Aish 2017 Day Program

as we do many times we save the best for last just a few short announcements before we begin this morning's program firstly everyone received hard keys to their room manual keys chávez keys to their room we must receive those keys in return as it said on your envelope and in the emails that we sent apparently they're worth a lot of money to the tune of $100 so if everyone could please return it so we don't have to charge you that money if you lost the key you can let me know you can let the front desk know and we'll make arrangements however it's very very important that we get those keys back of course if you end up with them back at home and you forgot them you can email us or contact us we'll tell you how to get that had to get how to get the keys back to us but it's very important we get those back secondly lunch will not be served or packed until the session is over we're aiming to finish here at 12 o'clock if it goes a few minutes over lunch we'll wait for you and everybody's starving after this weekend someone asked me that next year by the conference that we actually way people on the way in and charged them according to pound that they gained on the weight out we're considering it our actuaries are on the case nevertheless when you leave here you'll check out they'll be packed lunches to go to the car or to ever you're going packed sandwiches different types of sandwiches and the waiters will have them on your way out I think that's it lost and found it's a big one we have a facility it's about four storeys it's in Clifton for lost and found from previous conferences we have to fill in we have everything that people left here but if you did please again look around look around for the things if you can't find them better to find them before you leave than to have to call afterwards to just please check your belongings this morning's program is an exciting program for two guests who actually would did not join us over Shabbos I told him that it was a really boring Shabbos everyone's hungry and we okay these are the tremendous speakers and presenters from around the world that have joined us but to introduce today's session we spoken our entire weekend about our branches and our heroes out in the field one of those is Robert Mikoto and his wife Estie tolling over here the entire Shabbos from Detroit and - take it - take it away to take us through this morning session to the finale of this year's conference it's my honor to introduce to you rabbi simcha Tolan all right good morning everybody and welcome to the final keynote session of the 2017 partners conference yes we we did an incredible incredible job I actually felt a little bit like Abraham last night when I was sitting in the lobby completely stuffed and not one but two waitresses came over to me and said could we get you anything and I looked around desperately is there anything I need my coffee was polite plates of food and I said like Abraham said yes Lee call I have everything there is nothing I need so yeah see thank you so much for giving us everything we need this conference from the physical to the spiritual it's been remarkable my name is Robbie Simcoe and I'm the executive director of Asia tour Detroit and I am super happy to be with you here on this Sunday morning because on a typical Sunday morning I would be teaching Sunday School so this is a great improvement thanks for having me so in July of this year the Asia tour branch has got together in Los Angeles ace Los Angeles hosted us in Big Bear Lake and we met with Steve Berg and Steve grab a burger old us we are here for you the branches if there's anything you need we'll take care of it and we said rabbi Berg since the Russia Shiva rabbi Weinberg's passing we have been like orphans without a father with all the good that we're doing we feel like a like a ship adrift at sea we need to know that we have a tour presence in the base Madras a tour guide that we could ask our questions - we need River Berkowitz's presence in the organization in Asia Torah and I'm sitting there on the couch it's a very casual type of environment and I'm thinking boy we are throwing Steve Berg under the bus how is he gonna get us ravit sock Berkowitz riff it's like work you know we complain we get a hundred emails a day if it's like Berkowitz gets thousands of emails he's inundated by phone calls and when he gets home at night he literally has people waiting outside his door he has organizations that he runs he has a city that's after him all the time for different needs how is he averts of work what's gonna come and have a presence that's at all meaningful and a cetera but in fact he accomplished that today or Vic Berkowitz Lita is a guide for Asia Tora Steve Berg meets with him every single week we as brand chat if we have any questions we get we email rehrberg and immediately we get a response if it's Berkowitz's presence as we heard is India Shiva every single week meeting with students and this has been transformational for a cetera so this morning it's a tremendous honor to ask everyone here to please turn your attention to the video screen for a special recorded message from a viewer which Lisa from Jerusalem I've been told that I should do stand-up comedy for 60 seconds I actually discovered in doing comedy that really everyone could be funny it's just a question for how long could you be funny you know if you're gonna pay $15,000 for a comedian they'll be funny for about 40 minutes you go to the $3,000 can be up we're good you spend some time together you've got a wonderful Shabbos together hopefully hopefully you're getting a sense getting a sense of just what's really happening you're getting a sense of something big here you're getting the sense of a real movement you're part of a movement to reawaken Jewish identity for Jews to be ready to stand up and be counted as Jews to know that our heritage is something that is alive well and relevant relevant to our lives today you're part of that movement because this was the dream this was why we're not set up Asia in the first place the idea was not just to affect individuals the idea was to start a movement something big something big whereby every Jew will have heard of this never eg was gonna feel like being part of this because without it you're out of it that feeling of Jewish identity something that's worth taking a stand for something that's worth letting everybody know I'm Jewish and I want to be Jewish I want my kids to be Jewish this is what it's all about hopefully hopefully you got the feeling of that momentum and you're ready to go back and not just live it but share it and enlist others get everybody to know get the message back to everybody the Jewish people we are ancient alive relevant we are of people like no other people and you want you want every every Jew to know this to not in any way sell themselves short me not to be so baby go back and take this message I'm looking forward to working along with Asia and helping this grow to grow more and more in today's generation because times have changed a lot the world has changed a lot in the past few years a lot more that it did even in decades before and because of that the crisis is greater Jewish identity is not necessarily so popular and we've got to find a way to reach people and make them part of this movement every one of you can be an ambassador for this every one of you regardless of how would you know about your Judaism it's just the pride you've got to be able to share with others share this with others and enlist them and together we'll being bring back the greatness of the Jewish nation the nation that lasts eternally the great Jewish nation founded thousands of years ago that has included so many great individuals that is responsible for so many great values that all of humanity is pretty much adapted be part of that be part of that and make it happen and we look forward to the day that every Jew is gonna be able to stand up and be proud as a Jew say I am Jewish enjoy the rest of this conference and feel great so last night I was having a DMC a deep meaningful conversation the kind you could have after just one too many glasses of wine and yes Errol Schwartz walked over to me the son of Rabbi Shalom Schwartz and he said you know simcha I grew up always knowing that I am the 2nd 2nd generation a sure because you simply are the 1st 2nd generation a sure and I said really where do you live he said I live in Baltimore I said what do you do as a second-generation Asia he says me I work in a pharmaceutical company I said really a pharmaceutical company how could you call yourself in Asia he said simple are you kidding me I host about dinners I teach classes I'm recruiting for programs I'm an a sure I said he surely you're absolutely right rev Dolph Weinberg's vision was not to build an organization of people like me getting paid to do what we do Rodolphe Weinberg's vision was a movement as you just heard and a movement is people like you Cyril and a PETA movement is people like yourselves that take responsibility for clothes for all responsibilities for the Jewish people you Searle you are so right we are a movement and every one of you as part of that movement one such partner is mayor Sherman mayor Sherman who started what he called the Borough Park village it's kind of like a halfway house from what I understand it's like when someone is finished with you chief in Jerusalem and they're ready to move back to New York and start life there's an adjustment period and that's where mayor and the Borough Park Village comes in with job placement housing assistance and transition into normal life there's got to be a joke there when Borough Park becomes a transition to normal life that's remarkable mayor that's amazing but seriously mayor and your view you and your village represent part of Asia Torre's movement it's an honor of pleasure to introduce everybody to mayor Sherman an alumni of Asia tour well okay Logan Irish mayor Sherman I'm a product of Asia Toria a proud product of Asia Toria and my no means did I go to age expecting to change my life or to become from in anyway I didn't want to change my life where we come from I was having a lot of fun actually I was a television producer my career was on the rise things were fun I was young I just want to pursue that and keep going with that it was really just two simple things that brought me to age one was the cosna I was very very very inspired by a hosta I'd been to parties I'd been to weddings I've never been to a Jewish simpler before from Jewish simcha right and there was something about it that I wanted I can't really explain it I just I wanted to indulge in it and explore it and the other thing was my sister my sister was a Broadway actress actually when I was in Hollywood she was in New York and and she went to Nevada a year and came back just a complete different person the woman that left in comparison to the woman that came back was night and day and borderline miraculous honestly she was compassionate she was nice yet expressive she was content I actually enjoyed talking with her I sought out her wisdom sometimes seriously so that was it so I knew I went I did it I wanted to learn more about and I signed up for the for the three week program at H comm and my plan was very simple I was gonna go do some traveling eat some cool people you know get deep Jewish wisdom from rabbis with long white beards and then Shalom I'm out thank you I'm on my way that's not what happened I ended up staying for five years I live now a complete Jewish lifestyle I married my soul mate and ffb from Borough Park believe it or not it is funny yeah my life is just far more fulfilling meaningful than I could have ever imagined so what happened really well how does Asia tour turn three weeks into five years and for me for my journey it was really just three components the encouragement of questions the deep belief that every Jew that Asia tour has for every Jew in their leadership and their ability to change the world and then finally was the Limu Torah and the excellent rabbis of Asia Torah and Oxfam let me expand really quick in six minutes so one of my first eight age when I first got there was greeted by the jolliest man ever rabbi Schwartz with the biggest smile and he's showing him around the campus show him around the scene give me the itinerary I'm thinking myself wow this is so beautiful this is so amazing what's the cache right like what kind of an organization flies guys out for free to the most prime real estate in the world what do they want for me what am I supposed to do for them so I asked him I said very bluntly I said rabbi what's the catch what do you want from me what do you what am I supposed to do for you hey and what he said threw me off threw me off a bit he said just that you show up to class and ask a lot of questions ask a lot of questions so in my day if I had explored into any other religion which I did or ideology no one encouraged questions in fact if you proposed a question that challenged their faith in any way they shut down and usually just shun shun you right so here's a rabbi asking me to challenge him oh I'm in ok and that's what I did I asked a lot of questions the big ones the small ones day in day out and one thing led to the next and eventually with the questions comes a very very very scary conclusion gods real and he exists and he is heavily involved in my life so it's like that's awesome but gods for you I produce reality TV shows what do I want to do with God I don't need God right now I mean this is great but what am I supposed to do with this information you know where do I live where do I go with work is emailing me left and right where I tell them I'm moving to Israel indefinitely like thank you I don't know how to go about this I never I never knew a religious Jew you know where do I live what am I supposed to do I saw something very interesting the guys that H who stuck around were going through the same kind of turmoil that I was in one way or another one guy his family thought he was crazy fell into a cult and was out to save him another guy dropped a girlfriend of 10 years for no other reason that she was just not Jewish and we were all in this kind of whirlwind of emotion and we didn't really know what to do or how to go about it you know we're about to embark on this new lifestyle what do we do a lot of great camaraderie was built through that but there was times that we honestly said you know something are we all crazy is it just a nut house and then that's where the leadership part came in I'll explain see when of remove you know and partials luckless ah he left he left his father's home he left his society he didn't know where he was going you know what he was gonna do when he got there he just knew that the xiety that he was in was a contradiction to what he believed and knew was correct and then therefore left for no other reason than truth and integrity alone and in doing so imbued that great character tray into the Jewish people every single year as that no great leader or CEO or iconoclast or anybody ever changed the world for the better by following the flock aimlessly lava movie new who established the Jewish people I'll change the world and it's in that that they should Torah I think stands alone and excellence because they know and recognize that if you come to H and you stay at H and by definition it is proof you are a built of the ingredients of everything that it takes to be a leader and change the world and therefore they invest in you and that's what it did they invested in me and they invested in all of us and the proofs in the pudding the guys of my generation who were at Asia tour are out there now doing great things for the Jewish people they abide and subscribe to Rebbe hogs teachings and movement and they're doing amazing things how are we crazy yeah probably a little bit you gotta be what's his name Steve Jobs obvious Steve Jobs said something great he said uh said only the crew only the people crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do I think they called Reb know up crazy there was a revenue up with sugar know there's the guys gonna build a ball shoe for you Shiva crazy that was it the intense belief and the understanding of the character traits of what it takes to change the world in that and how they bring it out and every comment there and the next was like I said Lima Torah and the excellent rabbi's of Asia tour taking on the Gomorrah was tough you have to learn a new language right you have to learn the new style but I liken it to the to go into the gym release you start working out it's not fun once you start seeing results comes a little bit more fun studying inspired right and then once you start seeing more results it gets easier you actually enjoy the process and that's for me very much what it was I actually began to enjoy the process and eventually sometimes and all the time I can say all the time you get that feeling that I got at that hospital I went to whatever fiducia it was so that's it that's my Asia tour journey in six minutes and I'm gonna end with this under this it was a beautiful Shabbos it was but it can be more than that I encourage you I I challenge you if there's something anything you know that you can do a lot for the Jewish people that you can change this world so go ahead and do it before you leave today take upon yourself something anything remember for me why am I here today a cosna somebody invited me to Acosta I was impressed by the changes of my sister she was just a kid a sham that's all we have to do sometimes just be a kiddush Hashem and invite somebody to a Kozma or to a simcha to anything and can do the world wins who knows what it can do so I challenge you I inspire you go out reach out do that thank you so much is now my incredible honor to introduce a dear friend Michigan Supreme Court justice the Honorable Richard H Bernstein Richard graduated from University of Michigan and then applied to Northwestern University's Law School where he had to fight the law school admissions council against a visual bias of the LSAT claiming that the test discriminates against the blind because of its requirements to of interpreting visual material for schools agreed amongst them the Northwestern University Law School and at the time he was admitted it was the only blind person in the school Bernstein was elected during a Michigan statewide election to the Wayne State Board of Governors at the age of 28 and a couple years later he was unanimously elected as its chair when I asked Richard what how should I introduce him he said skip everything just talk about the Athletics that's interesting people like that so I read deeper and I said wow that is remarkable Richard completed 21 marathons at the age of 30 for the Ironman for those who don't know that's a 112 mile bike ride a 26-mile marathon and a 2.4 mile swim without a break at 37 years old judge Bernstein completed a half marathon in a lot the competition the competitions first blind competitor he did that with the assistance of a pilot in the Israeli Air Force currently Bernstein's consulting with the Israeli government and the integration of the special needs population into the Israeli military absolutely remarkable I personally met Richard in New York though we were neighbors in Detroit 15 years ago and I remember picking up on picking him up in a car and he says simcha do you feel the energy of New York said no he says could you hear it I said no so he said roll down the windows so I roll down the windows and I heard it beep beep beep beep as a Richard what do you hear he says people there's someone crossing the street there's energy there's a train beneath us feel the rhythm it's amazing and Richard you truly taught me to see you're an inspiration in my life over these past 15 years and I know that like you inspired my life and you inspired a life of those you meet we're looking forward to your inspiration here this morning ladies and gentlemen Michigan Supreme Court justice the Honorable Richard H Bernstein may God bless all who are here today may he give you guidance may he give you wisdom may he give you strength and he show you compassion may he allow you to know mercy it was a short time ago and I was asked to be the keynote speaker before the United Nations in Vienna Austria people were surprised that a blind person could serve as the highest court in his state there were 150 countries present but after the presentation we adjourned to speak with the global press and people simply couldn't understand how this was possible how can a blind person do this work how can you understand the facts that are presented how can you visit a crime scene how can you keep up with the information how is this something which is even remotely possible then one reporter said something I'll always remember when she said just how American is that that a blind person could be elected by their state to represent people in their highest court the values of Asia Torah are found in the spirit of America there's an energy at Asia Torah there's an enthusiasm is an idealism there's an eternal optimism there's a wondrous passion there's an incredible sense of mission Asia allows for people to realize the beauty of Judaism the kindness and the warmth of its people the energy and boundless excitement the eternal optimism that tomorrow will always be better than today I got a call one morning with some a wonderful young mom as we go through life there are always certain experiences that truly define us and this wonderful woman asked me she said Richard I'm reaching out to you because I know that you care about people with disabilities but I'm calling because I simply want to know why I'm a good person I'm a kind person I'm a pious person I keep Shabbos I have a kosher home the only thing that I asked Michelle was he would allow for me to have a family he would allow for me to have children that I could raise and introduce into Judaism so why is it that of all the people in the world Hashem would give me a child with severe special needs help me to understand what kind of a life is my newborn gonna have do you think he's ever gonna have any friends do you think he's ever gonna live independently do you think now I'll ever have grandchildren what's gonna happen to my baby when I am no longer here to care and provide for him and when do you think that the God that I pray to will ever allow for me and my family to have an ordinary life and when do you think that the God that I have served so loyalty will ever allow for me to no longer have to suffer and I remember thinking back and trying to answer this question by tapping into my own life experience and saying I believe it's okay to be upset I believe it's okay to be disappointed I think it's okay to be sad we don't have to be happy all the time we don't have to be joyous all the time we don't have to be celebratory all the time we don't have to have praise all the time I think it's okay for us to feel that sadness to feel that sense of loss to feel as though our life isn't going the way that we hoped or the way that we had wished or the way that we had even prayed and I remember saying to this wonderful young mom I don't believe that there will ever be anything about your life or about your child's life that will be remotely ordinary from this point forward because I believe that from this moment forward your family and your child were sent here to not simply be ordinary but to be extraordinary I don't believe that Hashem would ever create any human being with the idea that we should ever have to suffer there are some who walk among us that do have to struggle let us use that struggle to find greatness let us use that struggle to find identity let us use that struggle to connect with Hashem I remember as a young judge having a conversation with some other people about what are the qualities that go into being a good jurist being elected to Michigan's highest court I was young and new and excited but I wanted to understand what do you think makes a really good judge you're making decisions that affect the lives of people you're the last word for the state of Michigan there's nowhere else to go people's lives hang in the balance their freedom hangs in their balance so what are the qualities that allow for someone to make the decisions necessary to serve this role to do this well and people said oh well to be a good judge it's all about your academics how about what school your LSAT score it's all about your intellectual ability it's about your really the research and to write and to publish those are the things that make a good judge it's all about the books table of academics I remember thinking that there's something missing that was life experience Hashem gives us our life experience for a reason he doesn't give us our life experience for joy he doesn't give us our life experience for happiness he doesn't give us our life experience for us he gives us our life experience so that we can have an impact that we can have an effect and we can change the lives of those who live and work amongst us he gives us our life experiences so that we can do something with it it is our life experiences that create understanding is our life experiences that create appreciation it's our life experiences that give us perspective and understanding and empathy it is our life experiences that allow for us to have a true and genuine and lasting connection with the Creator it is our life experiences that give us fulfilment is our life experiences that give us purpose is our life experiences that give us mission is our life experiences that give us ultimate reason for creation so we come to age because we're all looking for something we come to ace because we want to find answers we come to ace because we've experienced loss we've come to ace because we're curious we come to ace because we want to have a greater appreciation of the world that lasts and exists around us we come to H so that we can understand what our purpose is what our reason we come to H to find the joy in life we come to H to experience the passion that Hashem gives us but we come to H because we want to know why we want to know why if a sum is so great the Shem is so merciful if a sham is so kind what kind of a God allows for bad things to happen to otherwise such a good people and why is it that there are some who walk among us that have to know a greater struggle or a greater hardship or good a challenge then others can possibly imagine we've attempt to understand as we go through life there are experiences that define us and often is the case that people will say if you've gone through a trauma if you've lost a loved one if you're facing sickness or your family is facing sickness people will often say you're gonna be fine you're gonna make a complete recovery but often it is the case in life that there are some who walk among us that don't get to recover the power in life is the values of H it's the idea that it's not always about recovering but it's about adapting the power comes through adapting the strengths comes through adapting to the life that you're given not that the life that you want to the circumstances that you're in not the circumstances that you hope for the power comes an adaption and with adaption comes great pride with adaption comes a new sense of purpose a new sense of mission a new sense of excitement what comes with adaption is the ability to survive the ability to face life the ability to turn Paige the ability to live the way that Hashem intended for us to live beauty of life is never a snapshot it's never about one day it's about having the ability to see things in a totality and for so many of us it's about the idea but you're gonna have bad days bad weeks bad months bad years but if you can find just enough good just enough you can balance out the bad you can find the meaning in your existence so why is it that bad things happen to otherwise such a good people and why is it that there are some who have to know this greater struggle or this greater hardship or this greatest challenge than others have to why is life so unfair to some why is life so cruel to others as you heard from simcha I've been blessed I've had the opportunity of completing 21 marathons and a full Ironman competition I invite you to picture if you would the feeling you would have as you dive into a frigid body of water as you heard on the introduction an Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a hundred and 12 mile bike to be completed by a 26.2 mile run if you stop if you rest if you take a break you run the risk of missing a cutoff if a cutoff is missed you will be immediately disqualified from the competition if you finish at 1205 instead of 12 o'clock it is like you were never even there two years of training work and effort will literally be for nothing so I invite you to picture if you would the feeling you have as you dive into this frigid body of water the water temperature being 55 degrees imagine swimming in total darkness you have no idea where you started you have no idea where you're going and you have no idea where you are being the only disabled competitor you get kicked in the face over and over again by all the other swimmers and being blind you can't brace for the ensuing impact you try to surface but it's impossible because there's other swimmers immediately above you and lastly others become entangled in the rope that connects you to your guide and if they become entangled the Rope becomes ensnared and as the Rope becomes ensnared it starts taking you below the surface the waves come crashing down you try to surface but it's impossible the more you want oxygen the harder it is to obtain when you're looking for a connection with Hashem you find it it's your most vulnerable moments you find it when you're scared you find it when you're in pain we find it when your future is simply unknown when you're looking for a connection with Hashem you come to realize at those moments that is when miracles truly do happen you come to realize that yes there are some of us whose bodies are mortal whose bodies are infirmed there's always those very people who have spirits that can soar who have souls that know no bounds there's always those people that have a resilience that is stronger that is greater than the weakest of bodies yes our bodies are infirmed yes our bodies are mortal but it's from that that our souls are incredibly powerful and have no limitations so why is it that bad things happen to otherwise such good people and why is it that there are some who walk among us they have to know this greatest struggle or greater hardship than others it's a beautiful day here in New York City at this point I had done 17 marathons and a full Ironman - August 13th of beautiful beautiful Monday morning five degrees and sunny the kind of day you just love to be in the park I was walking in the pedestrian lane I can do that because I've memorized central park so I can walk in the lane that serves as a circumference without an escort or without a guide it's a beautiful day I was thinking about how great life is actually there was a cyclist a bicyclist was travelling at a speed of an excess of 35 miles an hour which happens often in Central Park and this bicyclist was going so fast but he couldn't maintain control and because he couldn't maintain control he veered into the pedestrian lane where I was walking and struck me directly in the back now a 35-mile on our impact is catastrophic to say the least we have the right to be angry with hashem and we have the right to challenge him we have the right to look up to the heavens and say no more I worked my whole life as a blind person to be an athlete I worked my whole life as a blind person to become a lawyer I worked my life as a blind person to become independent no more now I have to spend over ten weeks ten weeks at Mount Sinai Hospital and it's those little things in life that you really missed the most as an athlete it's difficult to have people carrying you or have to touch you it's hard not to be able to use the bathroom without assistance it's hard that you're not able to take a warm shower and it's hard that you can't sleep through the night because the pain is so intense we have the right to be upset and we have the right to be angry and we have the right to speak out people used to come and they visit that always ask them so tell me where are you going after you leave Sinai let me say all I'm gonna go in pick up some groceries I want to go meet some friends for dinner oh I got to pick up my dry-cleaning and they say it in a very rudimentary mundane way and always say those are the things that you have to cherish those are the things that you have to enjoy those are the things that make life great those are the things that create life and its essence and its core that ability to go to the lobby that ability to go outside and feel a fresh first to there a sense of riding on a subway or taking a taxi go into the park sitting in a restaurant savoring the cuisine having wonderful conversation being able to hear the glasses as they clink tasting that wonderful food Hashem is with us in the little things he's with us in the things that we don't always notice that we don't always see but that through our experiences we truly come to know him he truly come to find him we truly come to connect with him he's with us in the small things it's the small things that make life great the small things that give it meaning it's the small things that give it joy it's the small things that give us our dignity our life experiences find the reason find the joy find the purpose and the experiences that Hashem gives to us the more challenging the experience the greater the purpose the greater the mission more important it ever could be I just came back from Spain yesterday in fact working with the Supreme Court there to allow for people who are blind to serve as judges also working with the government there so that people who are disabled can have the right to vote often in some cultures it's believed that if you have a disability you shouldn't be able to vote shouldn't have the ability to become a judge have a profession be independent remember speaking in Spain I remember saying the people that you have denied the right to vote are the ones who have the most to say they are the ones who have the most to share they are the ones with the experiences that give them the greatest knowledge but give them the greatest insight they are the ones with the deepest purpose and the most wondrous of missions they are the ones whose voices should always be heard pretties those who struggle it is those who know pain that Hashem cares for the most that Hashem is always there for that Hashem is always guiding that Hashem is always looking over and I would venture to say that from our own life experiences are the ones who have the greatest connection greatest understanding we battle and we fight and we challenge we get angry we do all those types of things but isn't that the sign of a real relationship isn't that the sign of a true parent and child isn't that the way it's truly supposed to be my last moments that I have with you today I asked for you as you go on your journey to celebrate every small victory celebrate every small joy there is no victory that shouldn't be celebrated there is no joy that isn't worth admiration in my situation I would celebrate the fact that I could sit up in bed I would celebrate the fact that I could start using a walker and I would celebrate the fact that this one time marathoner and Iron Man could find his way to the end of the ward and reach the nurse's station it was a short time ago and it was time for the New York City Marathon never running the New York City Marathon was gonna be difficult with a shattered hip and crushed pelvis it would be painful it would be hard even would ask why would you do this what's the point you're not gonna beat your past record you used to be a fast runner he'll be a marathon nonetheless you've been experience nonetheless it would just be different it would be a different challenge would be a different experience living with chronic pain can be incredibly difficult this xem is always there you might be angry and curse him but he's always there to help you deal with the pain that you feel every day and every night we ran through the streets of New York pain was becoming so intense as we reached mile 18 and started crossing the 59th refresh came down to First Avenue when starting heading up to the front the South Bronx the pain was becoming so intense I remember praying to his Shem and I said Hashem I really want this I really want this please let me finish this race please let me cross this finish line I'm working through the pain I appreciate the pain I respect the pain but please don't let me lose consciousness please don't let me pass out please let me have this that moment I was able to find a sense of peace you find a peace with your new life and your new circumstance you make a peace with your new body at certain points in life you're actually able to find a peace with Hashem so why is it that bad things happen to otherwise such good people why are there some who have to walk amongst us that know a greater struggle hardship and pain and others can possibly imagine or attempt to understand I think we learn from a valuable lesson about life a certain point you just simply can't spend your time and your energy and your effort trying to get over it realize you simply have no other option and no other choice but to just get on with it and often it is those who know struggle heartache and pain that will do what is hard to achieve what is great we must look at our life as a great novel within any great story there will be chapters chapters of pain chapters of step back chapters of frustration it's only through those chapters you can come to find hope joy and triumph let us celebrate life for its good and for its bad let us celebrate why we are here and why we are created but to celebrate the experiences that the Creator gives to us how to celebrate the idea that extraordinary things can will and must happen for us all for ultimately if I didn't have the experiences that I did it wouldn't be a good justice I wouldn't be kind it wouldn't be patient I wouldn't be as understanding I wouldn't be able to empathize those skills would be absent it is through experiences that Hashem gives us that we can serve others we can impact others we can make a difference for others let us celebrate life let us celebrate Hashem and let us celebrate the idea yes our bodies are mortal our bodies are infirmed but it is our spirits and souls that truly know no balance Richard thank you so much for sharing yourself with us I did have to ask Richard if he finished that marathon and he said oh absolutely definitely I absolutely finished that marathon Richard is now my incredible honor to introduce rabbi Fareed but before I do I just want to mention that following the retirees presentation we're gonna be hearing from rabbi Elliot Mathias director of Hasbro fellowship for final remarks rabbi Ferrari who's joining us today for the conference is Israeli born an American raised by Ferrari was brought up in the Syrian community in deal New Jersey he has lived in London with his wife and five children for the past 10 years and is the founder and director of Kazak a dynamic educational organization catering to the specific needs of UK's Sparta community a rare blend of intelligence dynamism and wit he is a product of top Israeli as she vote coupled with over a decade of expertise in both informal and formal Jewish education rabbi Ferrari is a charismatic and sought-after speaker and lectures weekly in Jewish and non-jewish schools university campuses and young professional circles in the length and breadth of the UK although he is uk-based he travels frequently to direct educational programs in Israel Eastern Europe and the Americas to teach in Jewish communities worldwide he serves as an educational consultant to several Jewish schools charities and communities who seek to benefit from his innovative approach to Jewish education and his insightful understanding of the issues that young Jewish people face today over the last few years he has developed an impressive array of Jewish theatrical productions captivating short online films and online classes that appeal to Jews of all ages and backgrounds the fre I'm one of those people that watch you online and now it's a pleasure to have you live here at our conference thank you very much wow that's quite scary I'm one of those people who watch you online I also have to update that that bio I now have six children thank you very much subscribe look it's a massive achievement okay so the name of this class was digging deep the Giants that walk among us and it's quite sorry I just feel very uncomfortable sharing this so I'm just gonna begin with this I feel very small specifically at this conference not like a giant at all first of all the fact that we're sitting here in the presence of peoples like the chief rabbis chief rabbi Lau chief rabbi Lau it's unbelievable and all the amazing McCarver and the amazing people that are doing wonderful things Viborg running Asia Torah doing was such an amazing job Yossi Friedman putting this entire place together you know the person the person who first actually bought me - brought me to come to H by the way many many years ago who I'm embarrassed to say he got me to work for H with a line that some of you may find is familiar he said why don't you come to London I said I have no plans of moving to London he said come to London worst-case scenario it will just be a free trip you know I never knew that that worked on rabbis but ok so I want to thank everybody for having me here but I'd like to share with you why I feels so small a little while ago I was running a program called Jay I left something that was started by a remarkable woman he was here with us today Jackie angle and and we rearranged our entire schedule in order to be able to have the former chief rabbi rebus throw may allow sleet succumb to speak to our group we moved an entire day to the other side changed all of the of the activities that was supposed to happen everything moved in order to be able to allow us to hear from him in Tel Aviv is that so I get a phone call from the guy who's in charge of running the trip for logistics and he happens to be South African so you know I don't if you notice when rabbi goldstein Selita when he spoke South African speak a little bit differently than Americans do and if you notice this right and the guy says to me says you know I just got a phone call from rubber Liao's daughter and she said that he needs to he's yeah unfortunately I'll be able to make it because he's going to be checking hospitals today so I said I can't believe it today of all days he needs to go checking the hospitals you know for cosmos for this for that for Kohana and like you know we changed the whole program you know just in order to be able to hear is there any way please go back to his daughter and ask him to ask her to ask Rav Lau if he could figure out a way of checking the hospitals on another day and coming to see us according to the schedule he says okay he's a little bit puzzled closing back a few minutes later he says I spoke to her Lau's daughter she doesn't know what you want I said what do you mean see when he said checking the hospitals he said it like South Africans but he he said check checking I had asked the chief rabbi of Israel when he was checking into the hospital if it was at all possible bring the check in another day because we really wanted him to speak to us and you know those moments when you hear something and you're like no no no no no no no no no no no no no I've only had that feeling once more in my life it was when I was communicating with a very important donor of ours who god bless him he's an elderly man and he has Parkinson's and I sent him a message and I wrote the words Shalom sadiq and as I sent it off I realized that it had autocorrected to shaking tarik Oh oh boy so so I'm hearing this on the phone the chief rabbis daughter doesn't know what you want for her or his life he's going to the hospital pal there's not much he can do to rearrange it for your program I wanted to die I turned up at the event that day and we make other arrangements and other people are speaking and I think I've got away with it and all of a sudden there's a commotion in the back who's their current chief rabbi Lau and he walks in and I walk up to him and I say Oh Sean Malaysian what is the rough doing here he says the truth is I don't know I was a very busy day but I got a phone call from my father in the hospital I said Do You Know Who I am he said no and I ran so I think I'm uniquely suited to be speaking about digging deep to find the Giants amongst us because I have very rarely felt so small and to see the and some of you were wondering why I only came Sunday let's get cracking the Torah is full of unbelievable messages expressing to us what it means to be great but the fantastic thing about the way the Torah expresses greatness is that it is often in a way which you would not have thought of at first glance and I want to speak about one of these cases because I believe that it carries a fantastic message especially for a partners conference run by ash shatrah one of the greatest leaders that Jewish people have ever had was a young man called Shmuel morels mother kana had had difficulty having children and she prayed with all of her heart so much so with such sincerity that that prayer becomes the cornerstone and the way that we learn how to pray for all of time and the kana promises God if you blessed me with this child that I so desperately want then I promised you I will give him to you from the young age he will be here in the temple serving you kana miraculously has a baby and as a young child that child is brought to the temple and he serves Hashem under the tutelage of the great Elia cohan he's still young man when one night in the middle of the night Morel hears a voice and the voice says well well jumps out of bed and he says he may be Here I am he goes running into the next room into the room of a Leah coin this elderly man who was informed was unable to see who needed the help and he was sure it was a me that was calling him he'd never experienced prophecy or a divine message before so he comes into the room and says yes and a Leah Cohen says is not I that woke you up and I want to read you these words Valmer he named Here I am Rhossili because you have called me vo Marigny says low karate I did not call you Shu it have go back to sleep small goes back to sleep but it happens his second time well he wakes up runs into the other room he named me Here I am you called me Eliot Cohen says I didn't call you go back to sleep shoot off a third time it happens he runs in the room now is just getting annoying and a Leah Cohen says it wasn't me but if you hear the voice again if you hear the call once more answer it and say da bear Hashem speak Assam Kishore mayor of Dhaka because your servant is listening is ready to receive your message but up until that point n Leah Cohen tells small to go back to sleep rev mayor Shapiro was a child prodigy at the young age of I think it was twelve years old they realized that there was no one in his hometown who was capable of teaching him anything so his father sent him to the shots there of far away who was known to be a genius he studied with his children who were also brilliant brilliant minds and even though they were older than him managed to Pierrot came and studied with these older boys with the shots of Rob but when they weren't learning they would do old grown-up things and he would play in the backyard he was a kid he played with the shots of rubs kids and he would tell them as a young boy of the dreams that he had not just of studying not just of having a yeshiva but of starting a movement getting every Jew quite literally on the same page where everyone would study the same book on the same day and a Jew from New York that would travel all the way to Israel or from Israel to Europe or from Europe to wherever they'd arrived and they'd be on the same page able to learn with their brothers a blot Gomorrah page of Gomorrah the kids told the mayor stop having these dreams what are you doing grow up just sit there study do your thing prove Shekhar's go back to sleep because make no mistake doing the right thing but not the thing that you were made to do is going back to sleep he grows up and history is made he presents his idea to the Hoff its Lyon and in an instant it seems it's taken up across the whole world years later after the world is learning domain today the numbers and the hundreds of thousands when they make these massive zooming in football stadiums in Madison Square Garden in Benin a home on years later he's speaking at a convention maybe like this and he hears that the shots of Rabbie's daughter is in attendance he sees her husband and he says is it all right please would you tell your wife I'd like to have a cup of words before she leaves she comes over he says hello so nice to meet you I just want to thank you for all the time that I spent in your house and your parents home I want you to promise me one thing he says you now run many schools filled with young women you teach them you inspire them you push them to grow promise me you won't do to them what you once did to me tell them to go back to sleep could you imagine what would have happened Shmuel gets the call again and again and again but what would happen if it only would have been called once and he would have thought it wasn't because how could it be that this is common to me Who am I to do this Who am I to be this and the message he gets from his leader from his teachers from his parents from his society is you're right you're nothing it can't be that he's talking to you what we would have lost if we didn't have a relationship hero if we didn't have as well this is my friends is I think the most powerful message of coming to Aparna's conference and I remember being here when Rev Noah was here and he would pound on the fender and he would tell us that it's not just a man like him with a gray beard who knew all of Torah it's not just him with a yeshiva with students that are placed in every place but it's every person in this room who is capable of doing of going of being if not was the ultimate alarm clock the opposite of should have because the result of being told that again and again you are just a kid you're just a you don't have you don't know who gave you care of training the result of that is what happens to some well and I want you to pay attention to this because it's so beautiful it's beautiful it's poignant it's bittersweet it's heartbreaking well says he hears from Ailee Ailee says if the voice comes again if you were challenged to pick up the baton to be somebody again respond and saying that they're saying to this voice duh bear Hashem speak O God ki show mer of death huh cuz your servant is listening Shmuel goes back to sleep via for Hashem and Hashem comes for idiots Ave and he stands by ecran he calls keep on the palm as he had called time after time sending this message reverberating huge smiles very being and Schmuel stands up after it's been the fourth time after his Rebbe has finally told him I believe in you it's you if it comes again you've been chosen and smell says that bear she's so mayor of death huh that one word that's missing that one word that is everything here he says to him to say speak Jim because your servant is listening well can't bring himself to say speak Hashem look at Rashi look at me to dust of it they both say Omar he said to himself Shama call a guru maybe after all this it's someone else speaking maybe someone's playing a prank maybe it can't be me what a tragedy that would be to lose the ones that could make all the difference in the world as they have not got the message that someone believes in them if you have heard rabbi Berg's message loud and clear you know that if you cannot find it anywhere else you can find it here a shutaura believes in you whether you carry the name Asia Torah on your t-shirt or not each the Torah believes in you it exists to empower people to make a difference to the Jewish destiny we carry on revenuers mission of being an alarm clock you know there are two words in Hebrew which represent different ends of the spectrum when a child becomes a man and accepts the yoke of mitzvoth he is known as a bar mitzvah at the apex of his career the me of his growth he gets Smith and he's called a Roth bar child and Roth are the same letters but what defines one as a child is if the bet comes before the rich and what defines you as a Roth as the rabbi but not just as a rabbi a Rob is someone who is great is if your rash comes before your bet what am I talking about the word rash in Hebrew also means ahead the word bet also means the letter bet also means a house what motivates you what guides you is that your house or is it your head when Avraham is chosen for his epic journey to be the man who would be God's flag bearer on earth he is told and commanded in that initial journey left with America leave your country let's look I'll leave your country milada Takei the place of your birth may better be that the house of your father and the commentators asked truly that's a redundancy all it needed to say was leave your country if you leave your country you've automatically also left your City you've also left your father's home and the concept is driven on with all of its force Hashem was telling Avraham not to leave physical places but the manifestations of each of those places your home is a place where people decide sometimes for you who you are going to be sometimes people are living vicariously through you sometimes we become byproducts of people who are in our homes we develop into somebody because of a dominant or past avoid developing to someone because of an abusive or a kind father or mother but that's not you that's some reaction to a circumstance so Hashem says sovereign leave that leave melodica leave the city we know the cities that we grow up in like the palm of and if you drop us anywhere in the city we know how to get to anywhere else we know the shortcuts leave behind your comfort i sat and interviewed a man who works for an unbelievable company he's a man who got his start in the business that he was in he was working in IT for the Economist group his name is mr. Andrew rosh vas they promoted him to be the CEO of The Economist group an IT guy he doesn't know anything about finance or journalism he then gets picked up to become the CEO of Thomson Reuters a news agency's news agency he doesn't know anything about News and then he moves to your own money he's not that finance and I asked him how did this happen how did you get to where you got to with the training that you had and he said something to me which first I thought was a self-deprecating joke but then I realized the power of what he was saying he said I never let myself get too good at anything that I couldn't do something else the comfort that we feel that locks us into places where we could be doing so much more let's let gosh cam says to Avram to leave it but what I found fascinating about this and I shared a couple days ago with rusev once that was Avram has given Commandments of everything he needs to leave he's not told where to go in this journey of excellence of achievement of greatness it's not about going somewhere it's about the process of cutting ties with the things that hold us back when it when a person can weaken the yetzer I rather tries to inhibit him he doesn't need to go somewhere automatically his neshama guides him to places that he'd never thought possible or she'd never believed were receivable because inside we are great we are powerful we are infinite we are expansive you're not ego driven and low kindness shamash tuna tartare B tempura we have a holy pure in the summer a piece of Hashem invested in each and every one of us so long as we can leave behind these things which unbelievable unimaginable things the word in Hebrew for a dream is the column and the commentators always explained to us that when a word is made up of letters the alternate variations of that word are part of its own essence if a person has a dream the very same letters that spell the word column also spelled the word Elohim to be a warrior lock the people of dreams hyena kick homie everybody in this room is thought of something that they could do to better the lives of somebody else to reach out to somebody else to strengthen Jewish identity and pride and shmear Ottomans bought in their communities we've all had good ideas but who's willing to fight for them you want your dreams to come true you need to fight but it also contains a third amalgam and that is Mikkel the ability that one has to be able to have to forgive to give up on something every great thing we want exact a price from us it takes time it takes care it takes effort it takes prayer it takes Emunah and it comes at the expense of something else so what do I want to fight for what have I noticed inside of myself that I want to fight for we call this digging deep and it's a great word that I've been playing with for a little while in my head it was said in passing conversation with someone and it happens when you dig deep you know what you discover when you dig deep not just courage not just determination when you dig deep you find buried values do you know what a buried value is value don't even know that you have a feeling which is much stronger than you thought that it was you have Jews who don't think all that much about being Jewish until someone dares to say something anti-semitic who don't really feel connected with Israel I disagree with Israel and its policies lalalalala and then someone says something about Israel and they come out like a lion that's a buried value because when push comes to shove these things they see inside of us but it's uncomfortable to fight for them it's not all wrong we better ve got to fight for them it's not my place culturally it's considered rude to talk about politics so we hold back from our buried values neckla travel to yourself release yourself in the world you are a gift that we have been waiting for and I want to share in ending because I know I'm running out of time even though I have a lot more to say unfortunately and that is that this is possible even when people don't believe not just they don't believe they have enough they believe anything which makes them who renders them capable of achieving this a fifteen-year-old boy whose name was Jack and Draca lost a close family friend to pancreatic cancer the biggest challenge with pancreatic cancer and it's 95% mortality rate is that by the time that you know that you have it it's too late to treat the pain hit him close to home and pain is a great motivator it's why Hashem gives us miss Janos and Draca decides that if the reason why people die from this terrible disease is because they don't know they have it surely all you need to do is check people before what's the problem you can't check everybody it's too it's too expensive so a 15 year old boy sends off 200 emails to universities to labs to ask them for lab time to teach so he can work on his idea to develop something which ultimately would become a strip that one could put blood on that would be able to detect early on that someone had the markers for pancreatic cancer do you know the price of his test three cents if it goes ahead and they wind up getting approval it would be something that every single person can get tested for with miniscule with minuscule costs he works on his for seven months and I want to just read this to you they thought that he'd come for a couple of weeks in Johns Hopkins the one out of the 200 emails that was returned the young scientist worked for seven months every day after school and often on Saturdays he's not Jewish until after midnight subsisting on hard-boiled eggs and Twix another sign that you know he wasn't Jewish they'd have been a lot more food as his mother dozed in the car in a nearby parking garage he labored through Thanksgiving an Xmas he spent his 15th birthday in the lab Robert I when you know what you believe in you find it within yourself to be able to exert to fight to give up on things for you a dream for our dream for Klaus riles dream hey you know keelhaul man we have been waiting for a day of peace for so long a time when we're allowed to live in our own country when we're not vilified for defending our own citizens but that dream meets people to fight for it and I'm sitting in a room with hundreds of people who are those people we need to stop looking for the Giants amongst us and realize that those giants are us may our chorus Park will bless our endeavors and we use okra to see NH partners conference like this double triple quadruple in size as many many more people take on the mission and recognize that they have it within themselves to be able to do something beautiful something big in their world so long as someone's sleeping in the car in the parking garage believing that they can do it there's an entire team people believe in you so let's get to work Thank You rabbi ferry if I could ask everyone to remain seated for a few more minutes while I introduce nobelium Mathias for a few final words rabbi matthias is the founder and director of the has bara fellowships program which has trained over 3,000 students to combat anti-israel propaganda and cloud campuses recently having Matthias in the hospital fellowship received a grant from the Israeli government to expand their incredible work rabbi Matthias besides his responsibilities to the hospital fellowship program took over as executive director of Asian New York's campus programs clap again guys each New York college campuses it's been great having your energy here for Shabbos rather Matthias also serves on the Executive Board of H global and the vaad of the a muta ladies and gentlemen rabbi le Mathias the wrap-up job never easy the H conference is my favorite weekend of the Year actually 15 years ago I was engaged to my wife and I actually had my offer off the celebration before you get married at the H conference 15 years ago and that made me realize something profound why is the H conference my favorite conference of the year the food is good but that's not the reason actually Yossi last night I heard a rumor that between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning there was no food out in the lobby I don't know what's going on here do a little better next year that's not the reason why and it's not the reason even the speakers I mean listen to what we just heard unbelievable having the chief rabbis the rabbis from the H branches this has been incredibly inspiring but that's not for me the reason either the reason why for me the H conferences favorite weekend of the year is because this is when we come together as a family what is the family a family is created in two ways one way is through blood you're born into a family you can't choose your family is but there's another way a family is created I know I've had the experience maybe other people have had this experience you've ever been in Israel and you see if you're with an IDF soldier and they run into another soldier that they served with and they're like blood brothers they've literally put their lives on the line for each other they are so close you would think that they were literally blood brothers that they literally grew up in the same house why because they have a common mission they have a common purpose they were live literally dedicated their lives to that common mission and to me that is what Asia tour is about Asia tour is about the common mission we have and come together for a weekend and to spend that weekend together and a Shabbat together with people that we have a common mission in and mission with that is family what a conference has to come to an end you know I was thinking about it this morning you know the end of Shabbat it can be a sad time you've connected to Shabbat in a meaningful way but it's also the most uplifting time you've sat through an entire Shabbat you've gained everything all the spirituality the time with your family and your friends and the wisdom you can gain you've gained be the entire Shabbat you're at the pinnacle but when we make Abdullah our sages tell us that when you look at the candle the Abdullah candle it literally can give a person's sight what does that mean it means that we look at the world differently on Shabbat and if we look at the hub dollar candle and we take what we saw on Shabbat that we saw the world in a different way were charged to take that sight with us into the week and that's the same when we're here at the end of the conference if we walk out of the doors today and say wow that was a great weekend I was inspired that was fantastic honey where do we got to go where we going for dinner tonight then we have failed the point of this conference and I heard once you it's it's a rabbis role to comfort the uncomfortable but also to make the comfortable uncomfortable and so I'm speaking to myself right now and I just want to share the advice I'll tell myself with everyone else we need to become a little uncomfortable I had the merit to study in a Satori for five years under Eppendorf Weinberg and there was a it was one rush of Shonna towards the end of my time there the rabbi Weinberg and his family came and spent the brush Hashanah together with the yeshiva and we were sitting over the meal and a few of the guys in the yeshiva had the idea you know what let's end up and tell rabbi Weinberg what we appreciate about him why we have a car at the Tov what do we appreciate about rabbi Weinberg so I've been there a few years I felt a little comfortable maybe a little too confident stood up in front of Radley why mercenary why America I want to tell Robert Weinberg while I appreciate rabbi Weinberg and I appreciate rabbi Weinberg I said because rabbi Weinberg every step of the way Reb Nowak has made me feel uncomfortable I walked into Asia Torah graduated from a good University wanted to go to law school felt confident had the world in front of me thought I knew a lot and I walked in and he asked me some very basic questions what would you rather be happy or rich are you eating to live or are you living to eat are you a body or are you a soul I was really uncomfortable but then I adapted I joined I came part of Asia tour I started studying and I started to feel comfortable again and he looked at me said really you're here are you taking your study seriously do you know that there's thirty 613 mitzvot do you know them all have you memorized them all have you studied this jacket have you studied that and I realized I wasn't being serious and I was uncomfortable again and I committed myself more to my studies and I was there for a longer time and I got comfortable again and again rabbi Murray said great now you're committed now you're studying what are you doing for others have you joined this program of students to lead them are you teaching others what are you doing and I started husband fell oh and I was leading trips of students and I was I fell again okay now I've done the mission of Asia tour I've built myself I become more connected I'm teaching other people and this is what I said in front of Rabbi Y Marius t-value Romberg you made me so uncomfortable along the way and that's what I appreciate and without missing a step for everyone Berg looked at me and said then what are you still doing here and that was him every step of the way even today 15 years later is very easy for myself to become comfortable look what we're accomplishing look what we've done but that is our death now that is what stops us from becoming great there was a woman Kim and Linthicum from Reno Nevada and she served in the US military she had a ten-year-old daughter has a ten-year-old daughter in this past September she was watching television and she saw the destruction of hurricane Harvey in Houston and she made a decision on the spot while she was watching television she said I'm going to Houston and within three days she was in Houston volunteering for the Red Cross she was leading a shelter for people who weren't healthy enough to evacuate and she said I guess I'm just doing what I would want someone else to do for me she said I hope that my ten-year-old daughter sees what her mother will do for other people no again I'm only talking to myself but what did most of us do we saw what was happening in Houston maybe we changed the channel maybe we sent a text message to donate five dollars right what's the difference between Kim and and us how do we get out of our comfort zone how do we realize no it's not that someone else is going to get the job done that it has to be that the buck stops with us how do we realize you know what yes it might be a little bit uncomfortable to reach out to another person to try to impact another person to inspire a mother person maybe they're gonna say no maybe they're gonna laugh at us whatever it might be but we have to get out of our comfort zone we have to take that step and that is really my message for everyone here if we all like I said walk out of these doors and say wow what a weekend it it ends there we have failed but together as a family with a common mission with a common purpose knowing that we have each other to depend on we have each other to cheer each other on we have our branch leaders and we have projects inspire and we have all these amazing things about a chitara to be right behind us we all just have to think about what is that one step then can get me out of my comfort zone what's one thing that I can commit to do when I walk out of these doors before I get to the buffet one thing that we can all commit to do to help the Jewish people to connect a person to the beauty of Judaism to think about the state of the Jewish people how many Jews are not connected but even more importantly to be on fire the aja of Torah that were on fire because we are so inspired by being Jewish by being part of the Jewish people by being part of Asia tour we're so on fire that we have to spread that to other people that's the mission of this weekend that's the message of this weekend and I ask us all just to take a minute a couple of minutes as we walk out and decide how we can get out of our comfort zone to join the mission of this family and make a difference thank you everybody just to remind their final checkout today is 12:45 minica is gonna be right here in this ballroom as soon as I conclude here again your hard keys please return them lunch is on your way out to the garage thank you all for joining us as we can to look forward for you to bring your friends and join us again here next year thank you