Parsha Perspectives for Today (Vaeschanan - Nachamu)

everyone welcome back to our weekly parsha perspectives for today where we analyze the weekly parsha trying to extract lessons for our contemporary times messages the torah portion is always relevant to whatever it is that we're going through nothing is by coincidence or random but the way it falls out always has lessons and that's what we'll try to do this week today as always this week the privilege of studying pashas which appears in the earthquake stonehenge on page 958 is always a very special thank you to our super generous sponsors of the partial series for the year avi and becky katz dear friends in memory of becky's father david grossman leland nishmas david ben menachem we'd like to sponsor a particular week within the series please be in touch with our office we would welcome your sponsorship and we welcome your support thanking you in advance uh for it okay more the parasha begins moshe albane returns to akris boroku when he pleads he begs in that moment and at that time he asked hashem saying who turns and he pleads and he begs and he cajoles and he says hashem i dedicated my whole life this incorrigible impossible people i've led them through the desert through the wilderness i was your agent to take them out of the time and my lifelong dream what i've devoted myself to is simply to enter your land to which hazal wondered did mushroom want to eat the old you can eat breakfast at the waldorf did moshe albania want all you could eat papagayos after the nine days why did moshe benner so desperately want to enter eretz israel it was to fulfill the mitzvos bharats because there are commandments that are fulfilled that are designated opportunities that arise only in the land of israel for that moshe so desperately wanted to answer desperately wanted to answer so much you've shown me your greatness and your strong hand what power in the heaven and the earth that can perform anything so you can do anything you can certainly forgive me you can do anything you can certainly invite and allow me to enter let me in let me in section that we read actually tishome of morning and here what does that represent what does it reflect moshe alvin is longing along it should be in every one of us whether you live in israel or you don't yet live in israel we should identify with and feel connected to it should be who we are that longing for the first time in a very long time jews and chutzlars know that feeling of longing not so easy to travel not so easy to arrive not so easy to go for your year in israel not so easy to make aliyah so many this summer and more who are in the pike who simply need the flights to be able to travel like moshe benu but he said hashem his heart felt please hashem turns to motion he says enough stop asking stop asking don't ask me again like many of us have said to our own children who nudge us and mutual and won't let it go your nook shine enough enough let it go drop it don't ask again it's not happening and this whole opening section of our powershell begs for us to interpret it what in the world is going on here moshe asks over and over and over who rejects him his most loyal servant moshe one of the axioms of our faith is to believe that mush is categorically different and superior to every other human being and yet moshe albano is not heard on this one request on this one plea says even playing with him playing with him what is going on here what is going on here and why and then hashem makes it even worse because he says you can't go in you can't go in you don't get to make aliyah you don't get to cross the border you don't get to get an israeli passport you don't get to get the israeli oh you could eat breakfast you're not going to the koto you're not going out to buy it nothing you don't get to go in but you know what you can do moshe you know what you got alero shapiska climb the mountain the cyan aha and look look around west north south and east with your eyes but but los avoirs here you can look as an outsider you don't get to cross in you don't get to be an insider but obviously and not only do you not get to go your successor yoshua it's time it's time to get him ready it's time to bring him on board you will have a worthwhile successor you'll have a worthwhile successor in your stead what is going on here i'm not going to take the time now i have an eight minute from last year or two years ago where we addressed this question hashem seems to pour salt in moshe albania's wounds you can go on about from goldberg.org or why you dat and listen to this eight minutes has a suggestion why asham wants him to look in every direction he's imitating avraham avinu other answers are given why he's looking in every direction with schwab has a suggestion maybe if you're looking east you'll see the land that reuben and god and half of menasha will take up residence in they'll expand the boundary of the border of israel and kill you got to go in moshe so i didn't let you all the way in but ilu i let you in part of the way and we offered our own suggestion that hashem was telling moshe perhaps perhaps don't look where you don't get to go look how far you've come see what's the goal of looking east east is behind them east is outside of israel west from that vantage point is directly into eretz throw even if you can't enter at least you can set your eyes climb the mountain and look down and what a view what a view twice in my life i went skydiving i jumped out of an airplane both were in heiress israel first of all i trusted sam in israel more than anywhere else but i tell you the view is pretty good when you climb that mountain when you look down when you're descending in your flight into tel aviv the view is pretty good eric's throw is magnificent so much but why look east why look away perhaps hashem was telling moshe don't only look don't only gaze and pier where you can't get to look at how far you've come measure your life by how far you've come not by where you didn't get to go we have that choice in life you know what will bring us happiness is not what we don't have what brings us happiness is what we have you can focus you could look on you know i was talking to a hassan and kala whose wedding is coming up soon and i said to them don't look at who's not coming look at who's coming don't look at who can't stay look who stays don't look at who hasn't responded look who's responded don't look it who hasn't given a gift appreciate those who gave a gift in life we can look at what is not or we can look at what is and hashem is saying to moshe albeinu climb the mountain and look give a kick you can look in but also look east don't only focus on where you didn't get to go focus on how far how far you have come but why does hashem dispel moshe's tsuila what is moshe trying to appeal so if you look at rashirashi says and if you want to hear that whole insight as i said it's eight minutes online rashi says moshe turns to aquarius he pleads he implored hashem in that moment says hashem please be gracious and kind please give even though i'm undeserving i'm unworthy of appreciation even though the righteous have so many zukuyos the righteous have such merits which shall rely upon the righteous have what to be able to cash in on yet yet they don't do that they don't dip into their bank account they ask for a madness kingdom they ask for free for free and that's the root of the word this is one of the forms of philo we have 13 synonyms for ts we've shared many times and we have online we learn the entire book filler his insights the alka-shimoni quotes would seem to be 13 synonyms reena beethoven we have so many synonyms for tula each one has a subtle difference each one represents fila the prayer coming from another place and one of them is it's worth reviewing and sharing what that means but i want to share with you briefly this morning the insights of the ghalban the passed away almost a year ago the milkman he was known as the ghalbani died at 84 years old he was a milkman a clean shaven wearing a blue shirt worked in a milk factory he was a milkman little did people know for many years that in fact he was a great cabalist and an extraordinary talmud but he was discovered he was revealed he gave shiurim and he wrote swarm and in one of islam on the parasha on pashas his opening essay is on this concept of and i just want to share with you his insight he says our pasha is all about faith in davening hamilar passion the very opening word of our parsha is all about tapping into the depths believing that hashem is listening to turn to him to turn him to lean on him to rely on him to depend on him to thank him to protest him to object him however it means but to see his presence in our life and to talk to him every relationship needs communication and the relationship with god is no different it needs us to communicate with him our pasha is the blueprint our parsha is the formula if you want to know how to daven as a jew how to pray as a jew if you want to know how to pray this is our parsha it gives us the answer it gives us the answer as the parasha will go on and tell us what nation is god so accessible so close kashema lokenu like god the whole car a new love you know hashem is accessible he's available what does it take what do you need to do the whole car in a way love all you have to do is call out all you have to do is talk to him all you have to do is talk to him and he is listening you know it's hard to get an audience with powerful people to get an audience with influencers to get an audience with celebrities to get an audience with powerful people it's hard it's hard how many phone calls have i got in the last two weeks of people whose children's passports are expiring they're scheduled to go to israel for their year what are they going to do and you know what even the powerful people say they can't help right now it's backlog and phase is closed and you can't get in so you're talking to the wall you could ask and you could ask over and over again but you're talking to the wall but the re-bonus shallowly you don't need an appointment and they're a bonus shallow alarm you don't need an invitation and the almighty you don't need to have protection you don't need to be able to find favor our parsha says who is krovin may love who's close to god because whoever calls out him we say this hashem is close to all who call out him to allah undoubtedly got that from this past like this verse an hour in our passion by the way there's one day there's one day where he's not accessible he's not available the door is closed where he's not interested he is so frustrated and he's so disappointed and he so badly needs a break from us that there's one day he closes the door and he's not interested in he tells us hashem silenced our prayers the reason we don't wear talos and phil and tish above morning is because those 24 hours god says we're on break we're alienated from one another i can't live with you you've violated my trust you've disappointed me you've come up so short we need to work it out i need some time i need a day file hashem silenced our prayer we don't wear talison's phil and it's only in the afternoon only when minha comes that we can get up we can sit on the chair so our parasha which normally comes which this year comes after tish above is describing who is hashem close to all who close to all who call to him it's a long essay it's several places we don't have time to go through it because our pasha is rich with so many ideas that i want to explore together but i just want to bring to you why is it so hard to dive in because there's an illness there's a weakness with inside us and the weakness that's inside us is we're not sure someone's listening you ever on the phone with someone and they're quiet for too long on the other end and when they're quiet for too long on the other end what do we all do say there do you hear me yeah something some indication groan grunt say a word answer me give me some indication why because there are few more foolish things in the world than feeling like we're talking and nobody's listening to feel like we're pouring out our heart and there's no one on the other end and that's at the core of why we find it hard to pray you can't see or feel or touch or smell hashem so you're talking and it's frustrating you feel it's difficult to know that he's really there on the other end of our our mouth knows god our mouth is moving it's saying the words we know hashem is there on the other end however our heart struggles our heart struggles to confidently feel that he in fact is listening so he goes on he talks about this rashi it's a madness and it's in the righteous do not tap into their account they do not deplete this that they have the merits that they have in order to get what they're praying for but they asked for mountain why would they ask and he develops the idea again it's a lengthy piece we don't have time to read the whole thing inside i'm happy to share what anyone would like but he develops the idea of the following you see if a person asks for a favor from another and they say you know what i've done favors for you i have merits i have deposits in the account simply take it out of my deposits then what is the nature of the relationship it is completely transactional it's a transactional relationship hashem you asked me to do a b c not only did i do abc i did d e and f as well so therefore i've got some credit with you take it out of my credit with you now i'm asking you to do x y or z take it out of my credit with you when a person has that attitude that relationship with hashem it's a purely transactional relationship which is a very superficial relationship the tsaddikim the righteous ask they want them and why do they want because they say hashem i'm asking you for something i don't deserve and i am unworthy and don't give it to me because i have credit don't give it to me because my bank account with you is full give it to me as a reflection as an expression of our love of our bond of our loyalty of our connection means it's not transactional it's not in exchange it's not because i have credit do it because you love me and because i love you do it as an expression and reflection of the special closeness and connection of our relationship and that is a form of silo we have called sometimes we turn to hashem we say hashem i'm totally unworthy i'm totally undeserving i'm grossly inadequate even though yes hashem i did x y and z recently but you know i'm not turning to you for that because i'm sure you could even despite that see me as unworthy i'm turning to you because you're my father i'm turning to you because you're my lover you're my spouse because of that relationship we have i'm turning to you not transactionally i'm turning to you out of love in marriage if you say can you do my need a right now because yesterday don't forget i took out the garbage i did the dishes i brought on the paycheck i went to shopping i put the kids to bed last night so you do tonight say really that's it that's why that's why that's that's really the core of our relationship the notion of do it for free reflects not a lower level it's not that somebody is groveling do it for free because they're a taker it's the opposite do it for free because our relationship is on such a high it's on such a high level moshe turns to hashem davens how many times did he dive in the the gematria the numerical value of the word is 515. 515 times vasanana masha turns to hashem and he says please please please please please please please make this person better please please please let this work out please please please come through please please please let me find my spouse let me have that baby let me make that simcha please let that person recover over and over and over and over and over again the major tells us 550 times the gematria 515 times he said to hillary 515 shimon estras 515 miniature 515 to hillen gatherings 515 times he poured out his heart and desperation and the message tells us even further he said ribonus master of the universe you know the effort and the sacrifices i've made for you you know the suffering i've endured to lead your people and is this the reward you give me after forty years zootopia this is what i gave this is how i sacrificed and this is the reward that you say no that you say no moshe's argument was compelling his intent was pure his request was reasonable and fair and if anyone if anyone could present a proper near perfect prayer it was moshe abbayno it was moshe rabbenu he's rabbenu he's our quintessential paradigmatic leader he knew how to package and deliver the ultimate prayer and he gotta know so you know what it makes us feel why bother why should i open my sin or why should i open my tail and why should i make it to my minion why am i opening my heart and turning to god and praying if moshe could ask and he was the highest level the avenathian if moshe was categorically superior and he was rejected his heart felt pre his lifelong longing and i why should i bother how does hashem answer enough stop asking it's not happening now how did moshe take that news how did moshe respond to that answer of no how did he react hashem ignoring those pleas i'll tell you what's fascinating keep reading in the hamish keep reading moshe turns 515 times hashem says drop it it ain't happening and by the way if you want you could climb the mountain give a look west east north south and then the torah goes on via moshe then begins to instruct the people how to observe hashem's laws what what happened what happened that's pretty abrupt considering it's moshe abbay no moshe doesn't deserve a greater consideration the torah never tells us the torah never tell us how moshe responds there's no report what he did next did he hang his head in shame for having asked all those times did he brazenly walk away frustrated and angry at hashem did he lose faith in the power of prayer how did he walk away how did he walk away you know we're coming on the anniversary it was the anniversary of the kidnapping and the loss of the two boys of six years ago the three boys who were kidnapped and murdered and while the three boys were still missing franco who many of us have heard and have been inspired by went to the hotel to dave and dakota plaza there were a group of children who were gathered to daven for her son and the other two and impromptu they asked her to address the boys that she didn't she said i believe wholeheartedly that they will return but whatever happens remember this was her message to them and it remains her message to us she told them you must remember who loved god does not work for us we work for him god doesn't work for us however this turns out she told them while they were still missing however this turns out remember that god doesn't work for us we work for him what poise and what strength and what faith and that was what moshe rabbena showed as well because i heard that story several years ago and i thought to myself maybe that's what it means in the pasha the torah does tell us what happened next you think it's absent you think it's missing you think we don't get filled in we don't get to know perhaps perhaps the torah does tell us what happens next is the very next section of our parsha still page 958 in the earth crosstalk and now and now jewish people came listen to what hashem expects of you that i'm going to teach you le mans you so that you live so that you can merit to come moshe absorbs the news that hashem has not requested to accept at his request and he turns to the people and he essentially tells them listen hashem has expectations of you of us he gave us a prescription to how to live the most meaningful and purposeful life here on earth don't just observe them and keep them shma that word shema doesn't just mean to listen the word shema doesn't mean to listen your yod say if you hear it says if you said is only when you understand shama the word shema means not just to hear to listen audibly it means to understand says moshe don't just blindly observe smile listen study analyze plum the depths seek to understand because god has given us the formula and the prescription for a meaningful and a purposeful life he's told us how to get the most out of life and to give the most to life le mans you you want to really be alive the way to be alive is not to neglect your soul and to neglect him the way to be alive is to nourish your soul and to nourish your relationship with him le mans you do you want to be alive essentially moshe abenu pours out his heart 515 times god says no and you know what he does next you know how he relax reacts he turns to the people and he says god doesn't work for us we work for him and i have to tell you that there are many people who right now are hearing no to their heartfelt pleas and many people over these last four and five months have lost loved ones who've heard the answer of no to their heartfelt fellows in prayer and tonight is the first europe site of a beloved and dear friend who heard the answer no he and his family and all of us who knew him and loved him were his family and the answer was no but like rakhili franco and long before like moshe avenue and more recently like nasa and so many others sometimes says no vaishnan is not only the formula for how to davin but it's also the precedent and gives us the strength for how to take a no how to get the answer of no and to remember you the answer was no now what now what god forbid in the worst case we lost a loved one in a lesser case went through a hard time struggle or suffering and the answer was no and now what and now what whether it was esther waxman who lost her son or raghali franco or whether it was many others you want to live we put one foot in front of the other of usher wise mario varabhi revasha weiss was giving a shirt tonight in uh memory of brian on his first year outside and in sagada and elsewhere he quotes the kleisenberg arab his rebbe who lost his wife and eleven children the kleisenberger ever lost his wife and 11 children in the holocaust and he said the following shock we say shema in our passion we have to later in our parsha and we have the custom we take our hand and we cover our eyes while we say shema and the classic reason offered of why we cover our eyes when we say shema is in order to eliminate the distractions it's so important it's so fundamental we're biblically obligated to recite the shema you have to shut out all the distractions happening around you you take your hand and you cover your eyes but the koisenberg said that's not the reason because shema represents kabbalah shema is hashem i accept your yoke over me i submit myself to you and in order to do that sometimes sometimes at the cloison bagareba you have to cover your eyes sometimes to submit and sometimes to accept you have to stop looking at what's happening around you because if you were to watch and look and perceive and feel it'd be hard and so we say we cover our eyes because sometimes sometimes in order to be able to accept the yoke of heaven from our limited finite perspective we have to cover and shield our eyes from the pain the suffering and the loss that we see so that we can say that sense of that sense of shema and so our parsha according to the khaban is the formula for how to dhavam but i would suggest that it's also the formula and the precedent for how to react and respond when our dhavani is not accepted what do where do we go when our dominant the answer is the answer is no it sounds at another perspective we're going to get past the opening pasuk i know we're almost halfway done we're going to get past the opening passage i promise it sounds about another perspective of sans and he said the following you know what the words mean they once asked the rebel the tanzania but what do you do before davening what do you do generally some of them a little bit later because they're not sleeping in but they're occupied with preparations and hannah's and getting ready in order to be able to diamond most effectively in order for the dominant to be most meaningful so they asked him what do you do before you dive and he answered what do i do before i darwin i darwin about my davening i daven before i dive in that my davening will go well and he said that's the passage i turned to hashem and i dive into him and what did i dive in that boy that in the moment i go daven lay more he gives me the words to davon sometimes you have to daven that you can daven when people turn to me and they ask me and not that i'm perfect i've perfected this i struggle daily myself but they say how can i focus and concentrate more on my davening there are so many distractions and so many are quarantining or locked down or still dominating at home and don't have the benefit of a minion of a cousin of the environment of the caduceus-based kinesis of a shul how do you concentrate in your davening when there are so many distractions and i think that one of the answers and one of the strategies is that among the things we're davening for is to be able to daven among the things we're asking for is to dominate effectively i turn to hashem and i daven that in the moment that i need lay more that he gives me the words to be able to to daven i was once in new york on the night before i had the privilege of attending a meeting at the white house and i went to the sclereba who i have a relationship with for many years and occasionally visiting brachas and i happened to be visiting him that night before so i asked what should i uh what should i bring up what does he think is important what was critical at the time and it was precious was khan and it was right before this parasha and he said to me turn to hashem and by isahe that when you're in that moment and at that meeting he puts the words in your mouth of what to say sometimes we're going into a difficult conversation with a loved one an effort to reconcile a business meeting a shidduch date you're going into a difficult difficult position and you're concerned turn to hashem and that by isahe that in that moment whatever the moment and whoever the audience lay more among the things that we're allowed to ask him is to give us the right words to say to say the right things at that time okay moving right along so moshe abbey takes the know via israel he turns them and he says you want to live you want to be alive listen to the it has been the prescription that has carried us throughout the generations and by the way again i don't want to we're going to sit on the floor this week we'll come and we won't but otherwise we're scheduled to sit on the floor and to mourn and grieve the calamities and tragedies of jewish history and there are no shortage of them crusades and inquisition and holocaust expulsions and exiles oppression persecution murder systematic attempts to exterminate and you know what got us through it all you want to stay alive you want to survive you want to get through it intact and for there to be a jewish people in the jewish story that you see when you give up the hook and this button when you stop listening and stop learning and stop observing and stop caring then le mantech our people disappear america is destroying us more than any enemy could before assimilation an intermarriage are by far eliminating our people at a faster rate and more devastating rate than any of our adversaries or enemies could before le mans you if you want our people to live to survive to be alive then listen listen the world is looking around trying to find meaning and purpose mental health challenges and family dissolving and marriage is falling apart the torah gives us the anti-torah gives us the answer listen the man so that we live safevaram has within it all the answers it's so magnificent so beautiful oh so sipho davar don't add lo you're not allowed to add to the mitzvos you're not allowed to take away from them it's just we moved to perigdal this parish is so rich it's endless amount that we can talk about but a few lessons for today page 962 page 962 vanish this is apostle which is very relevant right now and it's being quoted often but is not talking about the way we often quote him take good care of yourself it's a jewish value we are stewards over our body they don't belong to us we're not entitled to shorten our lives suicide is forbidden from the torah and any form of living which in fact decreases our life our lifespan is a form of suicide you can't use and abuse your body we have an awesome and great responsibility to take great care of our body of ourselves even though again as pasik is not really talking about this moshe's warning of a danger the people might be misled thinking that they heard hashem's voice they have been in physical contact that's been produced but it'd be heretical the ramban says that's what this pastor is talking about he's talking about harsinai you might have thought hashem spoke directly to you don't think that because you had an audience with the almighty that therefore you have license to do certain things be careful and protect and protect yourself we quote it in the context of we're a mask socially distance don't do behaviors which are dangerous finish martin o'learn how does one protect themselves so it's a beautiful imrichyme imrich says what should you safeguard and protect what he interpreted to mean is you want to protect and safeguard nashua yourself then how do you do it by being careful of your mode what does that mean it gives tube shots from two interpretations number one the mishnah and pikayamas tells us one should be exceedingly humble we know that our rabbis told us that there are two attributes two character traits which you should not walk the golden mean but you need to be extreme be extreme not to anger and be extremely humbled so our rabbis tell us mode mode very very be very very humble so it says the vision of but when the possibility says protect for your soul you know what you need to protect preserve the mode preserve the humility whoever is arrogant of test tells us the arrogant person has a balmoon the arrogant person the person who walks around with arrogance who has an inflated ego who thinks great of themselves the arrogant person who is a has a character flaw has a blemish and therefore vanish you know what you need to do for enough you need to protect the sense of mode you need to be exceedingly exceedingly humble if you're going through life you want your relationships to thrive you want meaningful relationships you want to get ahead you want to succeed in life it's not by inflating your ego and your arrogance and your sense of self it's by doing the opposite it's with humility it's with a sense of humility we'll come back to this later in the parasha with anoki translates what does it mean you have to be willing to give your life for hashem you have to be willing to give your heart for hashem and you have to willing to give to give me a means you want to protect your nephesh then you need to protect the mode and mode can be either an allusion to humility or mode can be an allusion to your money mammon both your research your attitude towards your money are you stingy or are you generous do you work hard or do you cut corners the attitude we have to the money is what will impact and define it molds our character and molds our nephesh so vanish if you want to protect and preserve your nephesh be careful and protect the sense of ode your humility and your resources protect your sense of money perithal and possuk is that llamad kisoli bonum the the part that we read on tish above morning is pastor he saw the bottom of an evening means it gets stale it gets old being in the land we're beginning to suffer from this ourselves after 1948 after 1967 the miracle of the modern state of israel was fresh was new was worth singing howell and and then it gets old and generations are born who never knew a world that didn't have access to jewish sovereignty over the land vino shantan ba'arets means that it'll you'll grow old it grows old and it grows stale and then you're going to follow other values and other influences and hashem says let heaven and earth testify for you today that when it gets old and stale and wrote when you stop appreciating and valuing the gift of being in the land of israel then you're going to be vomited from the land of israel you simply cannot cannot continue there the torah tells us you know it's going to happen at the end of days you'll be exiled from the land and you'll suffer you'll be expelled when you're in distress and all these things are following you you'll return to hashem the shaft of this is not later in tanakh in seyfrid's varmint vessel motion itself has this new and prophecy that they will grow a time that you will roam the earth in exile you'll be able to taste from all the other religions and values and cultures and then you know what's going to happen the shaft there'll be a mass chuva movement there'll be a desire and a drive to come home to hashem you'll want to come home to him and you'll hear and you'll hear his verse voice says what does that mean says where does this movement this mass chuva movement we're starting to see it number of bali chuva they've experienced an experiment that they've tried what the world has to offer that leaves them feeling empty and so there's a mass movement and so many are credited with and all these great leaders of the masjuva movement why because there was an ache there was a spark there was something inside them you know where it comes from from the shaft it comes from a sense of vishamata bikolo you're listening to his voice where do you hear his voice where do you hear his voice that assimilated jew the jews so distance and far the jew who has no education and yet feels driven feels this pull fills this magnetism to check out judaism where does that come from where does that come from so the vision says the pastor is telling us you know where it comes from the pentalyid is the sound of the voice of hashem inside each and every one of us the hihuri chuba that drive for more for better comes from the godly soul the godly spirit inside us if you make that first move if you make that first move that longing that desire listen to that class go speak to that person go put on the fill and light the candles do something then the shamath hello when we make that first move the shaft then we merit the shaman you won't just hear god in your imagination you'll feel and see and palpably have an awareness of god communicating to you the azva shamatha and then you will hear the shamatha because when he calls you you will come running you'll have this burning desire to connect and to be with him but beforehand what drives us to it is uh from that place of exile from that place of distance we will seek hashem where emperor test go back one passage what will inspire the catalyst of the vishaft what will lead us to that massachusetts movement is a feeling that we're going to be searchers we're going to be looking we're going to be action we're going to have a desire for to to seek hashem and when you seek and when you look then is filled with our ability to acquire him every breath we take is present every sunrise sunset every moment of health where our and where our faculties are working he's all around us so the cash to machine you have to look you have to search us and you'll find him rabbi salaveczak wrote a whole book an essay was written based on his insights into these very words um from there shall you seek was translated into english from there shall you seek but i want to read to you from the real commissioner of salvation's insight on these words and he says the following judaism knows well the tensions and hesitations involved in the wearying search for god as well as the joy and ecstasy of the search all the prophets called upon us to observe creation to search out the secrets of the cosmic process to observe the wellsprings of the world and to uncover the hidden and obscure the glory of the creator's majesty which hovers over mute creation they all wove laurels for the searchers after god both of those who seek him within mechanical nature and its grey opacity opacity for those who tear open the window to the wondrous higher realms of pure utterly perfect being says the rav it's all around us somebody a dear friend of mine sent me a picture yesterday first time holding his new granddaughter and look at that picture of this newborn baby and a grandfather who was hoping and waiting for a healthy grandchild and i say there's the rebounding of the cash to me this person you wonder you look you seek you don't know if he's there look into the eyes look into the punim of that newborn baby and you'll see he's all around us listen to how the rav writes by the way a man who only learned english later in life his grasp of the english language so poetic so beautiful david melvius creation primarily primally seeing the likeness of the creator reflected in everything and sings a majestic song and on the night proceeding the yum and no rhyme when the jewish people recites lifos the beloved clings to her lover and pleads with him that her request should not be in vain and that he should present himself to her when she goes out to greet him a whispered plea bursts forth and rises with the morning star that appears on the eastern horizon will be cast we seek hashem you will find him you attract us with an awesome enormous power which no one can withstand we hear your footsteps you are very very near to us please be here with us now tonight the night of slichos the night clothed in the secret mystery the night of extensive grace and manifold mercies please appear when we seek you the proves of this confrontation between hashem and man and within the world we are commanded to utter over every cosmic phenomenon over the afterglow of the fiery sunset and the purple of the sunrise trickling along the mountaintops over the rising moon sprinkling its pale light over the stars and the courses in the comets sleeping from clear space over the sight of the rainbow in the clouds over the thunder and lightning arising from the mist over the budding trees and the sweet-smelling exquisite flowers over the murmur of the ocean the rushing of the surf upon eating water and bread the fruits of the tree and the crops of the field over the healthy body created with wisdom with his muscles and nerves over the ability to move and to stand direct and short we utter abraham over everything man encounters that demonstrates the power of creation what is over something we behold if not praise and thanksgiving to hashem for the nature of the world a nature that changes in the instant the broth is uttered into a supernatural miraculous universe if not the redemption of nature from its mutinous deprivation and solitude if not the identification of the cosmic dynamics of the primordial will of the creator which is hidden and acts from within its hiding place on organic and inorganic matter on animal vegetable and mineral what does the brahma test do if not the strange fact that in spite of the psychological law that habit and custom dull the subtleties of feeling and dim the alertness of the intellect and extinguish the flame of ecstasy the jew is enthusiastic about each and every phenomenon who what a beautiful insight and what written so beautifully by the rav every bracha that we say a brock on a cup of coffee a bracha basamine on the fragrance a brock on the lightning and the thunder every bracha we say is observing the word and it will be some it is our effort to search for him and to find him behind it behind all of that nature what precipitates the catalyst for vishaf what will lead us to return to him and to hear his voice through us is uh to be searchers and seekers to look and then if we look we are guaranteed says hashem to find we will discover and we will find him our generation has grown somewhat stale unimpressed ah we see and we manufacture and we do maybe one of the maybe one of the if there are silver linings to the pandemic and the coronavirus maybe it will successfully humble us the humility that we so desperately need maybe it will humble us that we're not in charge and we don't control and we can't predict and we don't anticipate and therefore to look around in the world with a little bit more marvel and to be uvi to be seekers and searchers and to say hashem where are you all around us where are you in creation and how can we find you and how can we find you very talented tests keep going next page 9 66 the article stone hummish you should know this day and take to your heart that hashem is the god he's in heaven above and on the earth below ain't owed there is no other god but him he is everything he is not something he is everything the uh review the karliner has a beautiful insight he says i'm allergically the following don't worry i know we're sharing a lot of hasidus we're going to get to the maforsham section in a moment it's very interesting where does knowledge take place where would i think that you would place your knowledge where's the intellect where is cognition it's in your head i would think it would be the adata you'll know today put in your brain put in your head but where do you put it in your heart you know why because the knowledge that leads to action is the knowledge not of the head but is the knowledge of the heart how many people know about behaviors that are negative that are poor that are self-destruction that self-sabotage but they do them anyway because the farthest distance between any two objects on earth is the distance between a man's head and his heart and therefore the torah understands this and says know today and where do you need to insert that knowledge not in your head it's a knowledge that needs to trickle down to your heart that's number one number two and we don't have time for this but we can expand that at another time are you meant to have faith in god is there a leap of faith that you have to take are we a group a nation of believers blind faith that there is a god that there's a deity not according to this pasuk the apostle says you know today there's a god in heaven and earth relationship with god is not based on faith or belief it's based on knowledge examine the evidence and you will conclude there is as much evidence and overwhelming compelling evidence for god's existence as there is for anything else in your life we don't have time right now to share it and i bet i've picked your curiosity for another time but there is as much evidence for god's existence as there is for anything else and how do i know that this pasuk you can know it doesn't say believe today it doesn't say have faith today it says know today know today and place it in your heart because you can have an absolute knowledge that god exists the same compelling evidence for anything else exists for this that was number two number three says ivanka leaner via when you know well and you put it into the recesses of your heart that kashmir elokim that there is a god in the world he created everything he has dominion and providence over everything he's in the heavens above and the earth below then ain't owed then you will not need or search or submit to anything else in this world you will not be impressed by you will not pursue you will not bow down you will not defer because it ain't owed via data look around this world to be cashed and be a search also find hashem and the adata then you will know and when you know you will then put in your heart and when you put it in your heart then you will confidently walk around life saying ain't no video anode novado a node there is no one there is nothing it brings down we've studied this in our moon sheer countless times that a person who feels they're stuck a person who feels that they're struggling should simply recite anode melvado anode melvado ain't vado there is nothing but him there is nothing but you you are everything ain't nobody the first mitzvah you have to know later you can have knowledge that there is a first cause you have knowledge that there's a god that there's hashem it's not faith it's not a belief we could have knowledge i want to tell you an insight of the joseph of baghdad otherwise known as the ben yahuyada venya yada in his commentary on the baby and the simple understanding is you can know that there's a god there's a guy who's in the heaven above and he's on the earth down below it says the following he says perhaps what it means is the following when it comes to heavenly aspiration when it comes to rookhnis when it comes to growing spiritually look up look up to the people who are greater who are better who are further along and look up to them as role models try to be like them and when it comes to the matters which are mitakas when it comes to the earthly physical matters look at the aratzvia look at those who have less than you this is the formula the secrets to happiness in life the secret to happiness in life is when it comes to rookies look up look at people who have more than you and say i want a daughter like that i want to learn like that i want to do like that i want to have a munna like that hashem when it comes to heavenly matters look up when it comes to the earthly matters when it comes to physical things mitakas look at those who have less than you and be satisfied with what you have and with that he explains the gemaran baba bastar which is why his comment is there ben yo-yoda shayach the torah journal that our base madrish thanks to the shattered brothers who edited put out every year the beautiful yadrim is named yadrim on this gemara because of one who wants to grow wise yadrum looks south and he wants to grow wealthy shayashir yatspin that's why the rabbi sits to the left of the arun kodesh and the show president sits to the right of the arun kodesh because the aram code that shall east in hutzlar is where we are faces east so when the rabbi doubts towards the arab code that she's looking where if they are on these he's looking south because he's divening for wisdom the rabbi wants to grow smarter the show president who's responsible for the finances of the shul he faces he sits to the right of the arab kodesh when he divines and faces the iron code she's facing north high russia yatzban so the rabbi you want to yakim is yadrum he looks the south the show president is responsible for the finances he wants to yeah he wants to yash here wants to grow wealthy yatzban he faces the north so says if says if you want to grow wise face the south you want to become rich you face the north if you want greater wisdom and toward knowledge look to the south and feel humble look like you have much more to achieve and grow and if you want greater wealth look north and feel that you are above that what you have is what you need and you should be satisfied with it it is enough for you okay moving right along the tornado tells us we're up to the ari nicola as what is this word as doing here the kayaker is bothered by the presence of the word of deal moshe we were already given the mitzvah of of uh of the um already miklot at the end of safer midbar so what do you mean now az what do you mean the kliyakar says examining speak what's the connection between the ari miglat and the section we just read about coming back to hashem and returning to him and hashem is in the heavens above and the earth below um and what does this mean that you have the opportunity to begin even if you can't finish it you should still start it you should still start it as we see with david who tells his son david began the foundation of the pace i make dash even though he knew he couldn't complete the project the person who plants the esro tree even though they know they won't benefit from the fruit in their lifetime we have the opportunity to do something do it don't wait don't procrastinate don't be lazy and don't only do the things that you reap the fruit of you the opportunity to do something do it and says the clicker that's what the word azir is teaching us that even though moshe albania would not complete the ari nicolas would not kick into action until the other three were set up and established on the western side of the jordan but nevertheless yavda moshe moshe here had the opportunity to separate the arie miklot on the eastern side of the jordan of the yard and says the kliyakar that is the message of of the word as that moshe did not hesitate he didn't deburr he didn't pause moshe had the opportunity to begin a mitzvah that even though he knew he couldn't complete nevertheless nevertheless he got it started one of the laws of an irmikut is that the person who is in the ear mikula is there stays there until the coin got old dies what is the connection this is the second time that i'm gonna run out of time and i can't tell to you it's a beautiful piece by revolba and a beautiful maharao but we're gonna skip it because i want to get to something else before we end today but remind me next year pasha's matas masay or parshas vasran both which have the aria michelette in it we'll come back to it then parakeet hey here we have the introduction to the asera sadibros we know that the decalogue is repeated twice pasha's just from partisan if represents moshe's soliloquy he's monologue moshe is reviewing all the seminal moments of jewish history until that time among them if not foremost among them is kabbalah who's giving us his sacred torah so we have a repetition and of course there's so much to stay in the contrast between the way that the asera sadibrus appear in israel there are some subtle and some not so subtle differences between them and we have a lot to learn from the way that they appear so in the introduction to it it says the following moshe is reminding them of what it was like lois allah face to face god in an unprecedented and unrepeated way god spoke to you god spoke to you with a level of revelation that has never happened again and then a motion says i stood between you and hashem in order to communicate his will to you because you were afraid you were afraid god spoke to you the first couple dibros you couldn't take it you were afraid so i was the intermediary i was i stood between you in order to be able to communicate hashem's will hashem's will to you there's a beautiful insight that is quoted in the name of the baal shem tov it's quoted in the name of the baal tanya what does it mean this idea of made this idea of the simple understanding as we just said it is you were afraid of hashem so hashem so moshe says i stood between you but the basham toef explain a little bit differently what does it mean let's go back the first of the assays that we have is the ten commandments asserts that these ten are not ordinary mitzvos they're not like the other 603 but rather these ten commandments and our parsha their categories their archetypes and all the rest of the misos can be categorized under them and they're contained within them and even within the ten commandments even within the essays themselves says assad you go on something incredible all of the debros all of tariyah admits us all of totality of torah is captured in the one word that introduces it all i am the lord your god person who accepts hashem's if we see hashem in this world and in our lives if we understand who he is and we understand what he brings to our life within the word is the holy series when moshe delivers this final monologue and he reviews the experience of mata tori says says you know what stands between a person and hashem the other you see there are two anoki's in our life there's there's a god do we see him do we feel him do we defer to him do we submit to him do we accept him do we love him do we invest in our relationship with him but there's another competing with that and the other that's competing is the anoki that stands between hashem and that's the anoki of our sense of i our sense of self our sense of ego someone once wrote a letter to the bible chereb and the letter said the following quote i'm in a state of sadness i wake up every morning dreading the day ahead i find that nothing lifts the clouds of gloom i try various distractions i pray but inspiration doesn't come i need the rabbi's help and advice and the rebels sent him a very brilliant reply without even writing one word he took his pen and he circled the first word of every sentence in the other person's letter and the first word in the first sentence the first word of every sentence in the person's letter was the word i and the message the rebel was sending back to him is when every sentence of your life begins with the word then it's all made by hashem it's going to stand between you and everyone else it's going to stand between you and everyone else the second of the assassins another god the gemara answers the gemara asks what foreign god lives among you that you have to be instructed to avoid shabbos says sahara the ego the inflated and distorted sense of self the urge and the drive to only care about ourselves and our happiness and our things in our honor that i know of who we are it stands in the way it stands in the way and so was telling him that since you could live your life with the correct the right or you could live your life with the wrong maid of the sense of ego so back to the venus the choice the choice ultimately is ours oy i i i wanted to get to so much more in the assailants you got a beautiful insight about shabbos there's the shabbos that hashem gives to us this i think is the bumper sticker in the model the mission statement of every jew basis this is how you should live your life is by stopping and asking yourself each and every moment what does hashem want from me do what is on the right on the right on the on the right and straight and narrow there's a beautiful ramban a beautiful ramban on this past like what is this myth yeshua what is it filling in and i was going to give some of the halaq application of yeshua but we're out of time look at the rambam and it's an absolute must-see to know what this pasta really means hashem will pick up next week please stay tuned over the next several weeks weather classes on or off next tuesday night hashem is my daughter's wedding i still plan on giving the pasture class that morning but only if i am able to uh if i'm able to schedule it to make it happen so please stay posted to the announcements whether class is on or off as of now it is intended to be on uh joining us tonight rabosha weiss at 8 45. the first year outside share in memory of brian gabba tomorrow morning musician may 15 living with a moon at 8 45 tomorrow morning and our introduction to ifa tomorrow evening uh wishing everyone a good week and a happy week a holy week a healthy week and please god we should be celebrating the rest of the week in your shalom rebuilt new shalom iraq dash