Part 75: The Body Needs Proof, But the Neshama Never Had Doubt

yeah good morning everyone I want to thank Evette for sponsoring this mornings I'm going to share in memory of her beloved father Herbert LaVine on his first year at site as Nama should have an Aliyah Thank You for Your sponsorship and for all you do on a regular basis okay today we're going to learn we'll see how far we get either one or two sections from the pet rebbi I've spoken about the pet rebi often I'm a huge fan of his was an extraordinary extraordinary individual he was the r of um in Petna then the r of the war so ghetto he had an illustrious career before the war and really was a Visionary of of Education wrote several of his works then um had had several yeshivas under him and and was a real R in arba and then of course during the war um his son his only son was killed his daughter his wife and he himself was in the war so ghetto and then he's taken out to a labor camp and he was shot and he was killed there a really really special person his writings are are incredible um one of them one of his writings which he didn't publish in his lifetime which is um the sermons that he gave in the Warsaw Ghetto it's hard to imagine those circumstance with everything that was happening to get up in front of a group of Jews and try to inspire and motivate and Empower and give some sense of Hope in a hopeless situation it's almost imag unimaginable um his the scraps that the notes at first someone else took notes on his sermons after shabas he edited them then he himself wrote them and they were hidden together with the shabas archives um Ringle Bloom what was his first name thank you bless you what was his first name was a monument to him in Warsaw um it was an amazing thing in the beginning of the war so ghetto there were a group of Jews who said we don't know what's going to be and we don't know if we survive but we need to create we need to document everything that's happening so the world will one day know and they saved everything and they recorded everything and they documented everything and they hid it in three locations buried beneath the ghetto two of them were discovered it was the on shabas archives they called themselves the on shabas group and uh two of those locations one of them still hasn't been recovered but two of them were recovered and much of what we know about the war Soto come from there so the ises the pet the sermons from that time were hidden among those archives um and were published posthumously in early 1950s more recently a better Edition um has been published and more recently even than that an amazing book came out um that I forgot the name of the book but it's an amazing book that shows that the sermons what was happening in the ghetto what was happening in Poland what was happening under the Nazis in the time that that part particular sermon was given when the Reb gave the sermons he never ever in the whole ish KES ish KES in wood by mberu was named for the P it's named for the safer so in all of his KES he doesn't mention the Nazis and the ghetto and the concentration camps and the guest Chambers he talks Pera he talks with Illusions so this wonderful wonderful book came out that actually for each sermon talks about what was going on and what likely precipitated the background of that sermon before the war he wrote a St for called which is a book for students in Yeshiva how to get the most out of Yeshiva how to live a disciplined life the introduction to is geared towards parents and Educators it's a masterful work he was really really prophetic really precious really before his time describing to parents and Educators the challenge of raising children today it's as if he was speaking to us in our time though he was writing in the early 21st 20th century and then he also wrote another book called which is for younger students is for the older students um we also have which is a work of his and in the back of he has a small volume called is his spiritual diary it's not his diary like today I woke up and I got in a fight with a friend the bus was late for school and I had this for lunch and we went there it's not a diary like you think of a diary it's what you'd call a spiritual diary today I felt this this towards Hashem today I worked on that today I had this Insight today I had that breakthrough today I struggled it's an amazing work it was actually published this is the Hebrew copy it was translated into English to heal the soul the spiritual journey of Colonus shapir it's a wonderful addition which is a translation and it's absolutely incredible to go through it's really really really beautiful really beautiful in fact I'll tell you I know Shu has just passed but I'll tell you that he has an entry in there where he says and he lets you into his world of spiritual growth his Nish it's an amazing access to the world of a of a real sadic who it's very personable it's his intimate personal world so he says that one day he felt this incredible closeness to Hashem and he longed to connect to hem so he turned to Hashem and he said Hashem what can I do what can I do to come closer how can I give you more how can I give you more joy in me should I learn more I'm already learning as much as I can should I DAV better I already DAV with as much kavana as I can if oh if only I wish I could convert to take that leap of faith to transform my life to convert but what can I do alas I have been born a Jew rash writes in his that when he read that entry in the Reb's Journal he cried and he cried and he cried you imagine a longing of a Jew who wishes he could give suchas to AEM and he says I'm already giving you my all what more can I give if only I can convert and Rasha says um sh is a time that we all can convert because if a man already has a bris he has the bris and if we're born Jewish going to the Mikvah doesn't make us Jewish we're born Jewish but one of the key components of Judaism of conversion is mitz the convert the candidate has to accept upon themselves the Yoke of mitzvos it can't be wavering it can't be conditional it can't be when it's convenient they have to accept upon themselves that they're going to observe observe Mitzvah unequivocally unconditionally passionately enthusiastically so that element of conversion he says we can all do it's an amazing amazing uh amazing book anyway so I want to read with you an entry and I have here on one side the Hebrew and on the other side the English gim the spiritual diary is made up of of entries and the entries are all numbered so this is number 13 we're going to go backwards we're going to study 13 and then if we have time we're going to study apart from number four so in number 13 he's talking about the following there's no doubt that you've read in books or you've heard about the evidence for the existence of God for those who are weak in their belief for those who struggle and where do they find where do they draw evidence that God exists they draw the evidence from the world so whether it's the first cause argument that we didn't come into being from nothing we have parents who have parents who have parents who have parents and if you go all the way back first man and woman have to have parents have to have a father a father in Heaven there's a first cause if you trace it all the way back that's that's the first cause argument St Thomas aquinus you have uh the argument of entropy you have all kinds of evidence for God's existence so says the P when you tap into that evidence that's for the people who are weak for the people who struggle to believe Bri for those who find it hard to believe they prove there's a God they bring proof from creation they say imagine if I told you this book there was no author I had a bottle of ink and a bunch of paper and I knocked over the ink and the ink dried on the paper and lo and behold is hand out you have in front of you now you'd look at me and you'd say you're crazy the statistical possibility or probability improbability is borderline impossible nobody knocks over a bottle of ink and you have a novel a book a writing nobody knocks over paints and you have a beautiful painting nobody a hurricane doesn't come and mix materials so that you have the architecture of a beautiful building we know that whenever you see disorder come to order you see you see ink turn into words you see paint turn into a portrait you see materials turn into a building what do you know whenever you see disorder turn into order we know intuitively and intellectually that it means somebody put it together there's a designer there's a writer there's an author there's a builder there's a sculptor there's a painter that's what it means as rational people we would never accept in a gazillion years the possibility that these things came into being by chance so the PB is is referencing the argument you think the world is any less intricate you think in the world is any less detailed you look at the human body the minutia the details the equilibrium the balance what has to happen for the human body to function what has to happen for a person to stand upright think about the weight distribution and the balance that your feet the muscles of your ankles are holding up your entire Bal body think about the food you put in your mouth and the nutrients that are derived and the hydration that's removed and the waste that's eliminated just the intricacies the detail so the piece of paper in front of you you wouldn't accept that a bottle of ink spilled and you got the piece of paper but you look at your body you look at the universe do you know that if the Earth were any closer to the Sun we'd all burst into flames we couldn't live we'd all die if the Earth were any further from the Sun we'd all freeze we'd all die for human life to exist on Earth it has to be exactly where it is relative to the sun there are countless examples and you think that just came into being by chance that's baso the creation of the world itself is existence is testimony to God's existence or if you look at the inherent wisdom and God's incredible power look at God's incredible power look at the things that were so unlikely to happen and L behold they happen look at nature and the mightiness of nature the beauty of nature but neb for the person who needs these proofs are there proofs they're ample proofs we spoke about last week Judaism doesn't demand a leap of faith Judaism doesn't tell us to believe the Torah God Judaism tell us you can know examine the evidence and the same evidence that supports every other thesis in your life which is not an absolute proof but an overwhelming abundance of evidence that same abundance of evidence is there to support the idea that God exists but says the right and previously as intellectual rationalists students of the rambam we have studied and we will study these pieces of evidence it's important we live in a scientific age where for everything we want to know where's the evidence where's the data what's the thesis where's the hypothesis how was it tested where are the conclusions what's the evidence says the the opposite he says NE on you if you need evidence ne how sad how how almost pathetic woe onto you that you you need these proofs love do you not feel have you not seen is your soul not on its own absolutely sure and confident that it's seen God you speak to him in the second person says the P you have an audience with the King of Kings with the almighty has your soul not experienced God that you need to rely on these outside pieces of evidence kind of makes you feel bad about wanting evidence right you need evidence well there's this argument and that argument and this one stands up to the test and that one is says NE you need evidence you need evidence your mother's your mother you need a DNA test to know that your mother's your mother or do you say this woman she raised me she took care of me she's there for me she loves me unconditionally she sacrifices she compromises I felt her love I feel her experience I I I am part of her maternal energy I don't need evidence my mother's my mother I know she's my mother says the P do you need evidence that Hashem is hasem you need evidence God exists have you never felt have you never been in the presence have you never been overwhelmed with the sense that there's a greater a greater being and a greater purpose and a greater greater world have you not seen the Grand Canyon of the Swiss Alps or Glacier Park in Montana have you not felt have you not studied science and said wow for that chemistry that biology that physics there's a rebon have you not in your own life had a moment where you gave up hope where you thought that something was hopeless and in the end out of nowhere there was a Salvation that turned out have you not experienced the birth of a child or been at the wedding your own or of a loved one have you not felt Hashem do you not stand in front of him every day and say in first person at in second person rather in formal and informal prayer because the truth is that your soul does see him in the present says the you you may need proof but your soul your soul has no doubt you so the challenge is to uncover the Nish the challenge is to not allow the to be misled to not allow the Nish to be denied or the soul the soul is hasem we are a peace we're a portion of God so the soul never had doubt never has hesitation the soul knows where it comes from the soul we know our mother's our mother the soul knows that Hashem is its father what happens the soul gets in the body and the body has all kinds of desires and temptations and interests for which it would be incompatible to believe what the soul believes if there's a God and I want to eat that and he says don't eat that it's easier to say there's no God if there's a God and he wants me not to say that not to look at that and not to behave like that but I want to look at that and I want to say that and I want to go there and I want to behave like that then it's easier to say there's no God there's no proof so the body looks for proof but the soul never had a doubt and our challenge our mission the reason I'm sharing and studying this piece in the PB with you that again by the way he's not writing this for us he wrote this this is his diary this is what he's writing to himself what he's writing to himself is NE on the one who needs evidence woe on to the person who needs proof because they're being led by the body they're not being led by the soul when you're led by the soul you never have doubt experience be mindful be present experience what there is experience the truth don't don't be blocked by the body it's Temptations desire we've shared before Insight where he said how can a bar mitzvah child be obligated in the Mitzvah he asks he says you know Aristotle the great philosopher many other great men and women struggled for proof that God exists so this kid turns 13 this girl turns 12 and you say to her so the fact that you say to you now you got to keep shabas now you got to keep kosher now you got to keep SAS now you got to make bras now you have to lul love now you have to hear the chauffer okay that you could say it's an action but you're going to tell them that at 12 and 13 they are responsible for something that 60 and 70 and 80 year olds are still struggling with Aristotle struggled with evidence for God's existence the rambam quotes it and yet the 12 and 13 you're little pictures you're going to tell now you're how could that be has an amazing Insight says the Mitzvah our job in as parents it's Educators for our children is not to teach them that there's a God it's to stop them from not believing what they always knew which is there's a God from when a little child a little child my little Shai just said to me last night or this morning something about Hashem loving him mommy loves me and ab loves me and Hashem loves me so a little child a 5-year-old knows Hashem loves me a 5-year-old knows I have a mommy and I have an ABBA it makes sense that I have a Hashem I they struggle I can't see him I don't hear him how come we never see him how come we never hear him ABA how where is he where is he ABA those are all great questions they're natural questions but the 5-year-old and the seven-year-old and the nine-year-old and the 11y old they all still know before you eat make AA you can't walk out of Publix and steal the food you can't put it in your mouth that's saying thank you to Hashem it's all from Hashem they don't push you back when they're five and seven and nine and then they get to 11 or 12 now all of a sudden the world is telling them how do you know and there's no evidence and you can't see them and it makes no sense and it's not convenient to believe in Hashem because I really want to do all these things that Hashem is telling me I can't do or shouldn't do or are not best for me so says ra the job of a parent is not to teach that there's a Hashem but rather it's not to mess it up the child knows the Hashem a little baby a little child a toddler from the earliest age knows that there's a God our job is not to teach that there's a God our job is not to mess it up CU what happens they're going to overhear us they overhear uset about about PES andet about having to go to DAV andet about andet about Judaism andet about the limitations and the restrictions and the burdens and they're going to hear us Fetch and they're going to see the way we DAV because we talk in the middle we're not really connected and we're checking our phone while we're mumbling the words and we're clearing our plate while we're saying the benching and they say this whole thing is a joke but at five and seven and N I knew for sure now I don't know why cu the big people around me who supposedly know more than me they don't really seem to believe it they don't really seem to believe it so why should I believe it so says our job is not to teach amuna our job is not to get in the way of the amuna is not to make our children unlearn the amuna that they were already born with so that is very similar to what the PX is saying here AR knows that there's a God our Nisha feels God our Nish is nourished by the presence of Hashem our Nish is on fire you hear a good musm a good sheer a good jasha you see a sadic you spend time in the presence of an incredible special sad sadus you read the book the biography of an amazing person an amazing reitan you're sh knows that there's a Hashem what happens the Goof gets in the way the body for whom it's a dist action and it's inconvenient and the challenge is to have the Nish lead the body not the body lead the Nish the challenge us to say I am aish I have a body not I am a body and I don't know I've been told I have a n I am an is that's who I am that's the real me that's the most authentic me that's the best version of me is the me that's connected to the ribon shal the me that's talking to him that's connected with him that's reaching out to him that's what I spoke about sh that's that's communicating that's talking confiding in hasem and that's listening to the message of Hashem and that can happen in the most unnatural way I recently met with somebody who's gone through a very hard time very painful loss and they described they used to be very close with Hashem and talk to him regularly and now they just don't feel him they don't feel him they feel abandoned by him they don't feel him they have nothing to do with him they're really struggling for religion so I said why don't you scream at a so what are you talking about I said unload no one's around talk to hashm and unload on him scream at him protest object ask him how he could do this to you ask him why it's fair tell him how disappointed how hurt how angry you are so the person said to me I thought you're not allowed to do that shouldn't I feel terribly guilty about how I feel don't I shouldn't I feel terrible how I feel can't scream at God I said why not that's how you feel and and there's no greater affirmation that you believe in him and to tell him how disappointed you are in him cuz you're not disappointed in things that you don't think are real you're not disappointed in figments of your imagination you don't scream at the computer or the TV screen about the character who didn't show up for you and help you because you know it's make believe you don't scream at the book you're reading because the protagonist didn't jump out of the novel and step in and help you because you know you're reading something that's make believe so if you don't scream at Hashem he worries that maybe you think he's make believe now I understand what I'm saying is a little extreme I'm not saying you should you know C you can't be a m you're not cursing God out we we we read about that episode in the Torah but I mean that respectfully you say to Hashem like you would maybe to a parent with respect I was disappointed I just got beat up and you watched and you didn't intervene and I counted on you and how could you do that and I'm disappointed I said to the person you have permission aam did it with stone he didn't yell at AEM but he protested Reon how could you do this what if there's righteous people it's not not right I object I protest mosha did it God show me your face I want to see the world as you do explain to me how this makes sense explain to me why this is fair explain to me how this is just we have precedent my point is that talking to Hashem is not just you're great you're amazing you're great thank you thank you thank you although that's also important talking to Hashem is also I'm disappointed I'm frustrated I'm protesting what you're doing or what I'm going through or what someone I love is going through and that also leaves you closer to Hashem because it means you believe in him you're talking to him your Nish deres energy and sustenance by that connection in that moment and I said to the person and keep a gratitude Journal at the same time protest Hashem but also keep a gratitude Journal of three things you're thankful for every day three things you're thankful for how does that make sense if I'm yelling at him I said because I could be annoyed at and still say thank you for the amazing meal you made yeah we're having this dis discussion over here about this issue but lunch was delicious thank you for making lunch you could be upset at AEM but if you still find the things within your life because every one of us I woke up and I opened my eyes and they worked I found that convenient parking spot I a grandchild gave me out of nowhere called me and did what who knows every one of us has three things a day before we go to sleep that we can we can identify acknowledge there's a million apps gratitude Journal apps you can put on your phone that force you to acknowledge with gratitude things every day so says the P NE neb and the person who is a body that has a soul that needs evidence and proof of God's existence woe unto such a person and blessed is a person who is a soul who has a body who feels the presence of the ribon shal who in The Miracle of Life and the BR and the gratit for the good things and even feels Hashem through yelling at him and through protesting him but who feels Hashem who I said to this person who feels so lonely and so abandoned I said instead of seeing Hashem as the source of your problem and the and the target of your blame why not try to see Hashem as the solution because if you feel Hashem in your life you'll never feel lonely you're not alone you could talk to him you could turn to him you can lean on him and that's what the rebba says when your soul cries out when your soul cries out from the par from misore what Miss you're my shepherd I fear no evil because you're with me as if you're holding on you're grabbing to hashem's throne of glory and Hashem is going to heal from there he'll hear your soul when you yearn and you pour out your soul bring me closer help me surrender myself to you I yearn greatly to come closer Hashem I yearn to be close to you we say there's a story with the G rebba I may have told you the story before the story with the GB needed desperately help parasa needed children Mar whatever you can imagine needed he needed he came to the rabba and they said re I come for I need Shas I need children I need children I need parnasa and the Reb said here's the SCH soon it's going to be going to be and we're going to say Hal when we get to hasem say it with hasem comes says and he screams hasem save me hasem bring me success and he has the greatest kavana the most focused intent the greatest passion enus enthusiasm and yend and he goes back to life and nothing changes he struggles with his parasa and he struggles with his Shalom bias and he struggles with from his children he comes back to the RAB he says RAB I came to you for I have all these problems you told me to say with and I said it with great kavana and nothing's changed nothing's better so the reab said which Anem did you say said God saved me God give me success the Reb said that wasn't the talking about the cavana you were to have was was for now interestingly the of is spelled differently than of with an Al with an Al means like a bakha please I need something please please Hashem save me please Hashem give me success my home with my children in life in business in health please hasem give me success is spelled with a with a he with a means not please not a request but with a is a statement Hashem I want you to knowem Hashem I'm making a statement I am your loyal servant all I want is a relationship with you my father I'm here to advance your mission in this world I want to feel your presence in my life I want to feel connected to feel your support to feel your love to feel your strength to give you to make you happy that's why I'm here that's what I want that's what my soul yearns for again this is the Reb's private diary which is later published and we have as he describes Hashem bring me closer help me surrender myself to you I yearn greatly to come closer could you imagine could you imagine your mother is in the middle of doing something amazing for you something incredible for you something incredibly kind for you and what do you do she's nursing you back to health or she's taking you shopping or she's bailing you out of an crisis and you say to her I love you that's amazing and thank you but where's the birth certificate I'd like to see the birth certificate where's the evidence could you just leave me a strand of hair from your brush I'm going to do a DNA test because I know you you know you're present and you sustain me and you support me and you're there for me and you're my Confidant and I feel your presence and I love you but but let's do a DNA test how do I know you're really my mother it's absurd person who feels the presence of their mother never says that if your soul knows with certainty if your soul has no doubt if your soul feels Hashem nourishing and nurturing and sustaining and supporting and caring and guiding on our journey through life then you don't need evidence cried out the is that a nun or a giml I can't see anym tonon says that abstract women wisdom Is For Fools and the empty-hearted keep me pessy whoever needs outside proof and outside evidence such a person is is empty-hearted such a person is so foolish if he had not a foolish heart but a wise heart then he would see not from his brain but with his heart and he wouldn't crave or need for wisdom or proof outside of his heart we think with our heart we think with our heads sometimes we think with our brain intellectually we analyze we test we draw conclusions but we also think with our heart love is an emotion of the heart it's also of the head love is the result of knowledge for another time but love comes from the heart so if your heart knows something to be true then go with it how many people have made terrible mistakes of dropping a relationship because they over intellectualized it even though their heart told them some people have just gone with the heart when they should have thought a little bit too can also get you into trouble and get into mistakes but when your heart feels and knows a truth sometimes it's a truth that can't be put into words we have a name for this it's called amuna there's a sophisticated amuna there's the amuna where you examine evidence and research and and and question and analyze and draw inclusions and that's a form of a sophisticated amuna but there's also something called Amun there's an Amun which is how do I know it because I feel it in my kishkas because I know it to be true because my heart tells it to me and don't feel inferior or deficient from that amuna because in many ways the Amun is a higher level our great grandparents tevia and fidler on the roof talking to Hashem while he's feeding the cows in the barn that's a t is probably illiterate teia can't read Hebrew te is not reading Aristotle or St Thomas aquus he's not taking philosophy 101 or 20 he's not he's not analyzing with depth the evidence for God's existence but he knows it he knows it he's talking comes from his heart that's the higher level we strive for on that wall as I pointed out's grandmother's to drenched in her tears the picture of the two of them that that tell her grandmother did not understand the word of Hebrew gets angry when I say this but I'm telling you it's true I knew her she was an amazing woman unbelievable woman a survivor of a tremendous woman she was aun knew no bounds she couldn't translate if if her life depended on translating a capital on that to helm I don't think she would have survived she couldn't translate one Capital but the people who could tell you the izra and the r and the Mal and the Rashi and the don't feel a millionth of what she felt when she read it because she wasn't analyzing with her head it came from her heart she said that to him she was having a conversation with her father she was having a conversation with her spouse she was confiding in her best friend and she was saying let me tell you what's going on in my life my son my daughter-in-law with my grandchildren me tell you what's happening where we're going where we came what I need your help and what I'm grateful for what I'm upset about she was having a conversation while she had to tell them so the words were just a platform to have a conversation she didn't understand them but drenched in their tears because the tum were just the excuse to have a conversation you don't even need the tum that's the other piece that I wanted to get to cuz I thought this was way too short it would never take up half an hour so but the other piece which we'll save now for next week which is longer is amazing it's the in his diary telling us how to have a conversation with Hashem you don't have it on that page it's a separate page he talks about seclude yourself in a quiet place get away from distraction relax the tension in your body he teaches us how to hisus how to meditate how to spend time and how to have a conversation with Hashem how to feel him now I want to end by saying that what we've learned today is not simple we've made it sound simple it's not simple to say shut down the voice of the body and turn the volume up in the voice of the Soul stop looking for evidence start listening to your heart which knows which never had a doubt feel the presence of Hashem when you see him as a father you're not going to need to see your birth certificate when you know that he's your mother you're not going to need a DNA test it's hard hard it's hard but am is hard you know it's called it's called aod hasem because it's aod it's work doesn't come easily it doesn't even necessarily come naturally it's an aod it takes an effort it takes work but when we're Mindful and when we take the time and when we're willing to put in the work the payoff of the relationship with Hashem is absolutely incredible mm will pick it up next week thank you EV again for sponsoring