Who Am I? Pre-Rosh Hashana Shmuez {Yeshiva Ruach Hatorah, Lakewood}

Baruch Hashem, come to the end of a year. And whenever we come to the end of a year, we always have to reflect back. The start of the Yeshiva was around 19 years ago. And Baruch Hashem, plenty of hora. We have a lot of lot of siyata d'Shmaya. Hashgacha pratis, each and every one came to Yeshiva and grew and steig and steig and currently now. Part of this siyata d'Shmaya is that we were zocheh a few years back already to have Rabbi Glasner come and speak. First time he came, my brother-in-law, Nachi Walder, brought him. And my brother-in-law, Nachi Walder, still brings him really. And we're zocheh to uplift the whole Yeshiva. It's amazing that our hashgacha pratis appointed Rabbi Glasner to be here today. Last minute, he said yes, he could make it. Be at 4:00. We're taking it as a chizuk that all our lives are full of hashgacha pratis and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is leading us. Just hop on the opportunity, use it to its fullest, and we'll be zocheh takah to learn Torah. Thank you very >> So actually, I came to Lakewood to be able to get a bracha from the Rosh Yeshiva before the Yom HaDin. I got once I'm here, it's uh it's a special opportunity to see as the Yeshiva mentioned, the tremendous siyata d'Shmaya of the Yeshiva from its inception. I don't know, I've maybe coming here 7 years? I don't know, something like that. And uh every time I come, I see the growth of the Yeshiva, tremendous bachurim, tremendous rabbaim, and uh the Yeshiva should continue to have great siyata dishmaya. >> Amen. >> And I like the Yeshiva mentioned, I want to thank my dear friend of Nussen Weidler for helping me come here today. It's interesting. One of the most important farm ever written is Mesillas Yesharim. Chaim Volozhin would say kol haSefarim kodesh, Mesillas Yesharim kodesh kodashim. In the back of Mesillas Yesharim, sometimes it comes printed, it's a it's a separate safer, it's a different safer. There's a safer called Derech Eitz Chaim. Derech Eitz it's a small compendium. Derech Eitz Chaim. Where the Ramchal asks, he says there are few basic questions that we should be asking ourself. The questions are so basic that probably we never even ask the question because it's so obvious. So it's Elul. I think sorry. Sorry. It's so The questions are so obvious, we forget to ask them. So it's Elul. And we're all thinking about Rosh Hashanah, we're thinking about sorry, we're thinking about the din, we're thinking about our maasim, we're thinking about the judgement, we're thinking about s'char v'onesh. But even before we think about a Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah, and we think about a Yom Hadin, we think about our maasim, we need to think about ourselves. And the question the Mesillas Yesharim says in the Derech Eitz Chaim that we should ask ourselves, it's a two-word question. The question is Ma Ani? What am I? What am I? Not what Hillel said, "Moani, I'm nothing." But as a question, what exactly am I? What am I? What is this thing? This these hands, this face, what is it exactly? Hmm? Mati voi, mati voi shallani, what what exactly am I? That's a good question. Because Rosh Hashanah is the day that this ani came to be. You know, Hashem created us on Rosh Hashanah. So, this question is very fundamental to Rosh Hashanah. What exactly are we? In the end of last week's parashah, Moshe Rabbeinu turns to Klal Yisrael and he gives us a very interesting command. He says, "U vacharta vachaim, choose life." And Moshe Rabbeinu says, "Okay. Hachaim v'hamaves nasati lifnecha, habracha v'haklalah. Here, I'm giving you two choices. You could have a ribeye steak, delicious steak, or you could have 30-year-old spoiled tuna fish. These are your two choices. Now, once we have that, guess what we don't need. We don't need the following advice. You need Moshe Rabbeinu to say, "By the way, eat the steak." You know, the steak is sizzling, it's watering, and the tuna fish like they're like worms are coming from all mi'arba kanfos ha'aretz are coming to the tuna fish. You know, maggots, vultures, snakes, slimy squirm, they're all over the tuna fish, and then there's a sizzling hot snake and a steak, and Moshe Rabbeinu says, "By the way, I have some advice for you." U vacharta vachaim. Oh, really shkoyach. I'm going to really take that into consideration. Thank you very much. I need Moshe Rabbeinu to say, "U vacharta vachaim." What's he saying? You have two choices in front of you. What exactly is this are these two words Uvacharta Bachayim? What does that mean Uvacharta Bachayim? Is that a mitzvah? Does the Rambam count it as a mitzvah Uvacharta Bachayim? No. No. Does the Smag count it as a mitzvah? Nope. What about the Bahag or the Ramban or Rav Saadia Gaon? No, no, nobody counts it as a mitzvah. It's not a mitzvah. It's a phenomenon, it's a concept, the concept of this free choice. I remember I was a when I started off in rabbinical school, I was giving a shiur in Kew Garden Hills. My first year was to old men, okay? There was an old man there. I don't know he went to yeshiva, he didn't go to yeshiva. And he was a he was a fine shomer Shabbos and I was talking about something called free choice and he he like he's like I fell off the moon. He didn't know what I was talking about. What do you mean free choice? The Ribono shel Olam controls everything you do. I said, "You know, Reb Yid, you're a nice guy. You're sho you you I thought you were a shomer Torah u'Mitzvos, but right now the religion that you believe in is is Neutzrem, not not Yahadus. We We believe Hashem controls everything except for your actions. We have bechira chofshis. That's the possuk Uvacharta Bachayim." That's how the Rambam learns the possuk. Rabbeinu Yonah seemingly learns it differently. Uvacharta Bachayim. I want to share with you a Tanna d'Vei Eliyahu. I'm sure you heard it a million times. You know what Tanna d'Vei Eliyahu says? Lefikach hayisi omer shekol echad v'echad mi'Yisrael chayav lomar, "Everyone here is obligated to say Okay, I'm not telling you what he says yet. Everyone is obligated to say, fill in the blank." I would have said, everyone's obligated to say what do we have to say already in this world? Midoraisa. I would say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. What else do you have to say? Midoraisa, I don't know. El Chay V'Kayam Birchos HaTorah? Sha'agas Aryeh paskens Birchos HaTorah is Midoraisa. What else do you have to say? Chayav Adam Lomar Halachma Anya Ad Go'ali Yisrael. Those are the three possibilities that I've come up with. That are those are the only things you have to say. I give you a boni you have to say Psukei D'Zimra. What else do you have to say? Now, Tanya Rabbeinu, you ready for this? Chayav Kol Echad V'Echad Lomar Masai Yagi'u Masai L'Masai Avosei Avraham, Yitzchak, V'Yaakov. When will I reach the Madreiga of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? Not when will I reach the Madreiga of Rav Moshe Feinstein? Not when will I reach Rebbi Akiva Eiger? Not when will I reach Rashi, Rambam? No. Don't sell yourself short. Avraham, Yitzchak, V'Yaakov. You're chayav to say that. Now, I want to show to you a very interesting deyak. The loshon of Tanya Rabbeinu is chayav. You know what chayav means? You know, I mean, if you go to the best Yeshiva in Lakewood, you know what this means. Chayav. What? Sir, I'm serious. If I I would come to Yeshiva any day. Chayav. Why chayav? What does chayav mean? You're obligated. By the way, when the Gemara when Shas talks about being Ma'avir Sedra, does the Gemara say chayav Adam lis- um ligmor parshiyosam im hatzibur? No, it doesn't say chayav. What's the loshon of the Gemara? L'olam. L'olam. L'olam. Does l'olam mean chayav? The Gemara I'm just telling you the words of the Gemara. The words of the Gemara are l'olam, l'olam. V'ayin BaTur. The Tur says tzorech. Iron the Shulchan Aruch, the Shulchan Aruch says chayav. What do you see from here? That the way Chazal express themselves, when Chazal recommend something, what that means is you need to do it. It's not a suggestion. It's not It's not a It's not a suggestion. It's a suggestion that you need to do, but they don't they don't express it that way. When the Gemara says lo oilam, the tour says sorech, but sorech doesn't mean you have to. Yeah, it does. The Shulchan Aruch says, let me explain to you what lo oilam and sorech means. So, imagine if Chazal say you have to. Then you really have to. Then as much as you have to be me'aver sedra, Moshe has a teshuvah that even if you're learning the whole day shas and poskim, you still have to be me'aver sedra. But you really need to say moshiach maseh l'maseh avos avraham, yitzchak, v'yaakov. Now, have a simple question for you. Who wrote Tanna D'vei Eliyahu? Whoever wrote it, whether it's Eliyahu Hanavi, you know there's a rule, ein navi rashai l'chadesh davar. So, what he Who told him he have to do this? It's a He decided He woke up the Tanna D'vei Eliyahu woke up in the morning, you know, even though there's 613 mitzvos, I just want to I want to be m'chadesh a new inyan, you have to say, when am I going to reach the madreiga of avraham, yitzchak, v'yaakov? They're not The Tanna D'vei Eliyahu can't be m'chadesh a new mitzvah. The Gemara Megillah says that if you forget where to put the end of letters and the middle letters, then the nevi'im can't reinstate it. It's ein navi rashai l'chadesh davar. So, where does this come from that you have to say moshiach maseh It It It needs to say it in the Chumash. It says it in the Chumash somewhere? Which parsha? Which Which sefer? Which pasuk? That it says that if let's say Reb Moshe Feinstein is obligated to say when am I going to reach the madreiga of hasmada of Yakov Avinu? It's a chiyuv. He has a chiyuv. Where does it say that? Which one of the 613 mitzvahs is it? Where does this come from? What's the makor of Tanna D'vei Eliyahu? It's an interesting question. You can only ask if you have a good answer, you know? But I think it's a I think it's a valid question. Ein navi rashai l'chadesh davar. We just read the end of Nitzavim. Moshe Rabbeinu tells Klal Yisrael ha'idi'isi. Anyone here, I'm not saying in this yeshiva, I was told in other yeshivas sometimes not every bachur is it easy for them to get up early for shachris. There's such a musag, yeah? There's such a musag that it's not easy to get up early for shachris. So, imagine if you went to the bachur and you said, "I don't understand why you're struggling getting up for shachris. Does the sun struggle to get up in the morning? Did you ever see the sun like it's Imagine it's it's 10:00 a.m. and the sun is still down there. So, what are you doing? No, "Two more minutes. Two more minutes." Did the sun ever say two more minutes? You know, it's 3:00 in the afternoon and the sun didn't rise. And what what's going on? Uh it's a personal day. You know? Personal day. What what's going on, sun? Allergies today. Allergies, you know? Hay fever. I had a chassunah very late last night. I was being mesameach chassan v'kallah. You didn't even go to the chassunah. Yeah, yeah, but I called I called him. So So that would be I mean is that a compelling argument you tell somebody why you having such a hard time getting up with the sun never has a hard time getting up. But listen to what tells you how you tell me what do you have to do anything? I'm a college student his tackle the sun. Do the sun ever stop shining? If the sun never stop shining new do what you got to do. Yeah, that's it. That's you try telling that to somebody. That's a compelling um We say we say it in per hours. Have you come on the have a car key? You tell a guy be strong like a lion. You're having a hard time with this new sign. What's wrong with you? Be strong like a lion. I mean that's compelling argument. You have a have a car key. Stop being so lazy. You're sitting there. You don't want to apply yourself to learn the come on get yourself together. Be light like an eagle. I look like an eagle to you. I look like an eagle. What about me is eagle ask that you're telling me have a car key? What what are these what are saying over here? Have a car key. Have a car key. What are saying? We're we're supposed to be inspired by the sun. We're supposed to be inspired by the moon. Show me says go to the mall. sell. to the end. Go to the ant. You know, the madra says the ant is so proactive and prepares so much in advance that the ant could carry like 10 times its weight and the ant will store food under the ground. The ant only lives like 6 months. It stores food for like kilo it would live 100 years. So, therefore, says, "Man, you should also prepare for oil and hava. The ant prepares a lot more food than it would ever need. So, you need to think about a long, long journey and the acid lover that you're going to need many, many the whole city." The ant, where you think the ant is going through struggles and the ant is thinking, "Should I prepare? Should I not prepare?" And the ant is gives itself a muscle smooth and said, "I need to prepare." The ant is programmed that way. The ant has no free choice. The sun has no free choice. The lion is the lion and the deer is the deer and the eagle is the eagle. And why do any of these things have any relevance? This is the worst muscle smooth I ever heard. Kind of That's somebody came be swift like a Um how long does it take you to get from from the dorm to the base madra? Takes you 7 minutes? No, you should fly like a Concorde jet to the base madra. I'm not a Concorde jet. What does the Concorde jet got to do with me? When I some created us, back to the question money, what am I? What am I? What am I? The positive says NASA atom. Let's make man. Who's the Rebbe talking to? When I said let's make man, who's he talking to? So, different Rashi says Hashem was talking to the and we learn middos from that you should always ask your your inferior their opinion. Not that you're asking them their opinion, it's just a sign of middos. But the Nefesh HaChaim brings from the Zohar Kadosh that when Hashem created man, he made a conference. He called the sun. He called the moon. He called the lion. He called the eagle. He called the deer. He called the leopard. He called the ant. And he said, "Each one of you has a specific koach, talent, ability. Everybody now na'aseh adam, you're going to put your koach into the pot and from the entirety of all of creation, we're going to create something called Olam Katan, a small world known as you, man." Man is what is called a microcosm of the entire universe. So, a person has in them the abilities and the capabilities and the talents and the power of all of creation. Now, you know that the Rabbeinu Chananel says therefore that man is extremely dangerous. You know why a person's very dangerous? Because a lion, how many people already could a lion eat? How many people could a lion eat already? First, a lion has no seichel. You know, there were in the beginning of the 20th century, in the 1900s, the British were building railroad tracks throughout Africa. And they had a general leading the team who were building the railroad tracks. The thing is, over 90 people were consumed by two lions. They're They're called the man-eating lions of Tsavo. You could go to Chicago today, and in the museum, they have Yeah, you know what telling you that? You were there, you saw them. They the man-eating lions of Tsavo, they couldn't figure out how to trap the lions, how to protect themselves from the lions. But at the end of the day, it's only 93 people. I mean, it's it's ni- it's like 3 months worth of dinner, right? How many people could a lion eat? But imagine if the lion had the power of a lion and a rhinoceros and a zebra and the seichel of a person. So, as dangerous as a lion is, even more dangerous is a human being. That's why you saw there were there was a Hitler, there was a Stalin. These people killed millions of people. Because if you have the strength of a lion and you don't have any yirah shamayim and you have a brain also, then you're more lethal than the wildest animal. Says Rav Chanan, that's what HaMelech means. So, if Dover HaKol Nishmah, Esau le-Chein Yirah. You have to fear the Ribono shel Olam. Why? Ki Zeh Kol HaAdam. That is what makes a person a man. If you don't have yirah shamayim, you're not a man. You're a lion and a zebra and a tiger. And you says Rav Chanan, let's say you had a lion. So, what are you going to Where are you going to keep the lion? You're going to take a table. Okay, a lion, we'll put one table here, we'll put another table here, and we'll put the lion there. No, you need iron chains. Cuz you don't have iron chains, the lion is going to be unleashed and it's going to wreak havoc. Nothing. You're a nice guy, I know that. >> [laughter] >> You need shalsheles shel barzel, says Rav Chanan. Says Rav Chanan, if you need shalsheles of barzel for a lion, imagine how strong do have to be if somebody is a lion and a tiger and a rhinoceros and a snake? And every wild animal. That's why you need to have very powerful Yira Shamayim to hold you in check. So, on the one hand, man is more dangerous than anything in this universe. You see it. We know it. And on the other hand, there's nothing greater than a human being. The amount that a person could accomplish is infinite. Let a person never say, "What am I? Money, what am I? What could I do already in this world? What kind of ability do I have? What kind of capability do I have? What kind of talent do I have? You know what's in you? Literally, the all the forces of the whole universe. You know how consistent you could be? You could be as consistent as the sun and the moon. That's how consistent The sun and the moon? Moshe Rabbeinu tells Klal Yisrael, "You see the sun? Did the sun ever change an iota? Did it ever stop moving? You could do the same thing." What are you What are you saying to me? What do I have to do with the sun? No, you koach of the sun is in you. I have a Rosh Yeshiva. You could set your watch by what time he passes by a certain block. The sun could set the time based on when he is, you know, he his cheshbon, his schedule. A human being has that koach within themselves. The gevurah you have, Yehudah ben Teima is not giving empty mussar. He's saying, "Be strong like a lion." You have the koach of an aryeh in you. You think you can't overcome the nisayon? It's too hard? You could wake up in the morning. When the alarm goes off in the morning, I don't know if Slichos is earlier. Few minutes a bit so, right? Just at least a minute earlier, yeah? And you think, "No, there's no way I could get out of bed again. I went to sleep so late last night. I don't have the internal strength." You need to summon the koach of the Ari that is within you, that is in you, that is you. Each middah, each koach at the right time. Sometimes, somebody wants you to go to a spot. You could That's when you pull out the laziness card. Every middah and every ability at the right time, in the right place, and that with the right chochmah. It's all in you. The sun, the moon, the lion, the eagle. Something passes by. How quickly could you look away? Mamish kal kanesha. No, it's too hard. It's not You could do it. You could do it. It's in you. It's in you. That is who you are. You just have to integrate it. You have to access it. You have to be aware of it. So, the same way the man is the most dangerous being, Rabbeinu Yonah says, "Without your shamayim, a person is not an adam. There's no There's no humanity." Ki tzeif davar kol nishma as kim yirah ki zach kol ha adam. But, on the other hand, there's nothing greater than a human being. Uvacharta bachayim. What exactly is this mitzvah of uvacharta bachayim? There's an amazing Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaarei Teshuvah, Shaar Gimel. Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaar Gimel. Shaar Gimel is a is a difficult sha'ar. I got I got um I heard somebody discussing, "What happened to the Mussar movement?" Where Where did Where did Lee Muhammad go? They were discussing Do Does anybody learn Musar today? Is there Is there Is there a Musar movement today? When I was in Yeshiva, the the Musar seder was was very serious, very consistent. And I remember in Elul we had we had Musar seder in the afternoon and then action during Elul at night also. Shaarei Teshuvah, it's a very important sefer, Shaarei Teshuvah. Shaar Gimmel is difficult. Shaar Gimmel is different than Shaar Aleph and Bet. Shaar Aleph Take a look in Shaarei Teshuvah. Shaar Aleph gives you the 20 ingredients of Teshuvah. Shaar Bet is about what inspires a person to do Teshuvah. Shaar Gimmel is difficult. Shaar Gimmel gives you the hierarchy of various mitzvot and aveirot. The The most severe It go The most severe, let's say, lav shesh b'charet, lav shesh b'mitat bet din, lav them. And then Rabbeinu Yonah says, you know, the most innocuous, the least chamur, is an assei. Right? Cuz a person violates an assei, there's no punishment. Let's say somebody wears a beged of daled amos, he doesn't put tzitzis on. There's no ones bet din doesn't do anything to him. There There's no punishment. And if a person does Teshuvah, ends as in mikana atzamotav, you get immediate kaparah. But yet Rabbeinu Yonah says, you ready for this? Hamalos elyonos nimseru b'mitzvot assei. The greatest madregos are given b'mitzvot assei. Okay? And Rabbeinu Yonah lists about 10 to 15 what he calls malos elyonos. To me, this is very interesting. Okay, he's not listing Rabbeinu Yonah is not listing mitzvot. He's not listing tefillin. Not listing makah. He's not listing dalet minim. Ma- mailos elyonos, like a Victor Miller would say, mailos elyonos, avenues of avodas Hashem. I'll give you a few examples. Ahavas Hashem, yiras Hashem, thinking about Hashem's greatness, remembering Hashem's chesed, different mailos elyonos. What would you think would be the first two that he mentions? Are we entitled to ask, "What are the two most important mitzvos in the Torah?" I mean, it says in Pirkei Avos, have azharah al mitzvah chalah kachamurah, ya atah yodea matan schar shel mitzvos. Are there Okay, let's start with with this question. What's the most important mitzvah in the Torah? Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah. It's number one, nothing's even a close sec, right? Ma- Talmud Torah. Fine. Is there a number two? You know, the Chofetz Chaim writes many, many places that it's Talmud Torah together with gemilus chasadim. Chofetz Chaim writes many times that uh the Gemara in Shabbos says that children enter the Beis Medrash and they darshan in a way that even in the times of Yeshua bin Nun they didn't darshan. Aleph, Beis, Gimel, Dalet. Aleph, Binah. Remember Gimel Dalet? Gimel Dalet. Gimel Dalet, says the Chofetz Chaim, the fact that these two mitzvos are merumaz in the beginning of the Aleph Beis, it's to teach that these are the two ikarim in Yahadus. Ta- Torah and chesed. Chofetz Chaim says throughout Sha'as, you always find kol ha'osek baTorah u've'gemilus chasadim, you get nachalah shnei shvatim, you're nitzal mi'yeitzer hara, all the haftachos of schar are Talmud Torah together with gemilus chasadim. Says the Chaim, they are the two e Karim of the Hashem. So if I were to list my list of nice I would probably list if I was writing it. It's a good thing I'm not, but if I was writing it I would write number one my list and number two my list let the dark Hashem the dark of and almost got it. Number two in Yona my list of the dark of them. Number three my list of the dark of them the dark of them. Should we end the show here or you want to hear number one? Number one my list of the dark of them. Should we end the dark of them the dark of them? Hello what in the world does it mean? So now obviously is a myth. It's not a it's not a phenomenon. It's not free choice. What does it mean the my list of free choice? What what what that's something to do. My list of the dark of them is not a myth. It's a concept. So first of all my list of the dark of them is a myth. Number two it seems he holds it's a pretty important one. If we have a right to take note of the order if if I would have listed eight and would have listed 14 so then you could say you know my list of the dark of them. My list of the dark of them did list as number two and as is three. That and the Hafetz Chaim said they're the two most important ones, probably then there's a reason he put bechira as number one. And the question is, what is the mitzvah bechira? I in in the perushim of Shaarei Teshuva I had not seen a perush that was satisfying. Even though some say look in the Sefer Chareidim, the Sefer Chareidim of Rebbe Elazar Azkiri Harishon has a pshat in the mitzvah of bechira. But I think I want to share with you not a good pshat in Rabbeinu Yonah, the pshat in Rabbeinu Yonah because b'siyata d'Shmaya Rabbeinu Yonah wrote another sefer. It's called Shaarei Avodah. It's not as well It's not learned so much. Actually, Reb Dovid Goldberg Reb Dovid Goldberg of Telz, he wrote perushim on the different sifrei mussar. I think he wrote on Shaarei Avodah. At the end of Shaarei Avodah, Rabbeinu Yonah says something unbelievable. Says Rabbeinu Yonah, and it's very similar to how Sefer Shaarei Teshuva begins. Ready? I want to I want to read it to you. Ha chayecha tainu libi. La'avodah es borei oit tamid b'chol libavi uv'chol nafshi uv'chol me'odi. We should always try to serve ourselves with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our resources. K'dei l'hasig ma'ala k'ma'alas hag'dolim sheb'rachamim, in order to reach the levels of the greatest people. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, David, U'Shlomo. So you should put all your efforts to reach the level of these of the greatest tzaddikim who ever lived. You say, "What? How am I supposed No." So Yonah, they also they only did what they were able to do. Okay. Therefore, you should strengthen yourself every single day. Whatever you did yesterday, PUT IN MORE TOMORROW. >> [snorts] >> OKAY? So far, so good? What does that mean? What? So, desire. The desire. What does that mean? Should yearn. Very good. To achieve You're on the hook now. You should try You should yearn to achieve what? >> You can't >> You can't even reach. What you can't even reach. And people who are at high levels strengthen them. You strengthen them. should desire all that you haven't achieved. You should have achieved that. You should have achieved that. What does that mean? You should choose it. Meaning, you should choose to want it. More than any money. So, why should I choose to want something I can't get? That's Is that That's like a recipe for disaster. But, then you want to sing, "Want something you can't get." So, he said, "It's a good idea. I'm giving you good advice. Number one, >> Why? The hero is a message to say like it says you should choose life. Rebbe disagrees with all the Rebbe said to him. The hero is not just a phenomenon. It's not just an idea. There's a message to desire in every level, the highest level even what you can't achieve. Now, listen to this. Rebbe says even if you don't get there, you'll get rewarded as if you did it because he saved lots of his message. If you plan to do a message and you don't do it, it's you you did it. So it's considered like you did it. And then Rebbe says, you know what else will come out of this? Give me talk because you chose it. The Rebbe will help you achieve what you're not physically able to achieve. All the way upstairs. You hear this new message? The new message is The message is You're learning Sukkah. The first thing of the Sukkah, Sukkah, the first thing is not the word Sukkah. The first thing with Sukkah, Sukkah is I want to know the entire message, Rebbe said to him, sha, all the Rebbe said to him. That's the first part of Maseches Succah. Now you could start learning. Once you did that, once you establish what your bechira is, A, you get s'char, you call it you get s'char, you learned the whole Masechta. B, you will learn the whole Masechta. But you have to really want it. Say, "Well, you know, but I never did it." Did you really want it? But the first step is the mitzvas bechira. And possibly Rabbeinu Yonah put it first, doesn't mean it's more important, it's just it's koidem in musag. In other words, it comes before. It comes before before any avodas Hashem. Before doing avodas Hashem is what do you want in this world? And if you think you can't do it cuz you never answered the question, "Ma ani?" Who am I? Who are you? What you could do, you're the entire world. You're the entire bri'ah. You're the entire universe. There are no limitations. It's the mitzvas bechira. So that means Rabbeinu Yonah is saying, listen to these words, hachai yitein al libi. To reach the madreiga of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Is it possible now we've discovered the makor of chayav adam lomar, "Masai agi'a? Masai l'maseh avodah?" Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. We said, "Where did Rabbeinu Yonah get this from? That you're obligated to say it? Where Who told him that?" Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu told Klal Yisrael, "Uvacharta bachaim." Choose life. That means when you wake up in the morning, you think, "Today I'm shooting to reach the madreiga of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, David, and Shlomo." >> It's interesting. You know what the next possible is? Uvacharta bachayim. Uvacharta bachayim l'maan tichye ata v'zara'cha. That's the end of Nitzavim, yeah? Vayeilech Moshe. It's interesting. Vayeilech Moshe. Moshe went. Where did he go? Well, it says he went. What was his destination? Usually if you say somebody went somewhere, we should know where he went. It doesn't say he went anywhere. Vayeilech Moshe and he's they Could it be the words Vayeilech Moshe there is not a verb. It's not what Moshe did. It's an adjective. Vayeilech Moshe. Moshe was always going. He's always going. He's always going. He's always going. Yeah, but probably on the last day of his life, maybe he said, "Okay, now today I'm going to retire. I already did enough in this world." No, even Moshe said, "Today malu yamai v'lo yuchal od l'vo v'lotzei." Hashem said my life Hashem said it's ALL OVER. NO, VAYEILECH MOSHE. He's still going. It's an adjective like Vayikach Korach. You know, it says Korach took. What he take? He took a book. He took a car. He took a pen. Rashi Rashi He He took It doesn't say what he took. He took Maybe also. Vayikach Korach. No, no, it's not a verb. It's an adjective. You know what the problem with Korach was? He was always Vayikach Korach. He's always taking. Everything is taking. Everything's What more could he have? Moshe Rabbeinu Can you imagine on his last day, he doesn't have an ounce of strength left in him. Hashem said you're not going into Eretz Yisrael. You can't learn Torah anymore. It's all over. You know, the just a few more hours left. No, Moshe Rabbeinu is still Vayeilech. You know, where did he get that from? Cuz the pasuk before is Uvacharta bachayim. The pasuk before is Uvacharta bachayim. Reb Yonasan Eybeschutz said "Tekias Shofar is a reenactment of the first blowing in history, "Vayipach b'apav nishmas Chaim." The Zohar says Hashem was about Tekiah. When Hashem blew the neshama, Hashem was about Tekiah. He blew the neshama into us. You know what that It's in that neshama. It's "Na'aseh Adam." Infinite and endless capability and potential. So, on Rosh Hashanah, we're recreated, and it's an appropriate time to ask, "What am I?" That's the most important question you're ever going to ask yourself. "What can I do here in this world?" And the answer is the sky's the limit. And b'ezras Hashem, >> [clears throat] >> you know, the It's interesting. The Ponovezher Rav leil Yom Kippur. The Ponovezher Rav, when he would daven Rosh Hashanah night, he would daven in a very, very, very long Shmoneh Esrei. The entire city was waiting for him. Not just Yeshivas Ponovezh, the entire city waited for the Ponovezher Rav to finish so that he could wish a good year to everybody. Literally, the entire Bnei Brak. It's interesting that the night of Yom Kippur, we have a record. The night of Yom Kippur, it's not a time for like smoothing, you know? It's not a shooting the breeze time. So, if there are a thousand people on the line, how how much time could the Rosh Yeshiva say exactly to each talmid, you know, "A good year, a good year"? One particular talmid, in the middle of It was leil Yom Kippur. The Ponovezher Rav took him up to the merpeset on the Ponovezh Yeshiva, and And pointed down. He said, "We're now going to count the floor tiles of the Yeshiva. 1 2 3 4 5 6 100 1,000 10,000 And then he tells there's a safer in Hoffman. He says to this talmid, he says, "You see, you didn't think I was able going to be able to build this Yeshiva. You didn't think that I would ever be able to accomplish this. Well, we did it. I did it." The entire city of Bnei Brak was waiting for the Ponevezher as he interrupted line to tell him this layl Yom Kippur. And then he went back to the line and he gave because it's not just about we have to give a personal we have to give an accounting for our masem, but in a way even above and beyond that is we need to ask ourselves, don't sell yourself short. What you could accomplish in this world is infinite and limitless. And then may Hashem grant us all tremendous siyata d'Shmaya to not just ask the question of masai yagiu masai l'masai avosai, but the more you develop a bechira for it, the more siyata d'Shmaya Hashem will help us reach the madregos that we're we're yearning for. Wish everybody a ksiva v'chasima tova, a good kvittel, and bezras Hashem for the Yeshiva and all the rabbaim, many, many years of avodas Hashem Torah simcha v'nachas. Yasher koach. Yasher koach. Yasher koach. You have to copy that.