Parsha Perspectives for Today (Vayeitzei, 5785) - Be the Ladder that Bridges Heaven and Earth

Good morning Bog. Welcome back to para perspectives for today. Wonderful to see everyone. Thank you for being here. Our para series is generous sponsored by Becky Navi cats and family in memory of David Gman. Leo Nishmas David Benah Manish this morning she is sponsored by Sylvia Brody in honor of the 22nd year side of her husband Asha Yoseph Benyamin as Nashama Sharav and Aliyah. Also in honor of Fay and Murray Eisenberg's birthdays by their children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. We can't say Fay's age, but Murray's turning 95. Kay Nahara Kirbu many, many more years to come. And also, it's sponsored in memory of our dear Babi, my wife's grandmother, Kay Esther Bas Alzar Lipa. our uh our dear Bobby, my father-in-law's mother, was an amazing woman of Amuna, a survivor of the Holocaust who rebuilt and was positive and joyous and incredible and special and we miss her terribly. One of my daughters is named for her my estie and her as well. Okay, we're on page 144, the arts girl stoneish boratious continues to unfold this incredible storyline. We know where it goes. We know what happens. We know what comes next and yet it remains riveting and exciting and there's always new insights and new perspectives for today. As I say every week, the para remains the same but every year we're different and the world is different. So the way we see it is different. And that's an important thing to remember. Jacob leaves and he heads to Rashi famously says why do I need to be told where he's leaving from? All I need to be told is where he's going to. He's going to so Rashi tells us to tell us that when leaves the city it has an impact but Jacob is not the first to leave a city. Aram left the city left the city. So why does this teaching not happen until now? So he shared in the past famously because when Aram left the city there was no one behind to feel his absence. When left the city there was no one behind to feel his absence. But when Jacob leaves when he leaves Beva whom does he leave behind? his parents. Now they realize Roshe, there's a rom that person is not here. So the Torah is telling us that the measure of a person is if they're indispensable. If somebody moves and two years later someone says, you know, have you seen your uncle? Oh yeah, he moved two years ago. Nobody noticed. His absence wasn't felt. Nobody cared. But it's sad. You know, if you make yourself indispensable in you say that person must not be here because I see nobody's putting the dur away. Nobody's checking in on the people who are shut in. Nobody's doing or cooking meals. We've lost our role model of dinging or learning. A righteous person leaves an impact and influence on a city and their absence when they leave others others take notice. And Jacob goes and he and he uh encounters the place. He encounters the place and he takes a he falls asleep there because it was night time. There was no pillow. There was no mattress. So what does he do? So he gathers some stones and he puts it under his head and he falls asleep in that place. That word he encounters he encounters a place. What does it mean to encounter a place? So Rashir says as well where is this place? He's on the temple mount. He's on haram is in the future place of the bach. What else had happened there already? Well it's the eye of the universe. It's the place from which the whole world was created. Temple Mount Haramas. It's the place where Aram took Yeitz to sacrifice him until the angel said stop. And now it's the place that Yakov rests his weary head. It's on that same place. That's the Mak. Even though the Torah is ambiguous and doesn't give us coordinates or an address or a place, but we know Mak the place, there is only one the place. And we shouldn't be satisfied only on the base of that mountain. We go to the kotel, the kosul, whatever you call it, and we dive in there. We pour out our heart. That's the closest we come to the intensity of the of the divine presence. But that is a counterfeit place. That's the temporary place. That's as far as we can get during exile. The real place where we want to go is on top of the mountain. Some think we can already go there now. Others say it's not yet time. But we want a BA mikdash. We want the B mikdash to be built. That's what we're learning now in s snippets. We're on the 17th of the Amida. You'll excuse me for some brazen unapologetic self-promotion. But sitter snippets, we're almost at number 600. Sitter snippet number 600. Began all the way with Modi and now we're on in the end of the ism. Bring back bring back the bdash the is the fires of the Jewish people. Bring it back. We're not satisfied. We look up and it's not enough. I gave you the mush previously that during Corona, we went to visit loved ones in assisted living facilities and nursing homes and the closest we could get is stand outside the building and wave at them through the window and hold up signs that say we love you. And that was a terrible, terrible, terrible time. Terrible time. That was the closest we could get. So imagine Corona's over and instead of going into the room and giving a hug and holding a hand and sitting next to the loved one that you can visit with, you're still standing outside and waving and holding up a sign. The hotel is holding up a sign and waving, "Hashem, we can't get any closer. We wish we could, but we're suffering a worldwide pandemic called exile and we long and wait for it to be over and we want to come back to you. We shouldn't be satisfied." So that mak that's where Jacob is. That's where were that is the eye of the universe. That's our home. That's where we long to get back to. That is not a place that we're occupying. It is a place that is rightfully rightfully ours. the there's one I love to quote this is a different this is he lived in the 18th century beginning of the 19th century one of the early early ofus a tal of the mag of mezich of melik of he lived 1745 to 1815 and say from he writes the following rabbi say he encountered a what does it mean he encountered a place he encountered a place he's walking and he just came upon this place first of all the answer is yes we saw in in our living with here two weeks ago the notion every morning we make a blessing to Hashem you prepare my footsteps it means we're grateful and we're glad that we have the ability to walk it's not a given you could get out of bed in the morning and you don't need anything replaced your knees your hips your ankles. If it's all working properly, wow, thank you. I'm ahead of the game. I'm blessed. I could put my feet on the ground. I took two steps. Everything was okay so far. Thank God. But we saw said, "No means Hashem, I'm about to go on my day and let's see where these steps lead me. I'm going to walk through life. I'm going to go through Costco and Publix and the gym and work and the B medish and shul and walk around the circle. Another glorious day here in Bocar in the free state of Florida. I'm going to walk around. I don't know where I'm going to go, what my footsteps will lead me to, where this journey will bring me. But I know you prepared it. I know whatever I encounter, it's because you put it in front of me and you meant for me to see it. And that's Jacob. He encounters the place. There are no coincidences and nothing is random. and vayka his experience with mindfulness and intention and consciousness is I am where I'm meant to be. I'm in the place that I meant to be. But our rabbis understand what does it mean to encounter means it means prayer in this moment the sun is setting it's late Jacob encounters a place and what does he do? He introduces the prayer of Marav. He introduces Marav. We have shak in the morning in the afternoon and Marav at night. You know the old joke. Why did Yakov introduce Marav? Because if you had 12 kids to bathe and put to bed, you'd also have to go out for Marav. You'd also want to go out for Marav. So Yakov introduced Marav. But this was before the 12 kids came. So it wasn't an excuse. He wasn't running away. And women have an answer to that. It's called nursing. You've got to put the kids to bed. You got to put the dishes away. You've got to clean up and walk out the company. I've got to go nurse. So the men have their excuse. Women came up with theirs. So Jacob says, "I'm ding. I'm domining." Or says, "I don't understand." How could it be that had never prayed until that fateful day? How old was Jacob that day? Shishimal Mari. He was a young man, 63 years old, a lad, a toddler, just beginning his life. He was a young man, a spry, 63, but 63 is still a long time. You're going to tell me Jacob never ded in his life. And and moreover, Aram established shakit gave us ma and they too never ded until a woke up early and dam until when he's about to meet Rifka comes off the camel, he ds Mk. Until then, no one ever prayed. No one ever davened. They lived to middle ages, beginning of their empty nest period, and they didn't daven until now. How could it be? How could it be? Says, "The truth is that our great of us, our great patriarchs, they d all day longer. What happened was they used to dab in all day long. Their whole day was an ongoing conversation with the Almighty. With the Almighty. Hashem, let everything work when I wake up. Hashem, let there no be traffic on the way to carpool. Hashem, let this cake come out good from the oven. Hashem, let this speech go well. Hashem, let this doctor visit have a positive outcome and result. All day long, they were davening. What does it mean now that they established? means they connected praying a particular time of day to the essence and theme and energy of that time of that day. It means one can generically there's an open invitation one can have an audience with the almighty all day long wherever whenever just start speaking to him and you are in conversation you're in presence of hashem what they did is say in addition to the opportunity to volunteering create mandated times and mandated themes of connected to those times of day and what are those themes let's do this briefly because I want Move on. Looked around at a world and he saw they don't believe in God. They don't see God. They don't live with godliness in their life. They don't recognize there is a creator. There's a first cause. There is a conductor to this orchestra called life. Hashem nevertheless continues to provide for them. Their lives are filled with overwhelming overflowing blessing and they totally are ungrateful. They don't recognize, they don't respect, they don't see him anywhere. And that bothered a lot. Hashem is good. There's clarity. One can see clearly that there's Hashem in this world. He's good. He's kind. The world is filled with goodness and kindness and blessing. And they fail to see it. So you know what he does? He establishes shakas. When you wake up in the morning hopeful and optimistic and positive. When you have a beautiful blue sky and a cool breeze and the heat of the sun on your neck and you feel, "Wow, this is going to be a great day. It's a fresh start and a new opportunity. It's going to be a beautiful day. How blessed am I? All the parts are working and I have a roof over my head and a car to drive and food to eat. I'm so blessed." And Ara says, "I'm introducing a prayer to say thank you." Filled with hope and optimism of what the day will hold. And then comes and sees in his generation what's going on. All the people all the people that Aram had attracted had recruited had converted they're only drawn to the experience of godliness. Let's have a let's sing and dance. Let's let's be spiritual. Says something's missing here. You know what's missing? They just want to be free spirits. And when it comes to the law, when it comes to Hashem, fear and awe of God, ah just love, spirituality, let's dance, let's sing, let's have a he says they need a healthy dose of a little dose of the yoke of heaven that God does love us and our religious lives should be filled with love and spirituality and energy. but also healthy fear and awe and recognition that God is great and he holds us accountable and he has expectations of us and we are not he's not our best friend it's not casual we have awe of God so he establishes the sun is setting darkness is descending on the world and a person can start to feel the temperature just dropped and I hear the howl of the wolves And the world is becoming dark and therefore there's a little a little. So says now I'm going to establish a so says beginning of the day hope and optimism and positivity and clarity and confidence and goodness and blessing and God. Say thank you. Say thank you and turn to him and surrender. This is his world. And then says that's all beautiful and that's the way to start the day. But now as the sun sets a little healthy year, a little awe, a little fear, a little recognition that God is categorically different than we. And then comes the darkness of night. One is falling asleep. One is collapsing out of exhaustion. There's a cloak of darkness. You can't see or make sense or have clarity or confidence about anything. This is a time of doubt, uncertainty, what will be, anxiety, anxiousness. It's a place where lies and distortions reaccount this place. What's the place says the he encountered? He encountered a place of fear, anxiousness, angst, worry, uncertainty, doubt. He's running away from his brother who wants to kill him. He's all alone, isolated, solitude, facing this world by himself. It's cold. There's no pillow. There's no mattress. There's no bed. There's only a cold, hard rock to put his head on. That's the muck, the place. Place can mean geographically, and place can mean emotionally or spiritually. The place that he encountered emotionally, spiritually is a place of darkness and uncertainty and doubt and fear. And you know what he says? It's time for marav. It's time for marav. We need a new prayer. Shakar was my zah was my abba, my father. And now the world needs a marav that one can also connect and dav and turn into hashem from that place of darkness, uncertainty and doubt. that brings this into the world as well. into the world as well. Speaks out his his uh dream in order for it to be true. He encounters Hashem in that place. Says the we should have we say the same yesterday three times a day. In the morning, in the afternoon and at night, but all three are different. We're different. The beginning of the day, the energy that we have, we just climbed out of our ice bath. We had like five cups of coffee. We're ready to go and take on the day. Boom. Hope, optimism. What a beautiful day. What a beautiful day. A ma. Middle of the day, towards the end of the day, we're starting to feel the end of the day. We didn't get done what we wanted. Things don't turn out the way we hoped. People don't respond the way we drew it up. Year. And then marav even though it's dark out even though I don't know what the rest of today or tomorrow will bring even though I may feel alone like Jacob I may be running away from that which is pursuing me like Yakov there's nevertheless a hope an optimism and a positivity now on this in this place either existential place or physical place Yakov rests his weary head and he has a dream of a stairway to heaven. He falls asleep. He has a dream. There's a ladder. It's going up to the heavens. And there are angels of God going up and coming down. These angels, of course, are in the wrong order. Angels, where is their home? Their home base, their home turf is the heavens. They should first come down and then go up. Why are the angels going up and then coming down? Rashi addresses it. We've spoken about it in the past. Has a beautiful teaching on this. that a Jew always has to look. A Jew always has to use their intellect, their intelligence. Yes, we believe in emotions. We believe in feelings. But we also were given our intellect, our cognitive ability, our analytic ability. God is the only the source of all existence. In everything that we encounter, there is godliness. In theender, in the chair, in the table, in the car, in the airplane, in the boat, in the food, in the drink, in the sleep. Hashem can be found inside each and everything. We are connecting. We're connecting. The world is filled with ability, with ways we can make a we could acquire Hashem. If you're looking, if you're searching, if your antenna is extended, you'll find Hashem in everything. In everything like I said, the B again, the day like today, the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, the cool air, the rustle of the trees, the iguana that walks in front. Hashem is in everything. Be careful. Thursday, it's going to hit the 40s, maybe lower. That's when the iguanas fall out of the trees. So be careful where you walk. That's when they hibernate, they freeze, they fall. Dangerous. We have four levels of existence. We have inadimate, we have adamant, we have living, and then we have speaking. We have the table and chairs. They're the do. We've got plant life. It's life, but it doesn't not animated with personality. We have the animal world and humans uniquely communicate. So look at all four in the chair and table. Hashem is in the chair and the table in the news. You listen to the nonsense in everything the political pundit you listen to everybody everything even if you listen to the there's the honor and glory of says stop the Jewem look for and listen to the the voice of God calling out to us from everything that we encounter again I don't know where my feet will bring me. I don't know what I'll see or encounter, but there's a message from Hashem to me that day in everything. The more Torah you learn, says Ra, the more Torah you know, the more attuned you could be. The more sensitive your signal, you could pick it up. The more you know, the more Torah you have, the more ading you do. And that's what it means. A person who's an ignoramis can't be righteous because you need the basis, the foundation. You need to be curious about Torah in order to be able to pick up the signal. Now come back to our that's the takes that teaching of and applies it to this. When a person is having all kinds of dreams and means in Torah the latter is the same numerical value gamatria as co the voice of the voice of Torah. Sulum is missing above is the same as so that's how you can access when a person uses their cognitive ability their brain is the is the latter then you think it's only about this world so when your basis is down here when you're you think this is the here and now this is all there is what do you mean it's just lunch. It's just lunch. It's just a cup of coffee. It's just a table and chair. It's just an iguana. It's just a cool breeze. Ma, if you're founded and rooted eros in the material physical world, you think that's all there is. But when you build a ladder and the Torah and gamatria and also the same as then you get out of the physical material. You're not limited and you don't have the boundaries of the here and now this world. You can attach yourself to the heavens and drag down and bring the heavens. Then the malikimbo says thetomo we become the ladder that's bridging heaven and earth. We are that ladder. We are that ladder. When you talk to somebody who says this cup of coffee, wow, Hashem is making me awake. He's given me life in this cup of coffee. I'm so grateful to you, Hashem, with this cup of coffee. You just became a ladder. You just connected heaven and earth. Heaven and earth. When you go for that walk and you feel nature and you see Hashem in it, you became a ladder. You connected heaven and earth. And that's the dream that YaKob has, that you can connect heaven and earth. And he wakes up and he says, "I had no idea. I thought all there was was this physical world. I didn't know that you could connect heaven and earth. I didn't know that they attach themselves. I didn't know that you can find spirituality in the physical and in the mundane. You see other religions by contrast they divide. The physical is entirely unholy. And therefore, how does one become holy in other religions? A vow of abstinence, a vow of celibacy, a vow of silence, a vow of fasting. Judaism, the Torah comes along, Jacob wakes up and he says, "Wow, it's not true. You don't become holy by abstaining. You become holy by transforming, by becoming that ladder, that bridge, by connecting. You become holy by being present. There are people their whole lives, they've been eating and drinking and sleeping. They even make a blessing before and after they eat, but they've never been a ladder. They've never connected it. They've never been connected. And there's others that when you make that braha, every act of eating, every morsel, every bite, you're embibing godliness. Hashem nourishes us. He's giving us life force through that food. Every sleep is a surrender to Hashem. Hashem, I'm gonna close my eyes. I'm gonna surrender to you. And if I wake up, it's only because you brought me back to life re-energized. Sleep becomes not just animal act, exhaustion. We become that ladder. We're creating and making that connection. Salvich has another interpretation. Malimbo, the angels are going up and coming down. Listen to this. Medish. The Rever of Salvich quotes a medish. Yakov's image was engraved on the heavenly throne. In Yakov's dream, angels ascended the latter to look upon the image, then descended the latter, look upon Yakov on earth, marveling at how the images were identical. You see, when a person sins, his external personality deviates from his pure inner self. Because Yakov was without sin, the images of the ideal Yakov etched on the throne and the real Yakov on earth were exactly the same. Sin splits the personality into tame and tora impure and pure components. Judaism desires the unity of the individual in keeping with the imper the imperative to maintain the image of God. Imatio day is the foundation of human existence. Since Hashem is one, our goal must be to emulate this attribute as closely as possible. The Torah never accepted the dictim that body is intrinsically impure. On the contrary, man must strive toward sanctification in the body. Yiddeshai desires that man be internally consistent without conflict or contradictions. Why were these angels, these angels, says the medish, why are they going up and coming down? Because they couldn't believe it. The image of Yakov, the potential Yakov, the pure Yakov, the best version of Yakov that's engraved on the throne of Hashem. They come down and check it out. Wow, that's the Yakov. We see the Yakov who's living. The Yakov is putting it into practice. They match. They match. They're one and the same. I saw this inside of the RV and I thought immediately of IFS, internal family systems. Those who were here on Shabbasha, those who are taking the four-part workshop, Masha, which is fantastic and phenomenal. No bad parts. The notion that we're made up of different parts. They're different components to who we are. That our youth, the big T traumas and little T traumas, we're trying to avoid the pain, the managers, the firefighters, the parts, but underneath them all is the self, the pure self. There's a image of us in engraved for Hashem, of who we could be and what the self, the pure best version of us looks like. And then we adopt these parts, these managers, these firefighters, these ways that we act out, that we regret, these habits that we form. And how do we make it all come together? How do we put the self in the driver's seat of our car? the self to conduct the orchestra that is our life so that we match like Jacob a that's what the rub is saying that we're trying to integrate and match and have consistent all the parts of who we are Jacob wakes up from this dream he wakes up from his dream and he says wow Hashem is in this place I had no idea jumps in and Rashi says Shanti Malakadesh Kaz had I known that God is in this place. I thought I was just on the road. I thought I was in a motel. I thought this was just a hotel. I didn't realize God is in my sleeping bag. I didn't realize God is available and accessible and present wherever I am. Because had I known had I known I would have never gone to sleep here. How could I desecrate such a holy place? says that one and should learn from here a very important principle when a person is having success it doesn't mean that you are righteous or you deserve it there's a lot of reasons why you might be successful he wakes up and he says one Second, I just had a dream of holiness, of blessing, of a promise of safety and security by God. But I'm not going to interpret that to mean that therefore I'm perfect and I'm holy. I always have to take inventory. I always have to reflect and learn and see how I can improve. He wakes up instead of saying, "Wow, that is the ultimate endorsement from God because look at the dream that I had." Instead, he wakes up and says, "Despite that amazing dream, nevertheless, I'm still asking myself, what can I learn? What can I do differently? Maybe I shouldn't have gone to sleep here. If this is a holy place, it's not a place that one goes to sleep." And that's a challenge that we all have. Thank you so much. It's a challenge that we all have. Thank you. It's a problem that we all have. What happens? Maybe we're not acting entirely ethically or morally. We cut corners and nevertheless we have a successful outcome. Things work out. We misinterpret the successful outcome as God condoning or supporting what we did. But you see from Jacob, that's not the case. Person should always stop and ask themselves, I merited blessing. There was a successful outcome. But nevertheless, is there something to learn from my behavior? If I did it again, would I do it exactly the same? Should I have adjusted? Should I have done something differently? Should I have done something differently? Then notes something else. What does say? So he wakes up. He says, "I didn't know God's in this place." And then how does the next goiml? Sorry, not gimmel. P are we on? Turn the page. I didn't even realize. That's how we measure success at the parish year. Didn't we turn the page? He wakes up. He says, "Godd and I didn't know." What do you mean? To whom was Jacob speaking? And he said, it should have said, he thought, he thought to himself. We all have experiences. And then we have a thought. We're processing. We're thinking about it. We draw a conclusion from it. What's the There's no one else with him. So what is it? He said it in his heart. He thought it says listen to this. There is an enormous enormous difference between what we think and what we say. We think all day long. We say millions of words to ourselves a day. From when we wake up in the morning till we fall asleep at night. We're in constant conversation with ourselves. But what we think, we bluff. What we think is blurry. What we think is inexact. What we think we distort. What we say we bring into reality. What we say is real, is true. We confront it. That's why if a person is learning Torah, but they're not reciting it out loud, it doesn't obligate a blessing on it. It's when you say the Torah. The moment you speak something, God spoke and brought the world into being. Maros with 10 sayings, God brought the world into being. We live in a generation of speech recognition. Fancy schmancy finemeckers who have the Tesla with the new software can talk into the phone and say, "Car, it's raining. pick me up under this awning and the car with no driver in it comes and picks them up. Why? Because when you speak, you could create reality. They've not yet, I'm not challenging Elon Musk, but they've not yet designed the software that you think car pick me up and the car picks you up yet. First, they have to implant the chip in your head. But they have not yet designed think it and the car comes. But say it. You could speak into your uh your your smart house. Lights turn on. Thermostat go lower. Car pick me up. Playishbo. You speak and you create reality. Thinking it. We blur. We distort. If you say out loud, I am pledging sucka. I'm pledging to exercise. I'm pledging to eat better. I'm pledging to go to the para class. There's a world of difference between what we say and what we think. And that's why it says Jacob Ainu, he's having this enormous transformational moment. This is a transformational moment in his life. He went to sleep and he had this life-changing dream. And when he wakes up, he doesn't just have thoughts. When he wakes up, he says it. When you're driving in that car, say it out loud. Talking to Hashem, have a conversation with words. With words. Again, once upon a time in our lifetimes, you used to look over at the car next to you at a red light. And if somebody was talking and there was no one else in the car, you want to baker them. You'd want to call the police. Something's very wrong. Now, today, maybe they have an AirPod. They're talking through the car. Could be in an empty car. So, we don't have to worry that we're going to look foolish or stupid. Nobody's going to pull us over. Talk. Talk not into an AirPod. Talk not into a speakerless system. Talk to Hashem. Talk to yourself. Hispodus talk to ourselves. YaKob is introducing his bodus. Go for a it's a magnificent day. Go for a walk around the lake after something transformational in your life like waking up today healthy and talk talk to Hashem. Talk to yourself. That's why the Pik says Jacob didn't just think it. He said it only when not just hear. And then he goes on and on and brings many other examples of this as well. I'll throw one more in. He doesn't bring which is vidi. In order to do chuva properly, to repent properly, person has to confess. And the raam writes, you can't just think shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have gone there. I shouldn't have said this. Shouldn't have looked at that. If all you're doing is thinking it, you're not taking it seriously. You're not really addressing it. You're not confronting it. And therefore, you're not going to change it. If you want to change it, if you want to really take it seriously, you've got to say it. You've got to say it. And more than you've got to say it, you've got to make it real. You've got to make it real. I love quoting Peter Dooker, the great management expert, what gets measured gets managed. And my dear friend Michael said, "What gets recorded gets what gets measured and gets recorded gets managed." Amira, say it. Write it down. Record it. Take a journal. Create a spreadsheet. When you have a transformational moment, you heard a shar or a podcast, you read something, you had an encounter, someone said something, you experienced a miracle, something life-changing, transformational, write it down, record it, say it. Jacob is teaching us it's not enough to simply It's not enough to simply think it. The Amaros, the great also has a comment here says the following. The he quotes the god is here and I didn't know says if I knew I wouldn't have gone to sleep. So the holy of says the opposite is bringing a rash says he went to sleep in that place. Why if he went to sleep why does it have to say in that place? Obviously it's in that place. Where else did he go to sleep? So Rashi tells us it's to create a contrast. Right now Jacob is going to sleep. Where did he not sleep for 14 years? Yeshiva on his way out of his parents fleeing from as his parents' home. On his way now he stopped 14 years. He studied at the yeshiva didn't sleep. His parents didn't have to pay the dorm fee. He never slept. No bed. He went to go learn continuously. So says the of the they're at who their whole way they serve is by elevating the eating and the drinking and the sleeping he didn't eat or sleep in the base of because he didn't know he didn't know says he didn't learn that he thought how do you become holy don't eat don't sleep leave an atheetic lead an aestheetic life he didn't know until this dream, until this latter, until bridging heaven and earth. He didn't know. Now he went to sleep. His elus. And in his sleep, he had a revelation. In his sleep, he had a breakthrough. In his sleep, sleep gave him the energy and the insight. So he wakes up and he says, I didn't know. So interprets we read Rashi that he says had I known that this is a holy place I wouldn't have gone to sleep says the read it the opposite when he wakes up and says now I know that you can attain holiness even through sleep had I known I would have gone to sleep even in the I would have slept even in those 14 years I wouldn't have thought that you're not out of sleep over there also has a comment here says of Salvik God's revelation at times of crisis from the depths of despair and distress is a basic principle of Judaism. Sometimes Hashem does not reveal himself to the contented soul. He reveals himself to the mute soul battered by weariness and exertion. Sometimes Hashem reveals himself to one who grieavves for the ruin of his temple and the destruction of its altars while avoiding one who dedicates his temple and stands at the side of his offering. Sometimes Hashem does not reveal himself to the rational individual, but to one who is confused about life, who is bankrupt and has lost track of his world. From time to time, man's salvation comes out of distress. Even the most spiritually elevated members of the Jewish people first encountered their Lord at a time of raging fear, helplessness, or distraction when they were not anticipating such an encounter were thoroughly surprised by it. Yakov comes close to Hashem in a nocturnal dream while sleeping in the cold stones of the place. Moshe encountered Hashem where at a burning bush when he was watching Israel's flock entirely devoted to the simple everyday occupation sees vision of Hashem where in gulus in exile the river at a time when the appearance of the present full of quaking and horror contradicts the vision of a glorious future. Yosheskai firmly established the principle that even when man confronts an unchangeable evil decree coming from Hashem, even when his rejected prayers are thrown back in his face, he must see Hashem and conjoin with him in spite of the tragic reality that weighs him down. Hashem reveals himself through suffering and tragedy when the individual of the community is in trouble and distress. The RV sees in this encounter, we think, you know, when I'll have my spiritual breakthrough, a spiritual high. You know what? I'll become holy when I have everything. Health, wealth, honor, children, calm, serenity, tranquility. When everything's good and calm and serene, that's when I'll see you, feel close to you, connect to you, discover you, says that's not the way it works. Sometimes our breakthrough comes. Hashem is closest, most accessible. We can find him in our difficult times, in our struggle, in the hardship. Jacob's on the run. His brother's trying to kill him. He's all alone. And that's when he has this breakthrough. That's when he finds Hashem. You may have seen yesterday's Wall Street Journal. Sales of Bibles are booming. You know why? Worries about the economy, conflicts abroad, uncertainty over the election pushed readers towards the publication in droves. Bible sales are up 22% in the US through the end of October compared with the same period last year. By contrast, total US book print sales were up less than 1%. People are experiencing anxiety themselves. They're worried for their children and grand grandchildren. It's related to artificial intelligence, election cycles, all that feeds a desire for assurance that we're going to be okay. That's good news, people. The the world's most popular book is becoming the most popular again. 22% sales are up. Why? Why is everyone going to buy a Tanakh, ash, a Bible? Why is it up 22%. Because they're worried. Where do you find Hashem? In anxiousness, in worry, in stress, in conflict, in concern. Hopefully, America that's been so godless is going to discover him in this 22% increase in the Bible sales. Should have invested in it next time. should have been long on the Bible. Always go long on the Bible. Always go long on the Bible. It's the best seller of all time. Always be long on the Bible. So that's what the Rab is saying. He wakes up Jacob and he says, "Wow, I didn't realize Hashem is I thought you know where Hashem is? He's in the where is Hashem?" When I was in each time, when everything was calm and serene and happy golucky and I got to sit in the tent studying Torah, I thought that's where Hashem was. But now I'm going to have to go earn a living, go to work. I have my brother trying to kill me. Now I have to go defend myself, safety, security, a heroic idea of soldiers. So maybe you know what percent of the combat soldiers what percent of the combat soldiers we've lost are heroic angelic he has their boys who spend part of their time in the base medish excuse me part of their time on the front lines. So they know the lesson that Hashem is found not only in the base medish. Hashem is found on the front lines not just because there's no atheist in a foxhole. You know how many sum have been made finishing learning? How many have been published? My friend Ra Gatib, we had him on behind the beam a few months ago with his incredible organization Salash that's been printing of Raasha Weiss. Thousands because soldiers in Gaza, Lebanon requesting them to stick pocket size in their uniform to learn in their free moments. Hashem, Hashem is at work and in the boardroom, the operating room, supermarket, the gym. But Jacob didn't know it. He thought Hashem is in the base med. Hashem is in the sh. I didn't know Hashem goes with me to work. I didn't know he comes with me on the front lines to fight. He's even he's in this place, too. And in fact, sometimes those who struggle to have the breakthrough and find him when all is well and good can find him in those hard times. We say the three weeks based on the we call the three weeks the between the straits the narrow place but already the say don't read it all those who are pursuing us caught up in these three weeks that's why we mourn and grieve no hashem anyone who's looking for and pursuing Hashem where can you find him in that narrow place in constricted place on the run. When you feel all alone, that's sometimes where you can find him. Jacob wakes up. He doesn't only say, he doesn't just think, he says, he records, he writes his feeling, what just happened, this transformational moment. And then he also converts it into a promise. Because you know, by the way, if you have a breakthrough, you experienced a miracle, you experienced an incredible moment of hash of divine providence, something you're grateful for. You have a spiritual high. It's not enough to think it and it's not even enough to say it. You've got to act on it. Act on it. Put it into practice. Make a pledge. Give some take on more learning. Volunteer for capture it. Bottle it. Make it real. And what's promise if God will be with me guard me on this path that I'm walking on and he gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear and if I'm successful to return home in peace then God will be my God. We've talked about this in the past. We're not going to get any deep into it now. It happens to be a peculiar promise or pledge. Jacob says, "God, this was pretty good. Good start. We're on our way. Here's what's next. Give me food to tea, clothing to wear. Let me return on this very, very precarious mission. Safe, secure, and alive. If all works out well and in my favor, all works out good according to my plan, you'll be my God. You'll be my God." What? You're making deals with God. You're not showing God also just made you a promise. God just told you you're good to go. I got your back. Everything's good. And now you turn to him and say, "Well, if in fact and if he just told you." You're doubting Hashem. There's no better promise to rely on than that of Hashem. What's going on over here? So says the following. What do you see from it? It says bread to eat and clothing to wear. Didn't just ask for, "Let me have resources. Give me money." And then with the money, I'll buy clothing. I'll buy food. I'll pay rent. I'll buy a home. I'll pay my lease on my car. He doesn't just ask for the money and then of course he'll be able to use the money the way he needs and wants. He says, "God, if you give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, what do you see from here?" What do you see from here? He's asking not only for the material resources. He's asking to be able to use them in the best way. In the best way. Let me not have food only, but let me eat it in a healthy way. Let me eat it in a spiritual way. Let me eat it like a ladder who's going to create heaven and earth in my eating. in my eating. The mission says gonna have to have you talk to my kids David to not call me during the par make it ring says if three people are sitting having lunch and they don't share it's as if they ate of dead carcasses of of sacrifices but but three people are eating and they say Torah It's as if they ate from the royal table of God of God. What's the reason it says? Why don't we just say if three people eat together have why if there's no it's as if they turned this meal into dead carcasses and if they have to they elevated the whole table to the table of the almighty God. Why? Says Because when you're eating and you're drinking and you're enjoying, you have to express gratitude to Hashem. How do you manifest that gratitude? In that moment, immediately. But if you're eating and you're meriting to eat and enjoy and digest, if you're blessed to be able to chew the food and digest the food and eat a little salt and eat a little sugar in the food and you're enjoying the food, if you're blessed, then it's not enough to then just be smooing about nothingness at best or sharing gossip and at worst, you need to the way that you express that is by now sharing Torah. Sharing Torah. So that's what Jacobu is saying. I don't just want money. I want I want if you give me that I can engage and elevate and transform and use the material in the holiest way in the way that it's been meant to use. The G rashiva sha alter has a similar insight. He points out quotes Yakov wanted bread only to eat not to leave over says a person who has bread for today yet worries what he'll eat tomorrow is mikat amuna somebody who has enough bread for today but is still worried about what they're going to eat tomorrow is being ungrateful for today you have enough for today you're good to go why are you worried about tomorrow you're Jacob didn't want his food or any of his physical needs to occupy his mind aside for when he needed to engage them. So he says to Hashem, "Give me was bothered by a question. What's the question?" We should all be bothered by it. What's the question? Jacob should have said, "Give me and beg." What else do you do with if not? What do you do with beg if not? What else do you do with bread if not to eat? What else do you do with clothing if not to wear? Isn't it redundant? Isn't it extraneous to say give me bread to eat and clothing to wear? So the is saying because Jacob didn't say give me bread. Let's go to Costco. Let's buy enough bread for the next six months. Give me clothing. Let's go to the Black Friday deal and let me buy enough clothing for the winter, the spring, the summer, the next 10 years. No, he said give me I just want enough right now. Give me enough to wear right now. What? Tomorrow. I'm not worried about that. I don't want to be distracted by that. I don't want to be preoccupied with that. I'm not worried about that. It all comes It all comes from above. That's the says he's bothered how that works because later when the mun is falling and Hashem says the mun is here to test you. How does it test you? Because you'll only have enough for that day. We won't have enough for the days that will follow. So why was that a test? Is it good or bad amuna? The mun descended every day in order should worry for the next day. And that was not deemed a failure of faith. Why not? So the geriva answers there's a fine line between appropriate concern and lack of faith. Although Ben Israel were to be concerned the mun wouldn't fall tomorrow, they weren't to fear they wouldn't have food. That would be poor faith. So it's one thing to say, you know, I I'm not going to spend all my money. It's irresponsible to empty my bank account, plow through all my savings, live for today because Hashem will replenish tomorrow. That's irresponsible. You need to save. You need to put away money. You need to plan for retirement. That's responsible. But you also shouldn't panic and live a debilitated life where you say I'm holding these morsels of food. I can't throw anything out. I'm worried about what will be. Hashem who supports all mankind will support them too. The concern was meant to inspire them to remember that everything is dependent only on Hashem. It's all from it's all from Hashem. So it's that fine line between the two. It says that's why Jacob formulated as and li okay Jacob finds and he meets Raal and he kisses her says Rashi. He kisses Raal. He raises his voice and he cries. Why is he crying? He just met his bash. Love at first sight. Why is he crying? What happens? Jacob's brother is out to kill him. Has a son named Alifas. Asov sends Alifas and he says, "Go after my brother. Catch up and kill him." Alifas catches up to Uncle Yakov. But what happens? Alifas has a moral conscience. Why did he get it from his from his father? No. Where did he get it from? Because Alif sat on the lap of he had a father like, but he had a zeta like did para questions, took him to Yitk learned with him. So when Alifa's taka catches up with Yakov, says, "Uncle Jacob, I've got a I've got a dilemma. I have to honor my father. My father said, "Kill you." But something tells you killing you is not the right thing. So what should I do? So together they came up with an idea. Rabbis tell us a poor person, an indigen person, a person who has nothing and has to beg is they're dead even while they're alive. They're considered dead even while they're alive. So YaKob says, "Take everything I have, leave me poor, and it'll be as if you killed me and therefore you'll fulfill what your father said. Come murder me. But on the other hand, I'm still here. I'm still here." They came up with it. Says that is the son of And who descends from Alifas? none other than a malik, the greatest villain, the most pernicious enemy that we have. The when encountered his he should have seen this kid's offer. He's the son of as he's going to be the father of a malik. He's probably doing drugs, alcohol, piercings, tattoos, gambling. He's totally off the der. What's the point of learning with him? What's the point of spending time with him? comes the stipler and says, "Nonetheless said, sit on my lap. Come with me to let's learn a little bit." No child or grandchild is ever hopeless. We love them unconditionally. They're never hopeless. We learn with them. We love them. We shower them with affection. We give them a chance. Yes, Alifas ends up being the father of a malik, but he also ends up being the savior of Jacob. And if Alifas had not studied with if didn't believe in him and love him and learn with him despite everything, then who knows if he would have let Yakov live and none of us would have been here. A grandparent, a parent, a teacher. Never ever give up, says the stipler. Never ever give up. You know a lot of people who struggle who go off the who change to lives and lifestyles that are filled with challenges but they have one rebi one teacher one member of the family that they remember never gave up on them still loved them taught them believed in them and that's all they need to come back that's all they need to keep them from falling further that's what it means to be a parent and a grandparent. Yitzk never gives up on Alifaz. So if you'd look at it, you'd say, "Did it work? Was it a good investment that didn't give up on Alifas?" It was terrible. A Malik descended from him nonetheless. Right? Wrong. It was a good investment. Why? Because it still saved Yakov. Look at how it saved Yakov. Because he never gave up. Because he stuck with it. Okay, we have time for one more. One more. Which one more should we do? Gratitude. [Music] We'll do this one more. H maybe that one more. Jacob, spoiler alert. You all know the para the switcheroo thinks he's marrying Ra. He marries Leia. Then he has to work further. He marries Rael. There's a lot of kids between them. God remembers Rael still suddenly suffering from baroness from infertility. They den God remembers Rael and he opens up her womb. Why does it have to say God remembered Rael by his core? God remembered. There is no forgetting before God. God is infinite, omnipotent, all knowing and perfect. He doesn't forget. So why do we have to be told that God remembered? that God remembered. And we find similar language elsewhere Noah. God remembered Noah and all the animals in the God remembered at a therefore went to go save Luke. All these times God remembers as if God could forget. We who have senior moments need to be reminded. We could forget. But God God doesn't age. So what does it mean? What does it mean? So writes, "God is a caring, loving, benevolent father and he doesn't want to see his daughter suffer." And suffering. She's suffering so much that says to Jacob, "Give me a child and if not, kill me now because I'm dead even while I'm alive. I'm dead even while I'm alive." So therefore, had to forget that Ra didn't have children so that she would dain and he would remember. So for whatever reason, it was her own interest to be barren so that she would grow as a person in Davin. But God can never see his child suffering. So he had to cause himself to forget and therefore when the time came now he had to remember that's how answers but I want to suggest a different answer. What is it that God remembered about her? What did he remember? Rashi tells us Rashi quotes from Kazal that what she remembered was that standing at the cusp of marrying Jacobu with whom she aspired to build the entire Jewish nation. She put it on hold. She was Mosa Nephesh. She paid an enormous price and sacrificed. She gave the signs, the secret code to her sister and she didn't know if she'd ever end up with Yakov too. And that's what Hashem remembered. Hashem remembered. Similarly, lot was saved in the merit of Aram. Why? What did God remember? That a selfless Noah. God remembered Noah. What did he remember about Noah? That he was feeding all the animals on the TVA. What causes God to remember us? When we do, when we do love, we invoke Hashem's attention, his care, his concern. The tells us when the Jewish people were, they got together, they made a pledge and a promise, they would owe with one another. explains when the people in Egypt in the throws of certit servitude were suffering from slavery and they felt hopeless to change their circumstance they realized there was one thing they could change and what was the one thing that they could change was how they treated and what they did for one another they would do for one another and writes what caused God to remember them in Egypt was the way they took care of and loved one another. Every time we need God to remember us, to turn our fate and our fortune, to bring the hostages home, to un unleash the fury of the United States of America, to bring the hostages home by his core. What causes God to remember to pay attention is how we treat one another. It was true with Noah, was true with a now it's true with Rael. Each time what he remembered about the person he remembered is the they did with someone else tells us that's what it means every day we say we say you redeemed us with you took us out not you guided us with your kindness you guided us the kindness because we were kind to one another you took us out you brought us So we are again in a mat of claws. We want Hashem to remember us. 15 months. This war is going on. Ceasefire in Lebanon is barely holding on. In Gaza fatigue from this fighting the hostages, it's time to come home to let them go. How are we going to get Hashem's attention? What's going to cause him to finally turn our fate? How we treat one another. It's our It's our love. It's our care. It's our concern to have that so Hashem changes our fate. We have to please remain to say can complete all in a few minutes.