Parsha Perspectives for Today (Eikev, 5781) - The Secret to Happiness

good morning bokertov and welcome back to our parsha perspectives for today this week we have the privilege of learning parshas akev together as always we want to thank with great gratitude our dear friends becky navi cats and family who sponsored the partial series for the year and loving memory of becky's father david grossman david manish should have and aliyah through all of our learning through their generosity through their leadership thank you so much if you'd like to sponsor a future parshashir then please go to brsonline.org sponsor brsonline.org sponsor and you can easily choose your date put in the language pay all conveniently in one place brsonline.org slash sponsor okay practice akev on page 980 page 980 in the art scroll stone is passionate inspiring monologue his soliloquy his message to the jewish people the final day of his life the lessons he's learned in his life and the charge that he has for them as they're about to go into the land of israel and fulfill and realize his dream and his life mission that he's not able to do and he says to them and it will be if you will listen to what is listen to these mishpath the promise the covenant he made with you that which he not only promised you that which he promised your forefathers that which he promised your ancestors i got a wonderful news safer m a collection of the teachings of the katsukoreba and the great kotzker says the following of menachem mendel he says he wrote it in the year read it in the hebrew hasof and it will be achieved in the end of days the end of time the word akiv is like ikves of the meshicha in the eschatological era the end of times in the end of days then what will be tishman you will be forced to listen you won't have a choice when hashem will reveal himself to us when there will be a clarity when we will be undeniable god's existence our responsibility our accountability to him akev in the end of day's tishma's like it or not we'll be forced to listen so therefore we might as well listen right now the yeah since in the end we'll have to listen to shmoon so therefore might as well we might as well listen and we might as well observe right now that's his first interpretation the kotskar sort of a classic cutscere biting somewhat cynical kotzker akev in the end of days it won't be a choice it won't be elective we won't be volunteering to listen we will have no choice we'll be obligated so since that's what will be at the end we might as well listen right now but then he has a second interpretation a little bit more upbeat a little bit more positive says the katsuka valley quoting from the measures every time we see the word in the torah it's a lashon simcha it's a reflection of joy of happiness there's something positive so where is the simcha here hasim if you live a life of listening to hashem there will be great choice says the cutscore so why is the section introduced with the word the cutscore is dealing with a question he doesn't articulate the question but he's essentially answering a question that he doesn't even articulate which is why doesn't the puzzle just begin a gift if or when you will hearken you will listen why do we need the word so the first interpretation is you're going to one day the second interpretation is it is a lesson there's something joyous there's some happiness there's some happiness in it that's the katsuka's interpretation but there are others explains the word is not extra it doesn't and couldn't begin a competition when it's critically important what does that mean says serenity peace peace of mind joy happiness or the tachless says they are the goal of a total way of life a kev means the goal akev is the purpose akev is the matara the essence of a torah way of life is vahaya some of us many of us too many of us are raised with an attitude with an approach that torah a jewish observant lifestyle requires us to give up our happiness sacrifice compromise be of service it doesn't matter you don't get to eat what you want go where you want live the lifestyle you want but you have to be of service and sacrifice that's what religion means for hashem says you know what the essence the goal the taklas of tish moon of listening to hashem's torah of life is look around this world and see so many others who are struggling to navigate to make sense to get through this complicated difficult world and we have the lashon simcha we have the opportunity we have the privilege that the torah is our tool the torah is our navigation the torah is our gps the torah doesn't eliminate and doesn't remove challenges and hardships but it gives us the ability of the road map to navigate vahaya being living with peace of mind being calm what a message what a message for us and what a message for us to convey how critically important for us to convey to our children to our grandchildren to the next generation because so how does that work what is the mechanism the mechanics of this insight tish moon if i listen to hashem i have joy and happiness what do you mean turns out a lot of people are living observant ways of life and they're giving up happiness where are they going wrong what does he really mean so i suggest to you it means the following and this is a theme really throughout our entire parsha it is i think the central message that moshe is conveying in the part of his speeches monologue that we read here in particular when we think that we're in control when we think that we're in charge we have an endless pressure and endless anxiety we think it's all on us it's on our shoulders it's our responsibility when we believe that even after we've tried our hardest and we do our best that the outcome is just random it's just chance it's just happenstance it's almost impossible to be happy when you look at others and you see that they have and we feel we deserve more we deserve what they have and that we can never be happy with what i have we'll never find serenity when others disappoint you or worse they hurt you and you think it's all on them and they're the ones who've hurt us and we don't deserve it we get angry and resentful we may even have a burning desire for revenge so when we think we're isolated alone in this world we think it's all on us it's our responsibility and when we think that when others do things it's their free will which did it and when we think that we're responsible for the outcome or that the outcome is not if it's beyond our control then it's just subject of chance all of that leads to a life of tension of anxiety of unhappiness but if tishma's if we can successfully listen to the messages around us if we see hashem and the blessings in our lives if we recognize the infinite omnipotent all-powerful source of all existence that the ribonus shalom the master of the universe is in fact intimately involved in our lives nothing is random a chance everything is carefully planned and executed from above then i can sit back then i can be calm and serene then i can find happiness and joy because i know someone much bigger much smarter than i am pulling the strings we'll see this in a moment with a mitzvah that's repeated twice in our parsha and several times in sephid varam and that is the mitzvah of devekas of clinging to hashem sticking to hashem that judaism torah halacha an observant way of life and muna bitacho living with faith and clinging cleaving to god they're not about burdening us and they're not about restricting our lives and they're not about an act of service or of giving up or depriving us of pleasure like people mistakenly believe but torah is exactly the opposite you want happiness you're looking for joy peace of mind you want the tools to navigate this crazy complicated world akev tishman then listen carefully pay attention heed the message the instruction manual the blueprint of hashem believe in him lean into him submit him surrender to him and then follow in his ways and it doesn't mean that we won't encounter illness it doesn't mean that there won't be challenges financial crisis and infertility and conflict but it means we have the tool to be able to navigate rabbini not on our parsha brahbana bachara bachaya back and say for about midbar in paris he writes a person must always try to feel happy and joyous when doing mitzvos after all that's the point of doing mitzvos a mitzvah is it is the connection point it is the invitation to be able to rendezvous with hashem that's what a mitzvah is so when we do a mitzvah out of a sense of a burden when we do a mitzvah like we'd really rather not then we're missing that opportunity that invitation to connect with hashem but when we embrace the mitzvah and lean into the mitzvah and we accept and recognize that the mitzvah is our ability to connect to hashem then then our relationship deepens bringing deep satisfaction profound joy writes mitzvah atmo being happy and joyous when doing a mitzvah is a mitzvah into itself and i would say it's exactly like marriage spouse asks you to do something and you do it begrudgingly and you do it miserably and you do it with a fabis and upon him with a sad face and you do it with snide comments and passive aggressiveness then why'd you bother doing it the fact that they asked you to do something was not only because that thing needed to be done but that which they asked you and that which you agreed was the opportunity to draw close was the opportunity to invest and contribute and make a deposit in the relationship but when you do it with negativity and sadness then you miss that opportunity yeah you've discharged the obligation yeah you could project next to you got thing done but it didn't yield the transformation in the relationship that it could have so therefore says not only do we need to do the mitzvos god has asked of us which really are not for him they're for us to begin with but not only should we do those mitzvos we should do them because there's a corollary there's a parallel mitzvah and that is to do mitzvos besimcha to do the mitzvah with a sense of joy some mistakenly think that to be religious or to pursue a life of righteousness you have to look serious somber sad that the most righteous people walk around like this all day and they walk around i'm so serious in mitzvos and you're shamayim and i'm afraid of hashem and i'm so scared i'm so afraid and i tremble and i'd sit there but that couldn't be farther from the truth the gemaran shabbos tells us that spirituality that connecting with the divine doesn't happen with an attitude of sadness or gloom that if we want to connect with our creator it happens with a sense of joy and if i ask you that makes total total sense because we know when it comes to ourselves we are drawn to be around people who are happy we don't want to be around foreign miserable people we don't want to be about negative hypercritical people complaining people we want to be around the people who are positive who lift us up who are filled with joy and a positive energy god also doesn't want our negative energy he doesn't want our pessimism he doesn't want our frown for abyss in a face he is more predisposed to be with us and therefore we are more likely to feel his presence when we are positive and optimistic and upbeat and when we put a smile on our face even when we don't feel like it ain't shrink god does not want to be around atswa sadness or atlas laziness or stroke or frivolousness he wants authentic and genuine joy for life to focus not on what's missing but what's there to be happy for our lot and what we have to be able to make the decision because happiness is not an emotion it is a decision and so it's no wonder the shock tells us when you stand up to daven be serious of course be focused don't be frivolous with varun battalion don't think about extraneous thoughts me took us and not out of anger what is the dominant feeling you should have when you stand up to dave and concludes the shock [Applause] happiness now you'd say happiness you're about to have an audience with the king of kings you're about to have an audience with the most powerful god happiness should be serious somber focused and the answer is of course we take it seriously but you should walk in with a smile and with the joy elemitor yamad les stand up take those three steps forward so when you dive in your amii when you take your three steps back leave behind any sadness leave behind any negative energy when you take those three steps forward before hashem's facade put a smile on your face because the king wants an audience with you when you walk in with a smile loya model is stand up to daven from joy it's a great image but not only an image and exercise it's a great practice to have three steps forward i smile hashem hashem move my lips give me the words to be able to connect with you the rambam and the last of us to feel joyous is a huge avodah we don't always feel it it's a decision not a feeling and it's hard to make that decision to take that leap to transform our feeling by having made that decision it's an avodah gidola describes the rambam and whoever prevents or precludes themselves from feeling that joy royally hiparami menu is deserving of a great punishment is deserving of a great punishment so we have to choose happiness choose happiness the kusari writes khloe shalom we have three principles when it comes to serving hashem the kozari writes in mimer bays in 49 in mem tess and what are those three character traits what are those three qualities what are those three conditions what are those three attitudes in the service of hashem yira or ava love and simha the third pillar is simcha finding the ability to smile to be positive to focus on what's important to trust in hashem to let go is a fundamental part of what it means to be a jew to let go and let god to feel simcha and all this is in the opening word of our parsha not extraneous not akev tishmun it doesn't just begin in the negative eike of tishmun but we have to model this for our children being a yid is not fair being here is not shepherd's design it's not difficult it's not sacrifice of course we have to be willing to sacrifice it's not only good times and happiness there are sacrifices which we're asked to make but ultimately when we make them we do it with joy simcha we have to feel simcha we're still in khudis in the month of and we've passed tish above we've passed tuba of the happiest day on the calendar but the mishnah tells us when the month of enters we are supposed to reduce or diminish our sense of joy but the laboratory read the mishnah differently and he said when the month of enters we diminish we withdraw we quiet how even that is basimcha it's not me we're not diminishing the joy we're and how are we in the way is a pilot light times we turn it up the times we turn it down in the month of but we never turn it off because if do us hashem you want a life of happiness serenity peace of mind then embracing a total way of life submitting surrendering to a relationship with hashem living with that moon and vacus that is the means the mechanism it is the way in which we can and will connect we ask hashem again the pasha is so rich there's so much to unpack we have so much we'll see if we'll get to so we're going to make our way through if we do this hashem gives us a promise he'll love you or bless you you'll multiply our children will not multiply our material possessions will multiply bharatiya michola that we will be more blessed from all the other nations there will be no infertility among us among our animals hashem will remove illness disease i'll just share with you a couple questions we're not going to get to but we know we know that the mishnah tells us don't serve god amen the missionary elvis says don't serve god on condition to be rewarded we don't serve like a like an evid like a servant who does so for the reward we do it altruistically we do it nobly we do it sincerely so why is the tory here telling us these rewards number two we don't find that the people who are observant in fact don't struggle don't suffer don't confront these challenges so the promise the torah is making here doesn't seem consistent compatible with what we measure empirically when we look around this world number three it says hashem if we live the life that we're meant to will remove from us all illness why remove from us the illness that passage implies it suggests that first the person's ill they're struggling but if you live a righteous life he see hashem is going to remove the illness why not not have the illness to begin with why not have the person be healthy and not have to struggle will conquer our enemies and so on but ki samar bilbao but what's the alternative if we're not righteous and religious if we don't submit and surrender to him if we don't recognize and we say how am i going to drive out these enemies how will i surpass them how will i survive them low to ram don't fear them zachary you have to remember remember why did god hear the torah tells us when god took us out of egypt he did with pomp and circumstance god took us out in extraordinary ways why was he arrogant is it egotistical was he showing off the answer is no god did so so in perpetuity we could look back and point back and say when we fear the modern current enemy he took care of them he'll take care of this net them now that god look what he did then and he'll do it again now that's why he did it that way and that's what we are meant to remember that is the assurance that is the promise of hashem to your home which the rambam the ramban agree is an idol we cannot bring idolatry don't worship the mighty dollar don't worship celebrities and influencers don't worship other forms of power all there is hashem we're supposed to exclusively connect to him but it also means gaiva to eva we know the possibility describes that gaiva arrogance is an abomination so the torah says don't bring that abomination into your house it means arrogance leave your ego at the door don't walk into your house and be a micro manager don't power struggle don't dictate or be a dictator within your home lo tavis don't bring that toeva called arrogance don't bring that toeva that abominable thing called ego into your home kola mitzvo now the next peric peregras deals with the lessons of food the attitude to food we could speak about this for hours at length food for us is not a concession food is not secular profane or mundane food is an invitation and a platform towards religiosity and righteousness food is a way in which we come close to hashem when we engage in the proper context and attitude it becomes a means through to connect to grow when we don't and we eat it in an animal way we become base and we lower ourselves so the torah tells us in this case in this context that hashem tested us when we were in the desert when we were following god he tested us he wanted to know if we were loyal to him and what was the means what was the test he gave us the mon vayang he afflicted us and he let us go hungry and then he gave us the man and he told us that we don't live off of bread alone we live off of that which comes from hashem and the question of course is the test the man was a test god test me in that way i welcome such a test give me endless parnassa give me income without effort the month failed to send it from heaven it tasted like what everyone wanted it predictably fell every single day what kind of a test is that so i refer you to the last partial shear i think we didn't give last year but two years ago we spent a long time looking at different maforshim what kind of a test was the man and what can we learn from that today about our parnassa about our income and about our relationship with hashem i'm not going to review all the interpretations and insights we saw two years ago about what was the test of the month but i take you to the end of the passage the end of the passage is a person cannot survive on bread alone rather what do we live off of and here there's an insight a beautiful insight of the heligem the great vision at zareba and the vision of suraba says refers us to the shlock name of the arie but then he says is describing our shabbos table we come to the shabbos table i once got in trouble for writing an article about this i'm not criticizing the people who enjoy and want to invest themselves in elaborate complicated expensive shabbos menus three color five color 20 color gefilte fish three fishes four meats 17 side dishes 19 courses to serve on a charger with a plate with the matching thing with the matching the other with bottles of wine that more expensive than the other if it's all done the covered shabbos if a person enjoys it puts their heart into it can afford it and it's done la cava chavez then tavo alejandra enjoy beautiful delicious i love as much as the next person but we have to remember says the imrich nazirebba that when we come to the shabbos table what matters most not the food it's not the delicacies we're eating that food the covered shabbos kodesh we have that shabbos table to be with the people who are around it the conversation and the zumeros and the relationship matter much more ma'am you want your children to embrace shabbos you want your children to want to recreate and emulate the shabbos experience then don't only pressure them to spend and to work hard to recreate your menu let them remember this mirrors the singing the happiness the joy let them remember the devray torah let them remember the stories let them remember the guests let them remember the conversations the food is wonderful the delicacies are wonderful the accoutrements are wonderful the utensils are wonderful but ultimately your spiritual life and your spiritual continuity does not depend on the menu alone it's what you speak about hashem if you're sitting and you have the most expensive delicacies you have 14 of the most expensive herrings you have an amazing what's it called all of the jerkies and the beef oh i'm blinking out on the name now many communities are high competition on the wooden board that you're serving all of the i'm blanking out on the name all of the dry meats and the cut up salamis and the expensive our spiritual existence our spiritual health our spiritual life and our spiritual continuity are not about the charcuterie they're not about the herring they're not about the martini the whiskey or the tequila bar but it's hashem it's what we speak about do we invoke hashem at that shabbos table while we're enjoying those delicacies which i'm not criticizing charcuterie thank you it's about it's about komodza p it's about what leaves our mouth hashem it's hashem part of the conversation are we talking about him are we engaging him are we relaying his messages says the vision of not about the menu not about the charcuterie it's how much we from our mouth speak about hashem that is that is the determinant of our life okay with that we go over to our first ish talmud of the day our first we don't have a lot today of rav druk in his ishtamid and he says the following what does it mean that god caused us to suffer to struggle and then he fed us the man and he fed us he supplied us the mon as a test why because we can't live alone and if druck points out he points out that the posix and them are based on twice in our passage we have the word yes we can't live alone off of bread rather hashem it's hashem's word yeah that's what we'll live off of why do we have that word twice in the past but moreover asks of druk if you look at the targum unclass if you look at the aramaic translation the second century convert unclass he translates the word differently in the same passage in the very same passage the word appears twice and in each time uncles translates it differently the first time he writes the second time so why does he change his translation what does that reflect about the interpretation of the pasuk so says the way to understand this inside the interpretation of target yeah the first time we're talking about bread we don't live to eat we eat to live bread is not life bread is not life loss we can't live without bread we can't live without eating we can't live without nourishment a good friend of mine in the community's father tragically is uh an end of life as end of life shiloh's and is making the enormous decision does one provide nutrition put in a feeding tube but jpeg what needs to be done because if we don't provide nourishment and nutrition then a person won't die from illness they'll die from malnourishment they'll die from starvation complicated end of life issues even if one doesn't have to provide what we call heroic measures do we still have to provide oxygen and nourishment because law because you can't live without food you can't live without nourishment without nutrients so the first time that the targum translates the word he translates it as miscaym bread keeps us alive mizkayim ancha anasha bread keeps us alive however the pasta continues it's not bread alone which keeps us alive it's alcohol hashem it's also on hashem's word we need a healthy physical diet and we need a healthy spiritual diet we go for a physical we need to go for a spiritual we nourish our body we need to nourish our soul so that is an altogether different type of nourishment that is a different type of life source mom says the spiritual nourishment unlike bread where bread is not an ends and bread is not life bread is just something that sustains life but when it comes to pea hashem komodza hashem when it comes to torah when it comes to spirituality that is life and therefore uncles translates it as a so unclass changes his translation in the two times that the word is used in the passage why because they're two different meanings the first time we're talking about bread and bread is miscaye mancha bread keeps us alive it sustains life but when it comes to komotsapi hashem when it comes to torah spirituality it's not just that it is a means it is the ends it is life itself is our life torah is life bread is a intermediary it is a means whereas torah is an ends there's a fundamental difference and with israel druk concludes his comment by quoting a story from the governor of bora berzatzal robotic bear once a jew came to the bark bear and said torah is like the air that we breathe just like if we don't breathe we can't live so too without torah we cannot leave live and rebarak bear corrected him and he said no air you need avir nitzr we need oxygen to live avalatora kedosha enochin is not just like oxygen that we needed to live torah is not something we need to live torah is life itself a fundamental different attitude a different perspective a different outlook on it okay so while we're in this section perhaps we're talking about the role of food of bread in our lives it is a means a mechanism a platform to come close to grow to hashem it is with bread that we battle that we fight the temptation for food that's the whole world is an attitude towards eating an opportunity to draw close to hashem through it that every time we sing and miss more the devin in parikh mismarak of gima kapital 23 of the hashem you spread out before me a table negative across from my adversaries who are my adversaries am i inviting my enemies to break bread with me no you know who my adversaries are my adversaries are the 17th piece of khala my adversary is the fattening dip my adversary is the trader joe corn chip my adversary is to continue to eat even when i'm full negative the shulchan is the place that i waged that war and it is the place where i fight that battle towards spirituality and here to not forget where it comes from and to express our gratitude that's what the parasha continues that we have to remember the torah tells us we're in chapter 8 verse 7 that god you bring us to the good land there's so much you bring us to a land with streams of water of springs underground water valley and mountain erits a land of wheat and barley and grape and fig and pomegranate of oil day olive oil and date honey eretza shalom a land where you will eat bread without poverty you lack nothing there eretz a land whose stones are iron from whose mountain you mind copper the akhalta bisavata uveirach to eat and be satisfied be sated and blessed bless and thank hashem for the good land that he gave us this of course is the mitzvah of benching the source of the mitzvah of benching we eat we say thank you and we benched you says in the middle is visavata describing we're satisfied is that subscribing are we satisfied from the eating or is our satisfaction from blessing thanking communicating with hashem says are we excited are we satisfied is our belly full because we ate food or because now we have the opportunity to thank hashem visavata is not going on viagalta says be satisfied and feel full from the fact that you bless hashem the great mr sanders of our community we miss him and surely should continue to be well always says to me some people some people bench because they ate he says i eat so i could bench why wouldn't there are people who avoid eating bread at all costs not because they're worried about carbs but because they're worried about having a bench they don't want a bench so they don't eat bread he says the opposite he only nibbles on a piece of bread really he's not interested in the bread he eats the bread so he could bench visavata what makes us feel full of the akhalta the bread or are we gratified gratified satisfied do we walk away from that meal feeling good about the fact that we just had the opportunity to connect hashem and radruck has a similar insight he says he said it occurs to me to ask about the order of the sukim we just praised the land eretz israel israel is characterized by these seven species and so on and so forth so we should have immediately after praising the land of israel and characterizing it by these seven species continued and when you eat of them you'll be full in your blessed why do we interrupt and interject pulsates in between by describing it's a land whose stones are iron it's a land we describe whose mountains will mine copper eating and being satisfied has to do with the food that we just praised in the land what does it have to do with the qualities of the stone and of the metal vine we can answer by asking a question on benching itself the middle the second bracha of benching is birch and in that second bracha we say the following we say we acknowledge you god for the bris for the covenant for the promise that you have engraved on our skin on our flesh and the torah that you've taught us on the laws that you've taught us you've made us aware of where modem we express our appreciation in benching not just thank you for this calzone for this pizza not just thank you for the sandwich for this hot dog but gamkin alimonatoro brusmila and benching our gratitude is not just for the physical and benching our gratitude is for the spiritual thank you hashem for torah thank you hashem for bris by the way so much that was deal with women are exempt from torah learning women are exempt from bris are women obligated in benching do they can do they include these themes omit these themes a whole discussion but the question is the second barack of benching of al-aqua is the beauty of the land of israel why are we interrupting interjecting our expression of gratitude of praise of admiration for the beauty of the land of israel why are we all of a sudden bringing up and also thank you as well for learning torah and fabrics when we're invoking when we're remembering gratitude and praise to hashem that he took us out of egypt that he brought us into israel we also remember ganking we do not just focus and emphasize the physical that we got the land but on the spiritual as well whenever we say thank you for physical we have to remember to also say thank you for the spiritual so in that second bracha la cole it's not just thank you for this magnificent land for the beautiful land with fantastic minerals what fantastic stone what fantastic metal what fantastic species oh but while i'm praising the physical i cannot imply or suggest that that's all i care about that that's good enough but i recognize and i'm grateful for the spiritual as well and that's the end of zazinus says if we're going to thank god for the physical world and for the physical sustenance then we have to mention why we need it and why we're grateful for it i'm grateful to be alive why because of the bris and so i could learn torah i'm grateful for food that sustains me that animates me why so i could learn torah and pursue and fulfill the bris kenzie so that's why here too we are expanding our gratitude not just for the species but for the stone for the metal for the minerals so the passage is inserted because the akhata vesavata is going not just on the food is going on the whole land when we bench we don't just say thank you for the food that's right in front of me thank you for the ambiance thank you for my experience thank you for the context thank you for everything and then ravdruk asks what i think is a great question i don't know if it's ever occurred to you but this is a fantastic question in benching we say alakol hashem on everything i'm so grateful to you thank you thank you that i don't have to work the field backbreaking labor thank you that i don't have to sit in the sun thank you that i don't have to plow and plant and harvest and grind and winnow thank you i can go to the supermarket in the kosher market and i can go and buy and eat and enjoy alcohol on all of this that somebody else did that work someone else manufactured somebody else packaged someone else distributed it and somebody else made it easy for me thank you for the parness of the income that enabled me to be able to eat a la cola and all of that and so much more modi i'm so grateful and why am i saying thank you kakasu as the posix says i'm saying thank you because the posix says that when we eat and when we're grateful and when we're full we have to say thank you and wonders of druk can you imagine you go to your friend and you say i want to thank you thank you so much for the favor thank you so much for the gift and i'm thanking you because my father told me that i have to come and say thank you i'm thanking you because my father taught me my mother always says you have to say thank you. that's not expression of gratitude you're an ingrate you're saying the only reason i'm saying thank you is not because i feel thank you but because it says i have to say thank you it's a rule it's a law it's a dictate that's the rule in my home for my parents that's the rule in my torah from hashem i'm only saying thank you because i have to say thank you doesn't that take away from it being genuine authentic so why do we invoke it in other words the torah says when you eat you're satisfied bench great institute benching why do we invoke the torah's obligation within the actual fulfillment making it sound like we're doing it not because it's right or because we feel it we're doing it because it says it so says rav juk the following the answer is who are we to be grateful to god he's perfect we're finite we're fallible we're pathetic who are we to say thank you hello it takes the humility should be shamed cover our face because we can't possibly adequately express gratitude we can't possibly appreciate understand everything that goes into it and therefore who are we to say thank you the answer is our only license our only justification to say thank you is because you invited us to do so it's because you allow us to do so angels it's not from ourselves it's that you gave us license you empower you enable you invited us to do so and that's why we are able to we are able to do so okay moving right along the danger we're on page nine eighty-four now perhaps possible still in this context what's going to happen what's going to happen god who fed you food again invoking this image he did it to testosterone what's the test because we're going to say in our hearts my full bank account my flourishing portfolio it's me god god didn't choose those stocks god didn't put in those hours in the office god didn't close that deal god didn't shop and make that recipe and have this delicious meal turn out it's all me it's all me we're going to say koki my power my strength my skills otsum yadi my effort my toil is it's what brought about this result that's the temptation that's the the the desire says the sir of masha kashmits he says when a person is poor and they're down and out then they never ever ascribe the kalkala batsmo person says hareyos parnassasi when a person is down or not they say god why are you doing this to me god where are you god what happened god turn it around and then when they succeed they say no that wasn't god that was all me he says it should really be exactly the opposite but isha adam is ashraf doula when a person succeeds in triumphs when a person when a person rises to greatness then they should say it wasn't me it's all hashem and when a person's down and out they should recognize they could yet still try harder says the kashnit sir we have it backwards that's the fear that's the danger the kokhiva otsumyodhi that is the concern of where we're going to go wrong i've said before and i'm invoking it again because i think it's so important and so critical to mention and i believe the insight of of the ran the ram rabbenu nissim in the beginning of his tenth drush in jerusalem he asks the question he says what do you mean we can't take responsibility the torah is filled with reminders that we have we're going to read soon behold i'm putting before you today blessings and curse free will choice autonomy so how come later we can't say pride don't we have a right to be proud i put in those long hours i worked hard and i studied i had that great idea i was creative i had vision i had drive i had ambition why can't we take pride why can't we feel at least partially responsible for our success how do we reconcile the torah's endorsement and the personal responsibility of free will with the torah here saying never say kokhiva samyadi it's a famous question but the inside of the ran is life-changing so though i've shared it before i share it again with you today and iran writes the following i'll read it to you in the translation because of the sake of time he says the meaning is as follows the truth is that people have different talents in different areas certain people are predisposed to receive wisdom others are predisposed to devise strategies to gather and amass wealth on account of this the wealthy man can truthfully say my ability and the might of my hand made me wealth nevertheless and so far as that ability was implanted within you be sure to remember who gives you the ability to make that wealth and here listen to the ram the ron points out then moshe did not say did not say remember that hashem is the one who gives you wealth for if he had said that he'd be minimizing the fact that the ability implanted within the person is an intermediate cause in the accumulation of the wealth but that's not the case what did moshe say no it doesn't say hashem gave us the went wealth it says hashem gave us the strength the talent the wisdom the ingenuity the entrepreneurship the creativity to amass the wealth says the raan the torah is not asking us to deny or to not be proud of our accomplishment or achievement it's asking us to recognize and to realize that whatever strength and whatever skill we had to to achieve it was from hashem it was on loan never part of our permanent collection we have to recognize that yes we can take with pride responsibility for success but where did we get the talents the skills the strength to be able to do it it comes from hashem it comes from hashem ravmosha of kutsi or the safer called the safer mitzvos godolas the smag for short and he identifies the enumerator of target mitzvahs the council the minion all 6 13 and towards the end of the introduction to the safeway he writes something remarkable he finished his safe ramesses godot smug his magnum opus and then he writes that he was told you've forgotten a dream you have forgotten the foundational mitzvah not to forget hashem and become so when he woke up he revised his whole sephirah mitzvos his whole calculation of tarak of 613 mitzros and he included a prohibition of gaiva mitzvolosa says negative precept 64. never become arrogant don't bring arrogance into your home yes maybe you're smart autistic athletic entrepreneurial successful but where did you get that from it is on loan not part of your permanent collection it is not part of who you always are i'll tell you i'll give you a little sneak preview that behind the beam is coming back august 11th we'll have four episodes before sukis very excited we have extraordinary guests one of them one of them who is uh amazing is uh one of my uh i've always been a fan of his the greatest closer in all of history of baseball the first unanimous uh entry to the hall of fame third time 13-time all-star five-time world series champion mariano rivera one of our is our maybe our first one of our first guests on behind the bema when we come back so mariano rivera retired listen to his achievements 13-time all-star five-time world series champion first ever inducted to the hall of fame unanimous ballot he is at the peak the top of major league baseball and when he retired he was asked about his ability to throw the one pitch he threw that every batter knew was coming which was the slider and he said the following quote everything i have and everything i became is because of the strength of the lord and through him i have accomplished everything not because of my strength only by his love his mercy and his strength the person should never say kokhiba's we say the opposite we say the opposite. that god is the one who gives us the strength for whatever we accomplished in life you're going to want to watch that interview because he's a person of deep and profound faith who credits all of his success to god really really inspiring what we're meant to remember not to deny that we have gifts talents and strengths not to not take pride in what we've accomplished and achieved with them but remember that they come from hashem hussein he is the one who gives us that that destler says i just got this new satisfaction which is a collection of balay that god is the one who gives us the talent and the skills and the strength to achieve writes uncle sunkel is getting a lot of play today in the pasture class writes unclass he is the one who put the idea in your mind how to acquire property who told you to buy airlines when the market dipped at the beginning of corona who told you to invest in bitcoin or to sell it short when it was plummeting who told you tesla was a good buy who put that idea in your head says uncles says rav destler every jew believes we know that if we do well it is only with the seat of the shimaya it's only with the divine insight inspiration from hashem but however we sometimes think i'm the balkishrin i'm the entrepreneur i'm the smart one even though we dive in and shul when we dab and dab we say patamaktorus from a cloth and we wear the red bendel and we make the shlesakhala and we say hashem parnassa hashem parnasa i heard you did well in the market yeah i'm pretty smart i'm successful i had the idea it was my thought no matter what we say we believe in reality in actuality all too often we say yeah i need god's help but it was my idea it was my thought it was my hap so a person should realize a person should realize ezra of destler who gave you the thought who gave you the idea who gave you the creativity margala bapume what we often say on ashma gillum lomar nafali ra ayon will often say you know this thought struck me this thought struck me i was in the shower i was diving i was going for a walk i was driving my car and it struck me this thought struck me what does that mean this dodge who struck you with a thought what did it fall from the sky you banged your head on a tree what do you mean the thought struck you um god is the one who knocked you on the head with that thought who did what the thought came coincidentally randomly out of nowhere he is the one who provided the thought that's where it came from perky we're skipping all the pairing tests remembering our time our time through the wilderness through the midbar the challenges the trials the tribulations how we surpassed them moshe recalls them accounts in that time god told me take two stones our own died base israel and now jewish people what does god want from you all god wants us to have all of them fear of him walk in his way love him serve him with all of your heart with all your soul we have discussed this at length in previous parasha's as well i refer you back to them you could find them online and listen to them we've discussed what does it mean moshe seems to minimize viato what does he want all he wants is the hardest things in the world to do you're going to call that all he wants what does he want after all all he wants is what is the hardest thing in the world to do we discuss and unpack that previously so what does it mean here all he wants what does it mean here all he wants so viator he's spoken about means now what does god want from you he wants you to live in this dimension what does god want from you he wants you to live in the here and now viata don't be stuck in the past and don't be dreaming about the future live in the here and in the now but volba has another interpretation here and revolver reminds us israel and now what does he want the gemara menachem learns something special from here the gemara reads don't read it ma what does god want read it maya mayer not ma maya he wants a hundred brachas a day may have broken we've discussed this also in the past he wants us to recite a hundred brachas a day we have to walk around with a calculator a calculation how do you get to a hundred brokers a day three shimano x-rays are a great start you got a few asha yatsars sambir khasanan throwing bench and you're at your 100 times a day a hundred times a day god wants us to make a bid for connection a hundred times a day he wants us to remember he is there revolver writes in ali shore parakurfud bays revolver writes our rabbis deduced from our passage an enormous obligation responsibility to recite a hundred brachas a day lax or may upon allah a hundred times a day to become grounded a hundred times a day to recalibrate a hundred times a day to remember the truth looking that god our god is the king of the universe he gave us every pleasure our body our soul the core of the reason that a hundred times a day we have to re-center remember is because i kara satov you're ever on waze and you want to see how far away you are so you scroll on the screen you want to see where there's a gas station a dunkin donuts a 7-eleven you scroll on the screen and there's a little button you could press to get back to where you are to get back to seeing where you're meant to be going what does it say re-center you press recenter and it brings you back on the screen to where you actually are and the trajectory and path of where you're meant to be going if you're going to get to that destination says revolver maya bracha's behold is that re-center button on life we have a journey there's a destination there's a trajectory but we can lose sight of where we are we can get distracted and veer from the path and we have to press that recenter to recalibrate to recenter to remind ourselves where we are and how we're going to go where we're going where we're meant to go and why do we recalibrate what is that button of recenter maya brachus says revolver a hundred bucks a day gratitude gratitude is the same between people and with god and he said i don't see god in the land of truth in pune miraculously recovered from a life-threatening illness he wrote in a letter and he said with my days cut short i will go to the gates of the grave deprived of the rest of my years i had said i will not see hashem so the radak quotes from sanjigon who says what does it mean i will not see hashem says the radar perishabe you know what it means to see god is to be grateful if you're ungrateful you don't really see god and if you see god you are filled with gratitude how can you see hashem writes your vobe through recognizing his kindness and thanking him for it review your day review your meal review your life over and over and say thank you what does he want from us he wants us a hundred times a day to say thank you you know why do i have to say thank you for the same food it's the same food i said thank you for coffee yesterday i have to say thank you for coffee again today and the answer is yes because we don't thank hashem just once for giving us food or water or clothing for giving us our spouse our children our life our job for giving us our house every day calls for an additional gratitude every day is a new us every day is a new world every day is a new context a new background every day is a new opportunity to say thank you that's what he wants from us so i say thank you thank you for joining for our sheer thank you to the katsys for sponsoring thank you to whoever wants to sponsor future shirum if you listen you're not a member of brs you appreciate your joining then please brs online.org sponsor sponsor a few episodes it's a personal up perfect opportunity in honor and memory of someone else much more i wanted to get to about the mitzvah of vegas and about teaching our children second paragraph of shema to save it for a future year uh join us tomorrow morning 8 15 10 minutes of meeting mistles asharam 8 45 living with emunah until next time stay happy stay healthy