuzah from the outside you see a shams named Shin dollar dude and shin Dali dude is the acronym of Xiaomi litotes oil the guard of the doors of Israel and we know for many places that the the mezuzah guards your house now there's a famous story about the famous Tana a BU dynasty he was the sage that wrote the Mishnah very very special individual he was known to have many many friends what we call in our generation connections you want to move things around you need connections in this day of age it's not what you know it's who you know and if you know the right people you move things around so he has a lot of connections one of his good friends one of his connections was a CERN man his name was Alvin Alvin was the king of Persia and he was a good friends with him so one time the king of Persia sent him present and he sent him a very very unique and precious jewelry like a stone something diamond whatever it was very very precious that's how it is you know in the in the in those days to show friendship we would give each other very expensive presents okay so he gets in the messenger this expensive piece of jewelry or whatever it was so he says okay what am I gonna give him back what am I gonna give the king of Persia is a gazillionaire what am I gonna buy him I have to buy something this is how it works he sends me a present I've to send him a present so he decides to send him a mezuzah takes a nice mezuzah wraps it up and sends us with a messenger a week passes and he gets a notification from the King what is this I'm sending you this precious jewelry that is worth millions and millions and millions and you're sending me this piece of parchment with some ink on it and some letters that's our friendship that's how you're valuing my present so Lobby adonis ii was not a fool it was a very wise man and he told him listen to me my dear friend the present that you sent me requires to be guarded now i'm gonna have to spend money and ways to guard would you gave me what I sent you will guard you so he completely changed it around and says what you sent me needs to be guarded why would I send you is going to guard you and needless to say that the king of Persia was very happy with the present but nevertheless you know the story says that after a while and the daughter of the King got very very sick and she was literally on her deathbed and what they did is they took the mezuzah that reviewed the honesty sent him and they put it under her pillow and she got cured and he knew he understood then that this will present is not some some cheap some cheap omen was a very powerful thing people they have different customs and other people actually walk around with mrs. oats with him I actually read there a long time ago a lot of people with they when they used to go to the lubavitcher rebbe for a blessing or four questions when people were sick or he would always say check them his results and I read a long time ago a letter that somebody sent to the lubavitcher rebbe that they're suffering from migraines and the answer the voucher gave the bad virtue Rebbe gave is to walk in the pockets and to walk with a pocket in a mezuzah in the pocket like it for the power against the disease so I do know that a lot of people they don't only hang a mezuzah on the door they walk around with it they put it in the car they put it in the bag I read many places that people use it as a power of protection so nevertheless we know from so many different stories and sources that the mrs. mrs. as a protection there's a very famous story about Uncle OHS if you read the Gamache there's a translation from Aramaic and Torah make and it's translated by a certain individual called gurus now this is a very deep translation a lot of it is very mystical it's not a regular Aramaic it's not that Romaic you find in the talmud of the saw it's a little bit different nevertheless when you read the translation of own clothes you would think that he's a son of a prophet nevertheless Tom Cruise is a convert and not only stomach convert he was the nephew of the king of Rome he was the the nephew over to the animals and the story says that he was working for the king needless to say destroyed the OSHA line and for whatever reason he was looking to get more spiritual and he wanted to become more closer to Judaism and he wanted to learn Torah now he said if I is going to come out to his uncle and tell him I want to go to shall I'm and Murtagh is uncle boy will kill him so what did he do he told him listen I wanna learn a new business learn some business and I'm asking for you to give me a year or two off so I can go and learn business I want to go into business okay so he says okay no problem for business I will let you off and I will give you also a advice about business he says okay what do you was there what's your advice my dear uncle and he says always buying merchandise that is very very cheap that it looks like it's worthless but that has very good potential so you buy it when it's cheap when it seems like it's worthless but in the future it will turn to be a great potential to be very very profitable so of course uncle ho's smiled and he says that's the advice this is Judaism that's what I needed to hear now Judaism and especially then Judaism er wasn't so ranked so high it was right after the destruction of the temple who wanted to be close to Judaism and he says this is a this is the merchandise that right now doesn't seem so expensive but it has great potential that in the future it will become extremely extremely valuable nevertheless that's the exact ooh that's the advice that I needed that's what I needed to hear that I'm actually investing in something that doesn't look so great right now but in the future will be a great investment so the story says that two years later and Ayana starts looking for his nephew where's my nephew he said he's going to learn business he disappeared and he I quickly found out that he's in the ocean I'm that he converted and he is learning Torah learning Torah teaching Tala of course the ankle wasn't so happy about that so he sent the group of men to come and take him a squad of soldiers go and get my nephew they come and get him Youkilis was not a fool and he started talking to them and they convinced them to stay with him talk to them a little bit about the Torah a little bit about God and he convinced them made them about Shuba okay the uncle also it says okay I'll send another squad to come and get him and but he told them listen my nephew is a very sharp with his tongue don't talk to him just bring him to me don't they get him don't engage into conversations with him the last squad that I sent he sweet-talked him he told them about the Torah I don't know what he said there he got them complete confused convinced they stayed there just go and get him don't don't talk to him okay so they go to get on Kalu's and he starts talking to them says listen listen your uncle your uncle the King says not to talk to you no I just want to give you some words of wisdom says okay what's your words of wisdom so he says when there's an important man like a minister then you have to hold the torch of light for him now we have electricity we don't know what it means in olden days if there was somebody important somebody would stand there with a torch that he will have liked to read or to eat or to to write so he says when a person is very important like a great general that somebody has to hold a torch for them and if his evening even if he's more important let's say he's a Caesar then even somebody more important has to hold the torch for them if he's a king then everybody has to hold the torch for that person but you know the the nation of Israel is so special and then when they were in the desert the king the master of the universe was holding the torch for them and he convinced them how sweet and special that Allah and Hashem is and up he got them also on board and the another squad became observant okay this time the Janos says okay we can't mess with this this time he sends another squad and he tells them don't even talk to him don't he asks you he talks to you just grab him and bring him to me this squad was a little bit more aware of what's going on they come there they grab him he starts talking they're not even listening they're completely ignoring him they take him out and as they're taking him out you just stop stop stop what's going on they're lifting him up he's not even walking he pushed the hand on the mezuzah he kisses it and he smiles they're like why he's smiling why is smiling he says what I thought your King told you not to talk to me you're right you're right we shouldn't talk to you but why you smiling I want to hear why I'm smiling so he says this is this is the difference the King that you work for he needs you to guard him and he's surrounded with guards but in Judaism I am guarded by the king the king is around my house is in his guarding me and of course another squad went down and he got them all so go got them also on board and the third the fourth time the king says okay just leave him there I'm not I'm not sending any more men to take him so we see that the mezuzah is guarded to us the Misses is guarding us you put it on the door it guards us from all sorts of bad things and spirits and so forth and it's literally guarding the house so why why would the mezuzah guard the house why not Shabbat or candles or challah or Faline why specifically the mezuzah so it says in the psalm that the soul says write my name and put it on your doorpost that's what this all says about the mezuzah meaning Hashem and his name is what guards the house now if you look in the Medusa I told you already not on the front part of the parchment when you roll it up and you hang the mezuzah it says three letters shintali dude and it has to be turned into that the person that walks in can see it has to be not turned true though to the doorpost rather to the other way and the acronym of shin dolla dude is shaman litotes al the guard of the doors of the nation of israel so the dog says write my name shames name on the door and that will be a guard for you now another interesting way of looking at it the word mezuzah the numerical value of the word missiles 965 the gematria never maim is 49 is 7 and others 97 valve is a sea can hit 6 and hey the 5 together brings you 65 the numerical value Hashem has many different names you'd cave of cash invalid you lo keem one of the most common names in a shame hands we said every day is the shame Aleph dollar new do Aleph valid new nude at door and then we say 9 and the numerical value of that name Aleph dollar new news is 65 so the name the word mezuzah not only that on it they has their name of a shame UDA a they shintali dude then a the word ms-dos out is the same numerical value of a shames name Aleph null in renewed our dough and then I would we say in all the more hot and we said every day and that's where the power of the mezuzah that's why the the mezuzah has power to guard because it has the name of a shame in it and you know in in our day in our generation you can relate with it because in many places there's the mafia that they you know they do is the business they sell your protection that's how they call it and just out the day somebody sent me a shocking video about the farmers in the south of Israel how the bedroom are like a mafia and they're charging protection and if you don't shape a protection they destroy you or your field your crops they this guy they stole the tractors and it was the the video that was like promoting their awareness but nevertheless we've seen many places that there's a mafia and the Mafia they come to your business and they tell you you have to pay us ten percent 20 percent it's because protection and we're going to protect you so I always say story that they when I was out of the army was they constantly into making money my mind was all the time how am I making money and also the businesses and I was I was doing very well I think you ought to make business so one time I figured out a very good business I was maybe 20 21 years old and I used to sell flowers in the corner store and the corner and the Junction's now I went to the place to buy the flowers I had a few girls we used to make all the bouquets we're all the nice wrapping and everything then I would go and stand on the big gay corner a junction and I know it sounds like like Noah and nothing I'll make thousands thousands of shekels in hours I'd have buckets on the street Friday afternoon everybody wants to buy flowers it was a big junction and they had like a little Bay where cars can stop I would himself now thousands of shekels worth of flowers my friends always used to make fun of me now what are you doing with flowers that was like so but nevertheless was a very good business they would cost me I don't know like three shekels to make the bouquet and I would sell them for 50 shekels and they would go like hot buns and anyways I would make a lot of money I'm talking about like 25 years ago it sometimes makes 5000 shekels with a couple hours and I just knew where there's a good opportunity to make money you know I wasn't afraid of working hard or being there laughter my friend will everywhere he's selling flowers in the and on a junction and I was like you know we're neighbor who say it's Oaxaca so I got her horn the one laughed class has the laugh the last laugh however they say it in English but nevertheless I've made a lot of money so this business was going on very well for a couple of months and it was growing and growing and I really know people knew I'm already standing there now I developed it I had the bouquets for fifty bouquets for eighty bouquets yes I developed it and then I started taking people's names I started to take orders the day before and I make extra extra I was like already seeing myself going public with this said after a couple years but I was 21 years old I'm making a lot of money wasn't that wasn't even like a main income it was just for the weekends and it was only a few hours work Thursday I would go get the flowers Thursday afternoon till the evening the girls would make all the bouquets I would give them some whatever they got paid Friday morning we sell the flowers that's it Friday afternoon I'm done going out to the beach and counting my money so okay things were going well very very well a few months till one day I get a visit I'm standing in my you know we call it a basta in the middle of the streets all my flowers are there a car stops two guys walk out ya know not the IRS two guys sunglasses suits they come to me walking around what is this tell them this is lilies what is this is the roses so one of them kicks the bucket and says what are you making a joke out of me what is this I tell him what are you making a joke out of me I'm telling you these are flowers so he tells me you are on our turf you can't sell anything here now I was young and and stupid told the monument ammonia turf get out of here nearly not knowing that this is the Mafia coming to tell me you're in my territory and if you want to sell your flowers you have to give us a commission you mean you're eating so so I in my hood spy took out a bouquet and I said here here here's here's the Commission give it to your wife so he took it and smashed it on the floor and I still was still arguing and they were telling me in simple words you are on our territory you want to sell something here you got to give us commission if not you're gonna be out of commission so the business venture had to stop at there at this point the business venture had to stop but nevertheless why am I telling you this whole story because the Mafia they sell your protection and now if you are you pay your your a your fee whatever it is you ransom then if somebody comes to bother you you just say the name and you say you know I belong to I know this person oh you just said that name no no no it's okay you can there you can do whatever you want so you know the name yeah you just have to sometimes mention the name oh no no he works for so-and-so no no no don't mess with this guy right now it's the same thing here they have deals not to compare is the mezuzah the mezuzah has a shames name on it a person the person an entity a spirit the demon comes see the shames name no no no here this person I don't want to mess with this person he he has protection from the master of the universe so the mezuzah has a power of protection why because it has a shames name on it and it has a shames name in it and needless to say on the parchment has a shames name so that's why the mezuzah has such a power of protection but now we're coming to the next question that we were we started the class which was actually initially the first question since I know the mezuzah is force of protection and it's protecting me am I allowed to do the mitzvot for the sake of the reward I mean we know that we're not allowed to do we shouldn't do a mitzvah for the sake of a reward right I mean our sages tell us hey you should never even though submission it says hola yeah so Kadamba to rasulallah Sh'ma person has to - - first of all we are taught by our sages that a person should not do the mitzvot for the sake of the reward so here if I'm putting the mezuzah and I'm saying okay the mezuzah is a protection then I'm actually doing the mitzvot for the sake of the reward so comes a question am I allowed to do that so in order to understand that I have to understand that in when it comes to doing - to learning - I'm doing them it's what it says that our sages say that if a person should always do a mitzvah even if it's not for the sake of the mitzvot why because at some point you will do it for the sake of the Mitzvah la la mia so Kadamba mitzvah yellowish mushy me talk cherish my abolishment as a lot of people say listen I'm not really doing the Mitzvah for the right intention should I still do it yes you should still do it even if you're not doing it for the right intention but from doing it from the wrong intention at some point you'll do it for the right attention on the other hand it says in the in the our sages say that if a person gives I mean the way it says it says it in the in the in the words of our sages if a person gives a rock for charity because it says Hamilton similar to the car the the versus a note insulates the car not let's see let's hide no hates a digger move the person gives a rock like maybe a precious stone or like a coin and give something to to the car for the sake for his son to live Sonny's child then he's considered as a digger Moo so I see here in one way our sages are telling me do them it's my friend not for the sake of the Mitzvah on the other hand our sages are telling me if I'm giving so to say charity for the fact for the for the merit for my son to live cos - along the child is sick then I'm considered a digger whoa now kind of a contradict it's a it's it's a itself because the first part what our sages say just do the Mitzvah don't worry about the intention right now as long as you do the Mitzvah one day you'll do it for the right intention as a famous story that a certain individual our wealthy individual we came to the ballot Anya and he told him I have a serious problem I like doing a lot of charity I give a lot of money I open my house my house is full of guests shabbat is huge meals and i give a lot of charity so the ballot anna tells them so what seems to be the problem this is a very good thing to give so much money and charity and feed people so the man tells him you know what's the problem is that i'm not doing it for the sake of the mitzvah i like to be acknowledged and they write my name in the newspapers that i give a lot of money and everybody says how generous I am and I like that I'm doing it for my own ego I'm doing it for my own pride and I don't know what to do so the ballot Anya tells him the poor person that comes to your table and eats does he leaves your house satisfied he says of course that that's what matters you fed him he's hot he's full who cares right now you did it for the for the right intention not for the right intention you your name on the wall you don't want the name on the wall the person was hungry he ate he's satisfied that's what matters you did the Mitzvah that's the matter right now first there's not as you do the Mitzvah now they won't start developing it to do it for the right intention so first of all we have to understand that when it comes to Mitzvah student just do the Mitzvah they all start becoming sophisticated now if you're doing it for the right intention neither one of us are in a level of doing a mitzvah in the right intention right so I'll just do it somebody once asked me how come all the meats vote before we do them we say a blessing when I put Faline on a shaky cherubim it's Putin which even underneath Fellini you like candles your kitchen bring me to the table with Savannah let lick know why when we do one of the greatest meets vote of charity we don't say blessing most of them it's what we say blessing city tashaki Jeremy - Tom it's even only tartiflette cities all the midsole there's a blessing coming that if it's lulav a little atoll of how come when I have to give charity I don't have to say moment now a man of Kenema Nepal our Shack each allenbury so solid C Bartlett it's the car so I told him imagine now somebody's sitting on the street and he's telling you can you give me some change I'm starving so you say wait a minute the Baha oh I didn't I didn't prepare well for the Baha I have to go to the mikveh first then I have to say the morning prayers and then I have to prepare wait a minute wait wait here a few minutes let me get prepared in the meantime the person will die just given the money ready just don't no need to prepare too much so what if you would fall on somebody various additionally wait a minute I have to before I say abraca I have to have the right intentions I have to learn for a whole hour go to the mikveh prepare myself a person will die out of hunger so it only it's the car we don't say blessing because um dozen want you to think too much just give the money over so when it comes from it's well first of all on one hand are say just tell me just do the Mitzvah don't start getting into too many calculations if you're doing it for the right intention for what intention first of all do it first of all worry about doing the Mitzvah later it will already come to do it for the sake of the of the Mitzvah on the other hand we learned that our sages sellers don't do a mitzvah for the sake of the reward so what I'm kind of like a bouncing in between so the conclusion is you're allowed to do the Mitzvah for the sake of the reward you'll have to do that but this is considered that it's not a Hassid it says if you remember that our sages say that if you give charity for the to save the life of your child you consider that Sadik for that but Sadiq is a very high level but we know there's one level higher than that Sadiq and that level is called a seed a seed it's not necessarily a person that has long felt and wears a straw shrine and you know the fairy hats is not necessarily a facility AAHA seed is a person that goes beyond the letter of the law the term in Hebrew mission we have said in kono that that's something that he doesn't need to do it goes beyond what a Shem tells you to do and I'll give you one example are many you know a man wears it I don't have to wear two tit only if I wear a four-cornered garment then I have to put it on but if here I have a jacket it doesn't have rig at corners you see it's round I don't have to wear tzitzit so I don't I don't need to but nevertheless I still put on myself a garment that has four corners that all day long I have to wear tzitzit on me all day long I have to see they even sleep with the disease why because it's a mitzvah why should I do it it's a great mitzvah why shouldn't I have the meter counting every second that I wear that it's it on me then I get I get to wear a mitzvah I don't have to but nevertheless it's a holy garment and I gets me connected to a shame and I'm attached to a mitzvah why shouldn't I do it all day long this is an act of kasi dude and I'll give you another example you see now in our generation many people they grow they're proud very very long now there's no Mitzvah to grow the parents the meter is not too the pair that's the Mitzvah it's a precept you're not allowed to cut the pair this is called a pair the sideburn and you know not to cut it but since it's a mitzvah then many take the extra extra act and say hey it's a mitzvah why should I grow it long I should make it a beautiful mitzvah why shouldn't I why I'm not I'm not gonna not cut it I'll just grow it very long so this is an again an act of kasi dude that's where you see that this specifically the majority of ones who have long feared they belong to different considered so why because I don't have to do it it doesn't say anything in the Torah that I have to grow along the odds it just isn't about don't cut your pure don't don't slash straight don't shave it but if I'm already growing it when we grow it long that it will be nice and long it's a mitzvah beautify the Mitzvah so there are many acts that I'm not required to do but many people still go out of their way and they still do it and this called the act of kasi dude so to do the Mitzvah for the sake of the reward you can do that but it's not an act of considered or to say it in in simple words it's not doing the Mitzvah in perfection if I want to do already the Mitzvah please do it in perfection this is called to go beyond the letter of the law and I always give the same example that in my last birthday then my kids they get very excited before my birthday they buy different presents they prepare things so that all the kids they have money so they buy present and the younger kids they don't have money so last birthday my three year old she sat down for probably hours making all these paintings and little hearts and little flowers and the cave with explanations and then there was there like a stick and had like a circle and like two sticks coming out of it and she was I got to you and I was like that's me when I was very skinny you know the one stick and then two sticks like that and to see in a circle and like it she had a few curls she was like that's you and then it was another stick next to it and that's me and there was a I had other explanations and this flower and this in the tree and there and I was so touched by the fact that she sat there for hours and doing these little paintings and then she glued it and stapled in and looked like a well one big mishmash but whatever it was it came from her heart and on the other hand there all the kids they bought presents that were worth something and they didn't get me so emotional and excited like the piece of paper that had little hearts and and flowers on it so you see that sometimes the simplicity in the excitement and going beyond what you should do that's where it hits the the soft point and yeah the present that all the kids gave me were nice but that's the present that I more more valued it wasn't the money it was the fact that she she could have taken five shekels out of her allowance and buy me whatever I don't know a card but she made it herself and this is this act of considered the regime says I am NOT asking much I'm asking this but when you go out of your way and you do something greater then what a shame asked you you melt his heart and that's is the the beauty of this mezuzah is that first we said that yeah it has the power of protecting this is one part of the mezuzah but when we have question am I allowed to use the mezuzah for its protection than here because I'm not doing it for the protection I'm doing it for them it's well I'm benefiting from their protection but nevertheless I'm doing it for the sake that I want to to do the Mitzvah and therefore there is no problem whatsoever to use the Mitzvah even though I know that I'm going to benefit from its protection mine some people might say oh hey wait a minute maybe I should not do the Mitzvah because I'm going to benefit from it no you allow to benefit from it but we have to understand and even in uh Mitzvah not too long ago somebody came in Tommy can you help me by mezuzah and I told him okay what type of missus I want it's like what this is kind it says of course you can buy a mezuzah for twenty dollars which will be cheap and small and you can manage that for five hundred dollars which will be big and special and a quality parchment and quality ink and the scribe is a very unique scribe and of course is the different levels so I remember when I became observant I once shared the story it's a long story but you can find it online but the short version of the story and that's my experience with a mezuzah as well but I became observant then I didn't know anything I didn't have a rabbi nobody guided me I just had my experience and I had a friend who told me what to do okay and I really really was not doing much I used to put villain on is to say morning prayers I didn't meet mix meat and dairy then I moved into a new home and I was like okay I'm a Jew I need miss results so I decided to go and buy missus oats I drove to the city I lived in Chicago and I wasn't observing - no but walking into the store I felt very uncomfortable so I put a yarmulke on just to walk in and I walk in with denim pants and a nice short sleeve shirt and have big tattoos on my arms so they I you know pulled the shirt they feel very embarrassed that the tools are showing on the hand and the t-shirt was short well nevertheless I walk into the store I put a yarmulke on and I say hello I need a mezuzah and I was like okay if I'm already doing a mitzvah I'm doing it all the way and I had a two-door post usually people buy one mezuzah for the front door I was like no I have eight door post I need eight misses or the time I had a lot of money and I was like give me the best miss resort you have in the market not some cheap give me the most expensive miss result you have here okay so I bought my eighth miss resorts and it was so funny because they kept looking at me and I and you know my shirt kept going up and I keep pulling the shirt down I feel so embarrassed my nevertheless okay so I go out of my store out of the store with my numers result and I start driving home now I'm driving home and it was Friday afternoon I was like you know I don't think it's the right time to move into a new house and a Friday Shabbat it's probably bad luck you know what so I called my landlord and I tell misson is that okay if I'm moving in that different thing and he's like yeah you can move in whenever you want of course as long as you start paying from today I don't care when you move in just start paying from delay I said okay no problem so I'm gonna move in on Sunday I said I'll take a hotel who needs the headache I was like eh it seems to me like bad luck to move into a new home on a on a Shabbat so I took a hotel room and he tells me you have to bring me the first month rent in a money order and the security deposit also in a money order okay what am I gonna get a money order right now I'm driving on the highway so I see a big sign for a westerner and I get off the highway to some neighborhood I was probably the first Jew that ever stepped foot on that neighborhood not such a great neighborhood in Chicago and okay I'm standing in line there in the Western Union probably don't no way so I'm standing there in the Western Union it's like maybe 300 people there long lines just standing there waiting to buy my money order suddenly I hear somebody screaming from the back stack talking very loud and I just turned around to see who's the person that's making all this commotion and as I turn around this guy screams to me I'm like what and he comes to me hugging me haha I'm Jewish too I'm also George and he's hugging me like killdeer what are you talking about she relaxed and he's hugging me and he starts screaming I'm George I'm George oh my mom is Jewish my mom my grandmother Jews I had a bar mitzvah I'm like why are you telling me all this and in my mind like how is he I'm Jewish I mean I mean I know the nose is pretty big but how do you know that I'm Jewish Sami I remembered all the yarmulke I forgot the yarmulke on my head and he starts telling me he's hold and sisters 3 in my ear by his aunt and he's days and his Bar Mitzvah and finally he tells me hey yo do you smoke I'm like yeah why you want a cigarette and he's like no you want to quit smoking now I'm like yeah I actually do now I was a very very heavy smoker I used to smoke like three packs a day or Marlboro red red Marlboro I was cigarette after cigarette and maybe a month before this event one time I was driving on a highway and I started getting pain in my heart and I literally thought that's it I'm getting a heart attack I started seeing white dots everywhere I pulled the car off the highway now my grandfather died when he was in his 40s from a heart attack my grandmother from a heart it might we have a lot of heart diseases in our family that was a heavy smoker and my mom kept telling me you're gonna die from a heart attack and then I'm getting these pains in my heart but real sharp pains okay anyways the pains passed so months later he's telling me you want to quit smoking now I'm right yeah I actually do so he tells me come tonight to this hotel we're gonna quit smoking and I was like what uh I just come to the hotel Oh what is it so he tells me ever heard of quitting to smoke through hypnotism and I said yeah I actually didn't hear about it so it's just come today to this hotel you're gonna quit smoking and in my mind I was like you know it's a Friday night it's Shabbat told him does this cost anything I don't want to do a business transaction on a Friday night he tells me gives me give me $40 $40 $40 that night I was like you know what I'm gonna walk there I'm not gonna drive there there bear in mind I'm not observant at all I'm like zero observance I walk to this place I walk into a room was in a hotel like in a conference room maybe 30 40 people comes a doctor up on the stage starts giving me over a lecture about what happens when a person smokes what happens to the body what happens to the blood what happens here that I think it shows all these slides and then comes the hypnotists and he goes up on the stage and he starts the hypnosis and then you know he wakes everybody up he kills don't look at your watch how long do you think you were out people say five minutes six minutes yeah felt like five six minutes seven minutes we were hypnotized for an hour and fifteen minutes anyways I walked out of that door and I never touched a cigarette since then 17 years I almost 18 years I know that I don't smoke anymore and I walked out of the room I went through to the restaurant in the hotel where I was staying and I was sitting in the smoking zone I think now I think they don't have such things there anymore but I would smoke still in the smokings area then I'm holding the secretive man I don't want to smoke and I used to manage to go to sleep I was to sit in bed smoke three four cigarettes Gotha two to finalize did then go to sleep then I would wake up in the morning I wouldn't even open one I already was a cigarette in my mouth and I wake up in the morning I want to smell I'm looking at the cigarettes and I didn't want to tell anybody I was like nobody will believe me so for two months I didn't tell anybody anything and my sister came to visit me around that time after a week that she's with me she was like what's going on when you're not smoking I told her no I quit she was like oh come on no that one I did you just saw yourself a whole week I'm not smoking nobody could believe I was such a heavy smoker nobody believed that I quit when I went back to New York to visit a friend he says okay let's step out to have a smoke he's smoking and smoking and he tells me why I'm just mocking I told him I quit he's like nah you said yeah he goes to me like you know like just on my pockets looking if there's a box and I told him no I quit smoking nobody could believe and up until today I never touched a cigarette 17 years is going almost it gonna be 18 years now when I mean this is my personal miracle story how I quit smoking now when I tell it to people people say okay well wow what a luck that you stopped in that place to buy the money order and that person met you and I said this is not luck this is the reward that the Kadosh Baruch a me because I was so excited about the Mitzvah of mezuzah I wasn't observing at all it was maybe three months after my experience I used to put cinnamon in the morning and I used to not eat meat and dairy that was my level of observance and it was so important to me to have a mezuzah but not only on the front door on all the doors and the best-of-the-best supposing I'm not saving money here on the mesozoic give me the best that you have and I saw the the reaction I was so excited about the midst of of mezuzah that ashamed right away gave me a reward that there was no chance based on nature that I would ever quit smoking I was like I'm gonna die a smoker and Shem says oh yeah i'll show you what's the power of a mitzvah and against all odds I was able to quit smoking in such a miraculous way that up until today now I smell cigarettes from a mile where I get nauseous and I give it only for this hood of the mezuzah only because the importance of them is designed how everything was around it and that's how I learned on my own flesh is when you go there beyond the letter of the law you go beyond what a sham tells you sham tells you a and you says no I'm gonna make it a beautiful egg not a regular egg when I go all the way and you melt a Shems arts that's where you really climb to a higher level that you do everything beyond the letter of the law it's called the Hassid and the hasin says to a Shem whatever you tell me I'm gonna do much much more you're not required you don't have to do it but you do it because you want to and you know what not that we're doing it for the sake of getting a reward but when you go the extra mile the Kenosha backhoe you melt his heart he will give you anything that you want just say just the go that extra mile so I I have a personal relationship so to say with the mezuzah cause I saw that I was so excited to do a mitzvah and that's how I was when I became observant every Mitzvah was so exciting but specifically the mezuzah I saw how it not only guarded me how it blessed me how I saw such a goodbye a huge abundance not necessarily in physical I didn't needed the money near its Muslim about the money and the abundance of this blessing that I got is that I got my freedom looking back I was like this is the one of the worst habits a person can have is smoking is just disgusting it's costly stinks it's you dependent on some stick it's like I don't know I could I couldn't felt how could I smoke 15 years now then cigarettes were cheap now cigarettes is 40 shekels a box 40 shekels are marked when I used to smoke was like a shekel and 15 ago so but it didn't penetrate into my how could I smoke for so many years so here you see the power of the mitzvot and specifically the power of the mezuzah then the calash BOGO says I'm gonna give you the Mitzvah you already can choose if you go the extra mile or not but we learned from here that not only that the mezuzah has a power of guarding you the mezuzah has a certain power in it that gives you a certain abundance and it's a certain Mitzvah that the calash baba says you are allowed to benefit from its reward because you're doing it for the sake of the Mitzvah the fact that you're getting the reward that's because it's a part of the Mitzvah we allowed to do the mitts before the sake of the reward and only that we allowed to we have to beautify it so going by oh so beautiful mrs. old make sure all your all your doors in the house at mrs. Oates and needless to say this is a very unique Mitzvah that we have as a nation of the Jews everywhere you're driving in different neighborhood you see a mezuzah Julia zero Julia zero sometimes you drive in a different neighborhood you see one house as a mezuzah as house doesn't have a mezuzah this is a symbol of pride to our nation and we have to carry it proudly that we have a missus on our door we carry a shims name on our doors and needless to say that the reward is that he guards us and blesses us and we get this abundance so I like not only seeing the practical part of the Mitzvah but also seeing there beyond the practical that we have to learn from that that we have to do the mitzvoth beyond what a sham tells us to do it's not just to do it according what the book says and senses that's enough to me go an extra mile the kadosh book says you you want me to go the extra mile with you then you go beyond the letter of the law with me and this is how it works measure for measure you go beyond the letter of the law the Kenosha bahu also stretches and it goes way beyond what you deserve to get the solution we should the merits to constantly be involved in mitzvahs and constantly carry the name of Hashem with us and maybe so say that we should all sleep all be blessed with an abundance of physicality and health and wealth and happiness and all the good things that our Shem knows how to give us [Music]