Gedolim in the United States

thank you so much who he failed to mention that he's M with me so anything that he said you have to Discount significantly and take it with a grain of salt but it's a great to be with you to have the opportunity to share some Tor in this this incredible yes I probably said the last time I was here ishor means so much to me personally after I had come in my Gap here to learn two years in can the following summer I came back and I worked at ISAT Tor I was in Madan Discovery back when people had an attention span Discovery was 2 and a half days and my job was to go down to the cotel and Ben Huda and elsewhere and try to get people who had not had it on their radar in their schedule to interrupt their lives and spend two and a half days thinking about and exploring their Judaism today I think discover is what two and a half hours it's down from 2 and a half days to 2 and a half hours so Isa Torah had enormous impact on me that summer and ever since then and I remain with a great a tremendous appreciation to a so it's really a bigus for me to be here in the B Med once again and and thank you to R there is no doubt the team of ram that you are privileged to learn from and to have not only to hear their words but more significantly to see their actions and their mentorship and their modeling is really really something that you're very fortunate very fortunate to have so I know that in the middle of a theme of gum and I was asked to speak about American gum I'm much younger than I look so I don't have or didn't have a relationship with American gulum of the last generation but I'm very very privileged to have a close relationship today with many of the Ritz with ra and some of the great great R of Our Generation generation that I'll come back to share with you atab something I think that is a common theme and common denominator in all of them that we can emulate and even if we don't have their minds even if we don't have their memories even if we don't have necessarily their sidus their righteousness there is a quality I think they all share that we can that we can have and that we can emulate that I think is very very important the great rash of the Mir when he was a when was a young student himself once went to visit his uncle the r of Nar yaf when he went to his uncle he looked around the Yeshiva Nar and he said who's the great greatest B who's the top student in the Yeshiva so his uncle looked around the Bas of he pointed to one and he said he's the greatest he has the greatest depth the most penetrating insights and questions and understanding and he pointed to another B another student in the Bas metri and he said he is the biggest massman he's the most diligent student he learns hours on end without interruption day and night and he pointed to another B and he said he has the most he lives with the greatest sense of awe and fear of Hashem and he pointed to another and he said he is the greatest B he has the greatest breath of knowledge he knows everything K you can ask him an encyclopedic memory so asked his uncle so which one is the greatest B which one would you say is the top student in the Yesa said none of the above none of the above you pointed you said the greatest am the greatest Mas the greatest the greatest the greatest Baki what do you mean none of the above so it's none of them and he pointed to a corner of the Bas medish and there was a t who had his head down who was deeply involved in what he was learning he said that's the top tet said what makes him the toal he said CU he is the greatest m in our he is a Searcher and a Seeker he has an insatiable thirst an insatiable appetite for Truth for Torah for Tora a Torah that informs and inspires his life he constantly thinking and asking and yearning and growing and learning and looking and listening and exploring and absorbing all that the world has to offer and fundamentally and most primarily hearing theem the word of Hashem through his Torah hosha but also looking at nature and understanding history and seeing the world unfold and listening carefully speaking to him through the world he is the greatest Mish and at the moment he might not be the greatest have the greatest dep the greatest mass the biggest may be the biggest buy but the defining Char characteristic the defining quality what makes him the greatest superstar is he is a mish he's hungry he has a drive he just wants to learn and grow and understand and comprehend that t sitting in the corner of that Bas medar was the stier the great father of the of and while doesn't tell the story in he does on this week's para identify that character trait of of being a mes as critical that is the defining character trait of yro yro declares in our Pas now I know Hashem is greater than all the other gods and Rashi explains based on the that yro had ample comparison he was the first student of comparative religion there was not one form of idolatry not one religion not one theology that he hadn't explored that he hadn't studied that he hadn't tried out you can't help but read this rash you can't help but read this p and say sort of demeaning no y should have an amazing Legacy the father-in-law of mosha he joins the Jewish people he gets up and he comes and here we are in the Torah and here we are in the medish such a demeaning Legacy to yo he was such Anar such an idolator that there was not one idolatry he hadn't explored he hadn't studied he hadn't turned over but the author of K says rather than an insult this is kaz's greatest compliment what they're saying about isra is he was a mish he was looking for truth he was studying he was trying to understand he was trying to hear theem trying to apply it in his life he was probing he was asking he was inquiring he was searching he was on a mission that he wouldn't stop until he found the truth and that's what each and every one of us are doing whether you're in Yesa learning full-time or whether you're simply part of a Ben Torah for life you're part of the lifelong journey of learning Torah we have an insatiable appetite to explore to ask to understand to learn to grow to listen to thear hasem to hear hear what Hashem is telling us cuz he's speaking to us and he's talking to us all the time y had this quality and isra taught it to us you know the beginning of the heard all that had done debates what is it that stimulated that provoked Israel to come what did he hear what was he so impressed by one morning he's sipping on his latte he's SI sipping on his cappuccino he's scrolling he's reading he's watching the news and something moves him to get up and come what was it so one opinion is splitting of the sea hasem intervenes in nature splits theu in two another opinion is Alik the war the battle with Alik which is a peculiar opinion because if you look at our parure we didn't win that war amalik not only survived they're still here and amalik acted again on October 7th and have since then we continue to be fighting them good versus evil trying to Wipe Out the nefarious plans of amalik in our time in our generation so what was is impressed by that amalik attacked CLA Isel CLA is didn't defeat them and yet there was something impressive about it but that's for another time and the third opinion is Yo heard about Matan Toro he heard about the most seminal event in human history he heard about the most the greatest moment of Revelation ever Hashem revealed himself and spoke directly to us and he said I got to check this out putting down my coffee I'm closing the newspaper I'm on my way I've got to see for myself now this's a debate iar among the is the Torah written chronologically is the Torah written thematically did yro in fact come after the Torah was given did yro come before the Torah was given according to the izra the isra only came after the Torah was given the question should be obvious which is if isra only came after the Torah was given why does the Torah present it as if yra came before if you're going to abandon chronology if you're going to go out of order there must be a compelling good reason there must be a message that we're trying to communicate so what is the Torah trying to communicate by putting isra before the giving of the Torah what is the message what is the Torah trying to tell us and why is it so important we have to hear it before we receive the Torah so important that the very passion that has kabalas Torah is named after a non-jew is named for yro why is yro so significant and why is learning about him so important it's a prerequisite to receiving the Torah I think the answer is obvious because yro excels exactly at this quality you know y wasn't the only one who heard anyone was following the news whatever you watch Fox CNN MSNBC Wall Street Journal New York Times whatever you're scrolling whatever alerts whatever news headlines come across everyone heard the news we just read it in last week's P we say it every day in all nations of the world heard and they were trembling they were moved they were stiring by it so what was special what was unique or different about isra the answer is says the medish pay attention to one word don't ask Mas what did is hear there's one more word what do they ask Mash what did he hear that made him come that made him stop that made him interrupt his life we hear things all day long we're exposed to news in real time we watch videos and we see headlines and then we just sip the next cup sip of the cup of coffee we just continue eating breakfast we just go on our way goes in one ear and out the other but yro yro listened at a different level yro heard in a different way yro didn't just hear he listened penetrated he absorbed it transformed him he integrated into who he is he was listening to the Reon talking through the events of History didn't just go in one ear and out the other he wasn't just paying attention at a very superficial or Surface level us the the power of listening not a listening like many people where you just listen it's an interruption to when you speak You're just listening in between when you're speaking most people when they're talking to a friend or AA or a spouse or anybody listening is just the break in between when they're speaking or when they're listening they're formulating what am I going to say in response what am I going to answer what story does it remind me of what difference of opinion do I have then really listening they're just it's a break in time until it's their turn to talk again but that's not listening us the the power of active listening a listening that transforms us that inspires us a listening that has a impact Forever on us he didn't just hear oh did you hear the news and then you just turn the page and he came he was watching he was listening he wanted to understand what was happening in the world something big what what's happening now in AR what's happening for Jews around the world is not just what political pundits can share their opinions about it's not just military battles and strategies it's not just R data information that breaks our heart and then creates the incredible pain that we're in there's something big that's happening thaton is speaking to each and every one of us right now as we're watching our history unfold our destiny our destiny reveal itself Hashem is speaking to us are we listening not just listening that we turn the page not just listening that we move on and altogether a different level of listening the listening of aish of a person who's yearning who's searching who's seeking who says what does this mean for me how does this change me how will I be forever different what am I taking upon myself how do I connect to K how do I connect to the how do I connect to myself in a way I didn't on October 6th how does the October 8th version of me different than the o October 6th version how will I forever be different and transformed by the events I'm seeing I'm living I'm watching and I'm part of and that we needed to learn it we needed to live it before we could receive the Torah so even according to only came after even according to that opinion of the nevertheless the Torah positions y's arrival as coming before the K Tor you know why because you can't receive Torah you'll never really learn Torah and live Torah you won't be transformed by Torah and molded by Torah if you don't know how to listen to Torah if we sit down with Torah and we try to project our opinions onto Torah we try to mold and shape Torah in our image we try to make the Torah conform to what we believe it's not Torah that we're learning we have to become a blank slate we have to turn off our output our opinions turn on our input and be willing to hear and receive and listen and absorb and be transformed by what the Torah is telling us how to understand the events how to live a meaningful rich and purposeful life how to discover our mission and why we're here what difference we're meant to make the Torah has all of the answers but we have to be capable of listening so yro has to appear before Matan Tor to teach us the importance and the in fact prerequisite to receiving the Torah is the K is capacity to listen the ability to listen it's the advice that isra gives his son-in-law yra tells mosha when he comes like a good father on like a good sh he offers some unsolicited advice mosha never asked him no sh what do you see what can I do differently how can I improve he never asks him but isra comes what makes mosha unusual is that he welcomes it and follows it but I'm on both team I'm a son of law now I'm also a father of La so I'm a let I'm allowed to talk that way so isra tells mosha there's a line out your tent around the whole camp you got to do something you got to learn to delegate you got to create a hierarchy you got to involve others what made yro offer that advice what was yra seeing yra says to himself there's no way Moshe can really be listening to everyone there's not the time to listen he can't really be invested in listening to each person he can't help them resolve whatever conflict with others or within themselves because you can't listen if there's such a long line what bothered yro the yro who's the Paradigm of listening is he looks at his son-in-law who's an incredible quintessential and our paradigmatic leader but he says you can't be listening if there's such a line you got to delegate you got to involve others because yro is all about listening he's a mish he's searching he's seeking he's listening to what Hashem through his world is telling and that was the message that we had to get before we could receive a Torah do we know how to listen can you turn off all the noise can can you walk through the Old City without airpods in your ears without being on the phone or listening to a sheer or podcast can you just be can you listen to what the world is telling you can you listen to the voice inside yourself that Mish what is your soul what is it screaming at you what is it telling you how does it need to be nourished and nurtured who does it want to be how is it waiting to be developed can we turn off that noise so that we can hear our elves so that we can hear our friends so that we can hear the Reon through his world talking to us we needed to learn that lesson before we need to continue to learn that lesson today that's why the M the 48 ways of wisdom but one of the 48 ways you can't acquire Torah if you're not a listener if you're not a listener you're going to project onto Torah but we're not meant to project onto Torah we're meant to learn to let Torah project itself onto and through through us and you can't do that if you don't know how to listen and we learned that listening through yro thees the yes is the hungriest the thirstiest the best listener the best Seeker the best searcher the one who wants it the most the one who wants it the baddest that's our mission and that's what we did revealed himself in unprecedented ways and it's described that the people saw the sounds but you don't see sounds you hear sounds and you see images so why would the Torah say and then M all jump in some say the barbanel it was like a hologram theas were being recited and as they were said you can see them it's like the original projector the original sound and light show it's like a hologram incredible but others suggest you know what it means you can't compare hearing and seeing we know seeing is believing you can hear something a million times but until you see it for yourself you don't believe it so they saw the sounds it was a listening the listening was so focused and so powerful it was such an incredible listening that it was a listening that the it was a listening that was they saw the sounds do you know what it means to be sitting in this incredible Yeshiva and a rebi is giving a Sho a rebi is drawing a picture for you and it's so powerful that you see yourself in it that's my shabas table that's going to be my Kusa that's going to be who I marry that's going to be how I live my life that's going to be where I am they're not just sounds that are conceptual or academic but the sounds are so compelling they're so persuasive the sounds are so powerful and the listening is so genuine so real so deep you can see the sounds there's a picture there's a vision of who you are who you're meant to be who you could become how you're going to live that's the level of listening we're meant to bring to Torah that the Torah transforms us it impacts us it paints a picture for us and and that's the listening that we continue to do until this day when mosha recounts the he says it was a the sound was so great loaf what does the word loaf mean saysf means it was never to be repeated never replicated that level of revelation happened one time and one time only never again but the tarish translates it differently the sound of Torah was so great L it never stopped it never ended If Ever every time you open a safer every time wherever we are whatever we're doing we open something and we learn and we Engage The the Tora the Tora Ms of hem the sounds of hasem speaking to us at are continuing to reverberate in our ears Hashem is still speaking to each and every one of us the question is is our in an up is it extended are we picking up the signal do we hear it he's speaking to us but are we searching are we looking are we listening are we hearing what he has to say that's what Torah is all about that's the mission of learning Torah it's not a Torah of thousands of years ago har never stopped Hari never ended we each climbed that mountain and we're back at Hari every time we open up a safer every time we listen we say Hashem I'm searching I'm yearning mold me shape me I'm not projecting onto you I've turned off the noise as stepen kbby writes in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People the sixth habit first seek to understand before being understood Hashem I want to understand before I need to be understood before I tell you my opinion my perspective my views my she about everything I want to understand I want to listen I want to be a mish I want to be a mes that's what Torah is really all about that's what we're engaged in that's what we're all about and when we do promises us the says let the hearts of those who seek hasem Rejoice writes if you're a when you're thirsty when you have an appetite when you're searching when you're seeking when you're yearning when you want to grow it brings a it brings a joy whether you discover the answer whether you understand whether you resolve the whether you arrive at the conclusion just the journey of being on a journey to learn to grow to be inspired is a source of it brings a tremendous sense of the question is are we thirsty are we living these events in this incredible country in kavod that you're here I'm only visiting I'm the outsider for now until we're here permanently but to all of you who stayed who came back and who are lending your voice to coo Yakov in order to defeat the as in this fight in this battle you you mean something it makes a difference it's important what this Yeshiva and every Yesa add to this add to this but are we thirsty are we hungry it's not enough to just show up it's not just enough to just punch the clock you got to be hungry and thirsty we got to have a drive and an appetite we have to be on a journey of searching we have to be listening to the signals that hasem is sending to us collectively these moments and each and every one of us individually trying to discover who we are and what our life should all be about Mish is thirsty you know Torah is compared to water but water doesn't have taste water is very Bland it's delicious based on how thirsty you are nobody ever sits down and orders an incredible steak some fried onions garlic what would you like to drink with that I'd like a delicious glass of water nobody oughts water with their steak wine with the steak something else that companies water is only delicious based on how thirsty you are you don't come in from a jog a run a workout and say I'd love a tall glass of wine you know what's delicious in that moment water why is water the most delicious thing you can have in that moment because you're thirsty when you're thirsty water is delicious and Torah is likened to water because when we're thirsty for it it's so delicious when we're thirsty it quenches our thirst it's the greatest thing that we can have so I close by sharing with you everyone should stay here as long as he can Hali I'm on the team stay permanently if you can make the argument write the letter unleash the Army on whoever is the decision maker to let you stay another year your life do whatever you can to be able to be here as long as he can but if you're going back if you have to go back to America to consider consider our Yeshiva Yeshiva of South Florida a year and a half ago we're now in our second year we started Yeshiva and the reason we started Yeshiva in South Florida was to fill a niche of people that want to come back and not only continue learning but continue seeking and searching and growing who want to continue to extend their antenna to pick up the signal that Hashem is sending out since I CI who have this insatable thirst to want to quench it with the most delicious Taste of Torah the Yesa in South Florida is an immers of experience just like here we have a dormatory next to the B medish with the dining room we have R who are warm and accessible and available the Yesa is three star a day morning afternoon and night time for those who want though it's not mandatory we have a program with turo which is in between the afternoon Sater and night seder to be able to get a college degree we have an incredible post PES again stay as long as you can but anyone going back it's a great opportunity to try the Yeshiva and to do so in a place that's without distractions certainly if you're not from Baton if you go to Yeshiva where your family lives often you could be cold home distracted to be go to be in a place you can immerse not just to learn but to continue to grow it's a place we have one of got married several are dating that doesn't hold anybody back even though the Yesa is in Florida there are enormous advantages to being there and a warm and vibrant and amazing amazing community so stay here stay here as long as you can but if for whatever reason you're going back consider Yesa of South Florida we're very proud the amazing of our Yesa here take a brochure any questions you have we're happy to answer we should all continue to extend that antenna to continue to listen to the to inspire and inform and mold and shape Our Lives American gum he almost didn't remind me to come back to it American gum it says outside I talk about the American gum so I can't close with that what's common denominator the great people I know you know the non-re people I know while you're with them they're not really with you they're what sociologists today call absent present absent present means you're physically one place but you're somewhere else in fact in next week M says climb the mountain and be there rash is bothered if you climb the mountain where else are you of course if you climb the mountain that's where you are isn't it redundant climb the mountain and be there so rash says it means 40 days and 40 nights but there are others who say you know what it means Theon turned to mosu and he said Moshe I know you have 2 million people waiting for you at the base of the mountain I can't imagine how many emails and whatsapps you have waiting for you how many phone calls you have to return how long the line is to speak to you but while you're on top of the mountain hey be there be with me listen to me be present fully present Not absent present with me this is a place plague of Our Generation my nephew just got out of Gaza has been fighting one of our heroes certainly one of my heroes he got out of Gaza and he got a flip phone turns in his smartphone not cuz he flipped out in Gaza why did he get a flip phone he told me he said After experiencing for months what it means to be fully present he doesn't want to go back to a world in which you're distracted so he turns and he's done with the the phone you got a flip phone he wants to continue to as long as he can experience what it means to be fully present in what you do the G is in America and elsewhere that I had the privilege to know they're fully present in whatever they're doing when they're stagging when they're learning there's nothing else there's no there's nothing they don't look up when the door opens then I'm curious to see who walked in or who walked out or who sat down next to them or what time it is or what's happening they're fully immersed in whatever they're doing which includes when they talk to us they they're sitting and they're listening when comes every year he comes to us foras he comes to us for shabas every year often he makes it in time for and there's who gives sits there and he listens so intensely you think he was listening to I don't know whatever he's listening to he's fully engaged and present in listening to whether it's a person who's turning to him for ab guidance whether it's a somebody else and the same is true with other great people that I know like they have the they're hungry they're thirsty want to grow and learn whatever they're doing so all of us should tap into the C the Great Sound of hem it never ended let's pick up the signal on the antenna wherever we are wherever we find ourselves in the coming time here or South Florida or whatever we're meant to be the Torah should continue to inform Inspire and mold us each of us should find our purpose and our mission is should have the peace that it deserves to be able to engage in learning full-time thank you so much for having me