Living With Emunah (Part 296) - Circumcise Your Heart

good morning B it should be a good morning today should be the day of the decisive Victory hostages being brought home our soldiers coming home should be a good day for am I want to thank our generous amuna series sponsors Dr zavi and Bella Morgan I met their son when I was in Israel last week I still have not met them in person would you believe it incredibly generous sponsors amazing helping broadcast on moon of the world and they're incredible but I met their son last week I was so grateful for that memory of RAB Dr Brian gabin and memory of Bella's mother Dr Ellen shanzer we're very very grateful to them today's sh is also sponsored by Miriam rosener in memory of her mother's seventh year site she was a as Survivor risked her life may sh have and Aliyah very grateful for that sponsorship as well we have a lot to catch up on took two weeks off we weren't off you're never off from amuna but we were off at least from the sheer so there is a lot a lot lot to catch up on also want to dedicate our learning today to a young girl from our community a six-year-old who's desperately in need of ouros fro she should please God bounce back quickly and have a speedy painless and complete ruo should hear good things and have her parents should have tremendous NAS from her so um the reason we didn't have share the last couple weeks we were in in Israel another incredible extraordinary amazing life-changing none of that exaggeration trip which we've sh a little bit we'll continue to share more of one of the highlights for me was the opportunity to meet some of the letter writers of the letters that we've been sharing the Amun year so we had an event in Yim last week so last week two weeks ago beautiful beautiful event incredible musicians amazing speakers it was a really really inspiring event can watch the whole thing online if you haven't seen it it's well worth it um and there there were a lot of people who showed up who are part of our amuna support group who will listen regularly and came so I met the victim of the hyenas you remember the hyena victim remember the man who was attacked by hyenas in left UNC conscious bloody and when he went to the hospital they didn't marai they discovered a brain tumor so the hyena saved his life he's still in need of hasem should give him a complete but it was great to meet him and his wife I met remember we read the letter from the woman who runs Le at near leor the Yeshiva they created this um place they're sending out to soldiers and it turned out that a soldier needed something was the neighbor of the person remember that letter she was there I met her at the Yesa at Le Tor you remember the O who missed Theo concert and the giveaways for olim who moved to Israel we met him there's a long list it was great it was like it was amazing you know these people threw their letters they Inspire Aruna and it was wonderful to meet them was incredible so I'll share with you two amuna emails I'll share with you a couple amuna stories that happened to us and then I want to learn something we're going to get back tozz the he gave for the Yum Kipper War not The Six Day War the Y Kipper war and we're in the middle of learning that together we'll come back to that but we're gonna take a little break to learn something else today but first a couple of emails I love this email so happy for this email hi Rabbi Goldberg I wrote to you about a year ago to thank you for the amum which had given me the encouragement and strength to revisit infertility treatments in the hope of having more children may remember that email as well someone who had given up hope someone who had struggled there are few pain few losses or few Cheng is more painful we know that our great matriarchs that feeling of loneliness of pain of baress and uh the discussions of amuna gave her gave this couple the hope to say you know what we'll try one more time we had a successful IVF cycle in pregnancy and we welcomed our baby boy our amuna baby is doing great I'm grateful I had that I had the push to to keep trying when I did and we were able to bring another Jewish Nish in the world especially in a time of such darkness and loss for am we gave him the name Yehuda as we learned from Le hasem has given us more than we thought possible and also as a reminder for him to always be a proud Jew I often hear on your howun helps people get through really tough times as it did for me but can also be a tool for bringing incredible light and Sim into the world for that we are incredibly grateful thank you for giving the blah blah blah may we seem to see a time when the Sim far outweighs the pain so it's nice to get wonderful messages like that and M all those who are trying and waiting and longing to be married to have children to be healed to be whole should all have their fos answered last week was is year at site and while I was in Israel we had a gathering at the cemetery and at the cemetery were several many people we had more than a milon close with the mosat wanted to be there to honor we said to Hill him and shared some thoughts and then I got this email I had to share the blow story that happened today at the cemetery as I was leaving from someone who I know I'm friendly with who was there that day after the at the cemetery for SD I was walking back to my car which I happen to have parked at the front instead of driving all the way down so if you ever been toim Cemetery come up that hill that has a one-way road that has two-way cars going and a windy Hill and uh you make your way to the top of that hill and there's the um there's the chapel and there's a CO believe it or not there's a CO that learns full-time I don't know if it comes with the grave when you buy the grave that people will learn in your memory there's a Col learning the full time bathrooms and then there's the main road that heads down and then to the right you go down to where the BRS section is so when I pulled in I actually drove by this person who was walking with somebody else I have room in my car I would have given him a ride and wondered why is he walking he parked at where the where the chapel is and he's walking all the way down so he says he happens to I parked at first I was annoyed for having done that but said to myself clearly Hashem has a reason well the life of me I couldn't fathom what the reason could be it's not like I was suddenly going to run into someone help at the cemetery in the middle of the day began walking up the hill glad that at least I was getting some exercise as I'm walking up the road a thought popped into my head if I'm already here I should go ding a few minutes of the cev of my wife's aunt but I didn't remember where it was I started looking in my Google photos for a pict I took years ago now you know the age of the person who wrote this letter they knew how to use Google photos to figure out a picture which would help them identify the pl how many of you would have thought to do that just I'm just saying I started looking in my Google photos for a picture I took years ago at the section marker when I heard some people walking down the road in front of me I looked up and it was none other than two of my wife's cousins very random to run into them there I asked where they why they were there and they said today is our mother's yite my wife Aunt whose Kev I was looking for perhaps I that's why I unknowingly got the sudden urge to stop and Davin by her Kev clearly hashem's way of working things out they showed me where it was I said goodby went to Davin for a few minutes when I returned to the cemetery Street I saw a third of my wife's cousins who had joined the party talking to the first two cousins she too came to visit her aunts Kev on the earth site without having coordinated with her cousins what are the odds that all of us would meet there at the same time clearly it should have all and so again life is an vure so you say to yourself why did I park there why did I give myself this walk why do I have to walk up the hill okay going to find out hashem's Adventure why did he put me on this path why am I going this way let's see what hasem has in you could be annoyed and frustrated frustrated and miserable and resentful and angry and foris the negative or you could say life's an adventure let's see why I parked here I don't know sometimes it's revealed often it's not but it's a different way of living and a different way of looking and we had several brought the stories that happens to us and then we'll get into our learning I'll just tell you a few of them we um we had did two-day BRS Mission while we were there two days of 60 70 people pack bus was incredible really really powerful so we had very strict itinerary agenda plan things we need to get done but last minute a food situation required us to pull an audible last minute we decided to stop at the B at the beish mall to quickly everyone get food and then let's get back in the and get going and there noticed and pointed out to me maybe if you some of you saw a video I posted I mentioned in the par there was a guy working at the restaurant or the Food Service place we're getting some food from covered in tattoos and piercings no yamaka and situs hanging out the said that's unusual she left it at that's unusual I said let's go check this out so we went up to he's not my friend on WhatsApp we went up and asked him like what gives what's the story what's going on over here here and you can watch the video or listen to the par from yesterday I told the story but it's it's a beautiful story of a beautiful soul who as of October 7th decided he was no longer going to hide he he felt this pull he wanted to wear tius and not wearing a yamaka or having tattoos and piercings wasn't going to hold him back from at least this Mitzvah he felt connected to which is the Titus the strings that would remind him every day about Hashem October 7th he lost several friends in the in the Nova Super Supernova music festival and he decided he doesn't care what people think anymore and in memory of those friends he would start wearing titas I took a little video of him put it online I think it's at like 75,000 views now and the people have said to me how inspiring to see that in him took something concrete on he made a change in his life he was not shy or embarrassed what would people think it was a beautiful thing all because last minute we had to stop at the B chish mall I never would have met him would have taken that video wouldn't have shared it wouldn't have inspired all the people who were touched by it had Hashem not decided that we were going to take a detour and stop at the be we spent one of the days of the trip we were down south army base we went to um we went to B devastating to walk through to see to hear to listen to learn what happened from people who experienced it who experienced the loss of it a very powerful moment at the end there's a small Sho in B it's a very small Sho there 1,200 people who live there in a Sho that probably fits 30 40 people it is a very there's no such thing as a secular is really today but October 6th there were still secular IIM they don't exist today but October 6th there were still secular kibuts their Sho was only founded I think in 2015 that's how recent it was um and we went in there at the end to DAV and yardi the the wonderful extraordinary man who took us around my second time B whose brother was murdered on October 7th is the one who took us around and told that story and I don't think ordinarily Davin but joined us to say Kadesh for his brother was very powerful and at the end on the beima was still the sheet that had HF instructions for hakos because you remember oh thank you thank you I'm good it all happened on Simas Tor it happened on Simas Tor October 7th so we decided we said you know the hakas are still here on the be hakas were interrupted Sim is when 500 terrorists infiltrated B that chabas morning the last terrorist wasn't purged from the kibuts until Tuesday Morning the infiltrated took over took hostages fought killed so many they they they didn't they didn't rid the you the kibuts of the of the terrorists until Tuesday morning mindboggling but at the end of our doing we said you know what there are cers were interrupted on October 7th let's let's do one more let's finish them let's pick them up and we sang and we danced save your people with this yardi with his hand we danced we continued the continued the anyway we went to We were supposed to have gone directly to yard is an avocado farmer and it was a lot of avocados that came in and he was picking them and he was running late to give us this tour so we were supposed to go to B and then go to the place of the Nova Festival but we switched the order because he was running late went to the place of Nova I don't want to take the time now we can talk about another time it was eerily similar to the feeling and the experience if you've been to Poland or Eastern Europe of walking through Ash burkan trinka midic that site that feeling that those woods that Forest those memorials that are put up there the families that are there we were out of the order we were supposed to go we were not on our plan and we were there with all of our people having a very powerful experience and all of a sudden I saw my cousin who left his wife and many children and has been serving since October 7th who was there October 8th and 9th fighting and helping and had been back for the first time to process and to experience to go back to that place that that atrocity happened and he just happened to be there when we just happened to be there which was out of the order that we were supposed to be there so it was another Ash story my beloved cousin was incredible to see him he spoke to our group a little bit he's a very holy Jew it's a wonderful person and it was hashem's plan we had our plan how the day was supposed to go but Hashem through the avocados changed our plan so that uh so that we would run into itai at the at the Nova Festival the there's many more stories I'll tell you one more so we can get into our our Torah learning we went to to sh hospital to visit injured soldiers injured Heroes injured GI of and uh there wasn't a specific plan and we didn't intrude WR the article it's very important don't just walk into a room don't just knock on a door don't just show up particularly with a large group if you don't know that you're wanted if you don't know that the visit is going to comfort or strengthen or help all that's very important so we were tiptoeing very lightly trying to see whether it would mean something but without imposing ourselves but we were invited into sort of randomly one room of a soldier and we're talking to him and he said he's from ask where you from Ben say isn't that in khut part of schlomit yes so you know we're very close we're very connected with the community of schlomit our our dear friend yya who's actually G to be back in bokeh this week and uh and we know all about we visited in the hospital several times Mikel is actually going to be in bokeh this week as well the previous two trips he was still in the hospital this third trip he was out and in rehab and this week he's going to be here visiting bokeh he was shot injured terribly on that October 7th while fighting for and protecting his community and the neighboring community of prian but we spoke to this young man tell we said you know we're connected and we just had the Widow of avad Cohen Donna Cohen was in our community aad Deo he said I know I was right next to him when he was shot and killed I I was there in that fight he's in the hospital because he was injured as a soldier but before he was called up as a soldier in fighting he was at that fight on October 7th and that was the room that we happened to randomly randomly randomly in all T hospital that soldier with whom we have a connection with his community and if you live life with your eyes open and you're wearing your amuna glasses you see and you feel Hashem everywhere everywhere he is orchestrating and choreographing and carefully curating Our Lives get out of his way stop fighting back stop pushing back yes if someone's sick we try to heal them yes we try to repair and fix that which is broken of course we have to take our initiative and do everything in our power but once we do and things don't exact what do you mean the schedule is changed what do you mean lunch wasn't arranged we have to stop at the mall it's going to take forever we'll never get out back on the bus what do you mean this room in the hospital I want to go to that you know we think we have these plans and then we get frustrated and bent out of shape and negative and upside down you mean the flight was canceled what do you mean I'm stuck at the red light what do you mean the person's running late and I'm sitting here by myself what do you mean all these things just relax take a deep breath and hashem's Adventure he's got a plan get out of his way just look at the world in that way and see what is in store for us and that's what I really want to learn with you while I was in Israel I picked up because it's my addiction the Swarm store very dangerous to stop at a swarm store I stayed a little bit longer because I was recruiting for the Yeshiva so once y was out of the country I was able to stop at the farm store and uh and there I picked up this was a few shekele I picked up incredible new little we've studied rer May morston we've studied his many of his volumes on different topics through the years we've been going through this was a little pamphlet that came out on shim what is shim this is the final week at least of the first stage of shim shim the Aral based on cabala has a tradition that these weeks the acronym those who return is an acronym for those first half of the book of Exodus the book ofos this is a leap year we have a second so it's we got two more weeks we extend it a little bit longer but the says the says return my children who are energized programmed to to come back to return and that this is a time of the year Mugo this is the time of the year that is auspicious that is designated that is pregnant with the possibility of tremendous inspiration aspiration spiritual ambition this is a time to really have breakthrough to really work on ourselves to really see the light to peel back the covers the layers the cleos the the shell and to let the light of Our Lives of our Nish of who we are and who we could be shine through now you'll say but I thought that was L I thought that's PES thought that's P I thought the answer is yes each has a canich each in other words I'll put it to you this way because you love your spouse on your anniversary you don't have to say I love you the other days of the year because on one's birthday they should be reflective on why they're here in this world and grateful they were born they don't have to be grateful or feel on a mission any other day of the year of course every day of the year is all those things but there are particular days of the year that are particularly those things so yes you should be loving and dedicated to your spouse every day and the anniversary don't forget it's your anniversary you should be loving and grateful on your birthday or celebrate the birthdays of others The Carter however one chooses to do it but every day of the year you should be grateful the birthday in particular should be it should be focused so similarly every day is khaka and Pam and pesak and rashash and Sh and tuat every day is all those things all those energies all those ideas all those efforts all those initiatives all those possibilities they're present they're possible every day of the year but there are particular days where there more the energy is in that time more available more accessible more auspicious and therefore we can tap into it more is that these are the days of the year that are particularly mugal they're particularly designated to have breakthrough when it comes to issues of bris what is the bris it doesn't just mean the physical bris this is what this whole safer is about it doesn't just mean the physical bris the physical circumcision that a male under goes on the eighth day it means the the Torah uses a language that not only is our men born with a forkin but there's a forkin a covering that we're born with over our heart and just like we do a Brisa we peel back we remove the foreskin the covering of of the physical body of a boy and why is the bris particularly there on that organ and what is the deeper message and so on is another time but similarly everybody men and women we all have this covering over our heart for some It's A coping mechanism they don't want to be vulnerable they don't want to feel they don't want to be hurt for others there's their own history which has put this covering for others they're cynical they're sarcastic they're not in touch with their emotions for others there's a lack of emotional intelligence spiritual whatever reason that covering we're born with the covering we put the covering on we've added layers of covering but there are coverings over our heart and just like the bris that happens to the boy there's a bris we do on ourselves which is the removing of the oras to peel back and pull back the covering of the heart so the heart can fully feel and emote and connect and experience and the Heart can can strive and fly and Blossom and go higher and higher and the heart is filled with this light there's a light that is each of our unique singular distinct Nas we each we're each a unique expression of divine in this world each with our own personality each with our own story and and we come to see we can love others if we bother to learn their story to find the Divine the godliness in the other that's why the ends what are the next two words love your neighbor as yourself I okay we know you're hem everything in this Torah is because you're Hashem why specifically love your neighbor as yourself I Hashem because hem is saying love your neighbor as yourself and you know how I know you could love him because just like I'm in you I'm in him just like you're one expression manifestation of me in this world your neighbor is another and some neighbors it's really hard to find the Divine some neighbors it's buried really deeply but that's why there's a go look and search go peel back the layers and go find the godliness the Divine go find that which is redeemable go find that which is beautiful go find that which you can connect with and share in common in the other and how do I know with confidence you can do that because IEM because I am Hashem go find that in in the other so these days of the year show we're now we're the final letter of in an ordinary year we got a little extension because of the leap year but show and what is the deeper message that's what this whole safer is about and we're not going to go through the first part right now it's a time that we particularly work on one of the layers the kipa that holds us back the most from the light of who we are shining the brightest is physical Temptation distraction Indulgence impulse for some that's through food for others that's through sleep through others that's through irresponsibly being shopaholics going in debt for others that's through looking at images being addicted to images and acting out and behaving on them in inappropriate ways so it's a Time particularly designated show him to work on in kadus to work on not living for happiness but living for Holiness how could I be more holy who I am how I conduct myself what words and language I use what I look at what entertainment I indulge in how I dress how I present myself how I appear how I experience the world K Holiness however we Define Holiness the time sh designated in particular to be reflective and to work hard on what what prevents us that that kipa that shell that blockage that layer that's holding back our light from shining and us from experiencing the light of Hashem is the opposite of kadha what's the opposite of kadha of Holiness is the animal impulse when we indulge the animal impulse in us so we're in a bad you know our life is filled with like good zones and bad zones I'm in a good eating place I'm in a bad eating place I'm in a good time punctuality place I'm a bad time punctuality place I'm in a good place being disciplined I'm in a bad usually it all goes together we're disciplined in one way in one area it overlaps and we become disciplined in other areas and we're undisciplined we're undisciplined in our eating and our sleeping and our speaking and our dressing and our time and it usually goes together so this is the time that we're working on being disciplined be disciplined regulating ourselves admitting that we can have some self-control and sovereignty over ourselves and it's a Time designated to work on being disciplined to work on being disciplined so where does that all come from where does it all come from that's what I want to learn now that I've taken up all of our time where do so this is the end this is the whole safer and the very last the last you have it in front of you page we're gonna try to fly through this we want to do the whole thing this week and next week get back to I just wanted to sneak it in because it's it's the end of of him and I just picked it up so I just learned it otherwise I would have shared it earlier and the whole earlier part of the saer is well worth learning too but we're just gonna get to the end we'll skip to the end I'm gonna read very quickly you could listen later on point five if you want this is a Time designated to work on repairing the bris again the first half of the book is the bris the physical bris for men in particular but all of us areas of Hol a bris is made up by the way of three parts the forkin is removed then it's What's called the Priya Pria is there's a membrane between the foreskin and the organ the membrane is peeled back and then the third part is the goal the purpose of the bris if you listen carefully usually you don't want to be that close but you'll hear the mo declare that the crown of the organ has been revealed the three parts and the parallel in the spiritual world of peeling back and removing the covering the foreskin the Pria peeling back a membrane where it's still there but it's been peeled back and then the light can come through he describes it all powerfully and beautifully what does this have to do letting the light shine through being the best of who we are feeling connected with Hashem striving with kadha getting rid of the barrier that is the material the physical the animal impulse in us what does that have to do with these weeks of the Year why isn't that true in b why is that true when we're reading what is this connection in these weeks we're reading in the Torah we're reading all about the servitude and subjugation in Egypt T and The Exodus how we were liberated we were freed and then Hashem gave us this Torah we have a principle so important for you to know that the par that we're reading that we control is not random it's not chance it's not just we have this rotation of Torah portions and we happen to be reading that para that week but whatever para we're reading that week is because that is what's happening in this world the par the story and the energy and the message and the lessons of the par impact and influence the time in which we are in so last week was Pas was the story of when Hashem gave the Torah at SII that means that last shabas we were all back at the mountain with a tremendous Unity we re accepted the Torah again so we're living now through again the notion of the shib of what it meant to be in Egypt and we're living through the Exodus being liberated from it whatever we're reading is what we're meant to be thinking about this week M okay how does that impact my life what does that reveal to me about my life what does that mean I'm working on in my life it's not just random and anyone have the par while we're really religious we said the shabas table it means means that the rhythm of my life is so closely connected to the para if I have problems in my life in that week look for the solution in the par if you want to know about your life that week look in the para the so those week we are living through once again in this spiral in this cycle where we revisit in time the same energy that historically revealed or created those events we're back in them we were back in Egypt then Hashem took us out of Egypt we were back with the splitting of a sea we're back standing at the mountain accepting the Torah and we're back in misham getting this list of laws we're not reading something historical this way our lives our calendar is entirely categorically different than the secular notion of time why do you if you do celebrate July 4th why do you celebrate it anybody say celebrate July anyone know why we have July 4th what do we have July 4th in thank you you went to elementary school thank you Independence Day America got independence when for a bonus extra credit 1776 when we observe July 4th it's because we're observing that 1776 we gained independence the fact that we're trying to honor something so historical that none of us were there how do we actually observe it having nothing to do with it anyone here on July 4th sit down with their family and say what is independence how do we why should we appreciate it what does it mean for us how can we have more of it I don't know one human being who does that what do you do you have a contest how many hot dogs you can stuff in your face you have a hot dog we're trying to get shy to finish eating something the other day he has this bizarre thing where he doesn't actually like eating not sure where he got it from so he he got himself all excited and he goes okay I'm going Joey Chestnut you're gonna finish this I don't know if she be proud or not proud that he knows that name but when when you're celebrating something from hundreds of years ago it means so nothing to you now that you celebrate it with a barbecue fireworks and shopping and that's essentially true for every American holiday shopping discounts barbecue fireworks never about the theme of the day compare Memorial Day in America to yikon in Israel right every day in Judaism that's not us in Judaism we don't celebrate pesak because thousands of years ago we got out of MIT we're not celebrating sh because thousands of years ago we got a Torah when we left Egypt on the 15th of Nissan it teaches us that the 15th of Nissan is all about freedom and liberty and emancipation and now we experience that today we're not celebrating khah because thousands of years ago the manura lasted longer we're celebrating khaka because what are the Miracles what's the Supernatural and natural where's the light in our life today those historical events revealed that that day is designated with a certain energy but not so that we can celebrate the historical event only because we're commemorating something in history that's ancient but so that we can tap into that energy for ourselves today so similar when we read the paraa we're not reading a parha because oh it's a really good history book history is really important to us let's get together and review history you'll be tested on it later no why am I reading this because this week that I'm reading this is the reminder that I too have my own MIT in my life I'm subjugated I'm a servant I'm a slave in the Egypt of my life and just like Hashem took them out he can and he does take me out and just like they then arrived at the mountain that was the purpose it wasn't a freedom from but it was a freedom to so to my freedom from whatever is holding me back is not a freedom from something it's a freedom to a freedom to stand at that mountain and dedicate my life on a mission so anything we do from observe holidays to read the parha is not to review a history of long ago but to learn about ourselves and who we are and who we can be in the present we live in the present any connection we make with the past is to inform and Inspire our present not because we care about the past they never taught you that in school they never taught me that in school and that's why I didn't really start keeping chabas or Yanti until I was older I kept it don't worry don't worry I kept it I kept it it was dramatic that's I'm a rabbi it was dramatic I kept shabas and Y the is still good don't worry I kept shabas and Y I don't mean I keep shabas but it meant I grew up thinking that we're keeping this Yanti because of something thousands of years ago and I don't really care about it I cared about it but I don't really care about it it was thousands of years ago what does it have to do with me I wasn't there I don't know anyone who was there and and what do I care about there when I'm here what do I care about then when I'm now what difference does it make and if that's your connection to yish I have to come to SCH and listen I just met with a teenager the other day parents is concerned they stop coming to and chabas why as if you know the rabbi has a magic wand so just wave it and then everything will be okay but I understand that that person it doesn't really do anything for me I don't know one person who became religious because of Torah reading you come come to the house for shabas meal have the chicken soup have a chant sit at AUM come to the fa come to the shus I don't know anyone was a the Torah was unbelievable I wasn't religious I didn't believe in God but I heard the Torah being read for 40 minutes and I that oh that moved me so if your attitude is I'm just I'm I'm hearing somebody take a history book and re cited out loud to some cancellations and connection I don't the musical notes I don't connect with yeah I'd also want to sleep in and stay home but if you hear the Torah being read and it's not a history book but it's somebody recreating they're on the beima because that's our SII and just like mosha was on the mountain he surrounded about we the Gabi on both sides and we're reading this book not because we're reading and declaring the history of yesterday but because we're screaming out this is the message of today you feel stuck hashem's here to liberate you and take you out of your stuckness he split the sea then and he's going to split this sea for you of where you're stuck you feel the worlds like walls are caving in you feel the roof is coming down he split a SE once and he's going to split it for you come let's read this together let's hear right now let's connect to it now that's what it's all about why do we have to go down to Egypt to begin with we needed to learn and grow and redeem and repair the mistakes that Adam that Adam made in the garden and that the the beginning of time the beginning of creation was filled with a series of mistakes first three stories of the Torah are all about jealousy lust and honor and Hashem says that's not why I created a world he does a hard reset on the world on the world and we had to go down to MIT to Egypt in order to learn these lessons and when we go through our own we say where do I feel stuck and how do I need to get out what's holding me back what is the barrier what's the layer covering my light how can I better connect and have this growth SP really this the slavery of Egypt was not just about a physical story of slavery and bondage there's a pus there's a deeper idea here MIM was a place of moral Decay moral decadence moral corruption MIT was a metropolis of everything immoral in this world if you're curious or you wonder what that looks like go to Time Square don't go to Time Square I went to Times Square once for a rally against Iran we were in New York One Summer and I took the train in and I found myself I didn't understand what was happening around me why people were all excited taking pictures I ran the other way but in Time Square people walk away around with nothing but body art let's just say states of dress and undress identity Behavior action activity there's just no boundaries MIM is A Place With No Boundaries matar is a boundary MIM is boundary list No Boundaries no borders no just a place of moral Decay moral decadence moral corruption the ultimate of Indulgence in the Here and Now of Desire of Temptation and of lust that's M those are the kipos that's the opposite of bris bris is a covenant bris means I'm making you a promise just think about the bris of marriage as a metaphor one stands under the and they're making a promise and what's that promise I will be faithful to you I will be faithful physically I will be faithful emotionally I will be faithful spiritually I will be faithful financially in every realm and element and aspect of this relationship I'm going to be faithful to you so later a person says but I I want to just use the money without telling them or not put the name on the account but I want to just have this emotional connection with someone at work don't worry it'll just be emotional but I want to physically it's boring one person I want to physically experience and connect and and be adventurous with others but that's what I want that's the animal in me desires that's my impulse that's my instinct and many fall prey to it and their lives unravel and it doesn't mean it's not only by the way the pathetic and unsophisticated and fools we have a tradition that in fact it's the opposite the greater you are the more creative the greater that you are the greater the Yahara that you struggle with and we've seen that through our tanak we've seen that in our times that great and Brilliant and charismatic and accomplished people politicians and athletes and scientists and Engineers couldn't control their basic human animal impulse and threw away their lives and their legacy because they couldn't honor that bris that Covenant that faithfulness they couldn't honor it they threw it all away and we also have a covenant with Hashem we also stood under with him we did it last week he held the mountain over our head and that mountain was a could read that as a threat or others read it as a the mountain over our head was a we stood under that with in fact many of the Customs that we have at a Jewish wedding come from har come from har for another time to elaborate on those Customs the mountain was over our head that was a we stood under it with hem and we were made a promise we're going to be faithful to you we're g to honor you ah but I'm gonna have an animal impulse an animal desire I want to go to Times Square I want to watch I want to peel back some layers I don't mean the Kos I mean the clothing I but I want to experience I want to see I want to say I want to go I want to go do I want to click I want to but we made a covenant we made a bris we made a promise so MIT is a place where promises don't matter MIT is a place of no faithfulness MIT is a place of whatever I'm already giving you the p t it's coming it's coming got two Adar this year so you got an extra month but it's coming but MIM is that place where there is no faithfulness there is no regulating oneself there is no striving for a Higher Living but it's what I want to wear it's where I want to go it's what I want to watch it's what I want to do there there is no but I made a promise I'm choosing what to watch I want to watch that everyone's talking about that I saw the reviews of that it's the how to series everybody's watching it you know but I made a promise to Hashem and to myself and to my soul what are the images and what are the themes and what are the ideas and just because everyone is does that mean that I should it's the capacity to stop that's what show is to not just press play to not just binge watch to not just jump on the bandwagon because that's what's in but to say but I made a price under the made a promise to him and to myself and to the best of who I could be and it doesn't include this they're called is matar is matar is a boundary a border a Siege yam is the sea the Y is is to indulge the nature what do you mean but it's my nature everyone it's man's nature we know it's natural it's the Natural Instinct we have an animal inside us we're made up of two parts we have The Godly Soul The Godly soul that we have and then we also have the animal impulse the animal Instinct the animal in us and the animal is our nature it's our nature to want H to snooze and sleep in it's our nature to be lazy it's our nature to want to fresh and stuff our face and eat well past the point that we're full it's our nature for some people it's a nature to get angry it's a nature it's natural to be mean it's natural to be cynical it's my nature so m is a place that says indulge what's natural and your nature because there is nothing above it there is nothing capable of controlling it so it puts a around the there's a there's a Siege around the Sea of wisdom of self-control [Music] so when you have very very narrow Vision you can't see the light that is in everything if a person is living in the here and now if a person is living in a place of indulgence and impulse if a person is living for happiness and pleasure not for Holiness they are depriving themselves of the light of the connection of the deepest meaning and purpose of the ultimate happiness which comes from living a life of Holiness whatever you sacrifice in the happiness of the here and now when you live for Holiness you will find greater happiness who who's happier ultimately and the research all bears this out as our society shifted from a place where marriage vows and sanctity until death do us part and and and faithfulness and we move to a place of everything anyone anywhere anytime do we find greater happiness or less happiness much less so Liberation does not in fact bring happiness it brings the opposite and people who practice that faithfulness that honor that dignity that respect ah but I want and I'm curious and and the animal in me is Desiring yeah control it put it back in its cage you don't have to indulge it you don't have to follow it because the joy and the pleasure and the ultimately the happiness of that life of Holiness defined as faithfulness is so much greater than whenever you gave up so much greater than whenever you gave up you know that because when you've been in a good place with your eating you know that you really you saw those cap cot potato chip we haven't talked about that in a while you saw the cap cot potato chips you saw the Trader Joe's corn chips you saw the extra portion of potato C that you wanted to have and you said you know but I don't need it but I'm full I'm full I'm good I don't need it beef Jer you saw it I'm good I'm full I don't need it and you say no and you walk away from that cabinet you walk away from that refrigerator you walk away from that serving piece an hour later what feels better that you express that self-control that you feel good about yourself or that bag of potato chips the corn chips to the potato cook in my experience the self-control and the discipline and the contact with the Holiness of being able to regulate ourselves and be faithful to the promise we make ourselves always feels so much better than whatever we gave up in the process than that momentary connection with our taste buds which is fleeting and gone as soon as we're finished not only is it gone as soon as you're finished it's not that it tasted really good you you enjoyed it and now you're back at neutral now you hate yourself not only do you not hold on to the pleasure of having eaten it now you just hate yourself so it's a net loss versus the net gain of feeling you know I regulate I I I I have control I I really Express the best part of who I am and that feels incredible that makes me feel alive and awake that makes makes me feel the best part of who I am it makes me have contact with the Divine with The Godly soul in me it always feels better it's true in our eating and our sleeping it's true in our interpersonal communication it's true in our marriage and our love to our spouse to our children to people around around us and it's true with Hashem and that's what we're living for not happiness but Holiness and when you live for Holiness ultimately you find the greatest happiness and the world we're living in which is revisiting MIM we're not going forward technologically medically we're making incredible progress AI oh it's changing the world but morally we are regressing back to MIT look at this world and look at the themes and look at relationships and look at statistics look at look at the data on unhappiness anti-depressants mental health challenges we are regress not progress we're going backwards not forwards but we've been gifted the Torah kadosha we've been gifted this life and this lifestyle that's helping us move forward and grow and go higher and we're holding on to the formula and the truths that always brought the ultimate happiness which are not the fleeting counterfeit and authentic things of the moment but the greatest truth which is faithfulness to ourselves to the people around us to express the best part of who we are the truest part of who we are which is not the animal impulse and Indulgence of MIT that's the kipa the kipa says but just watch it but just eat it just press snooze just go back to sleep just experience just experiment just try who will know that's the ciper that's the barrier that's the shell that's the obstacle that's what we're trying to remove and peel back that's the Brisa we're trying to circumcise our heart to get that off so that the light of the best part of who we are can Shine That's the glow of the kid who goes to Israel and discovers that life is not Tik Tock and Instagram and status updates life is not followers and friends I found something trer I touched something deep and real inside me not kid talking about a kid but you could have your Gap your experience at at 80 years old you don't have to be a kid but whoever and whatever stage of life when you make that connection when you feel that true part of who you are when you feel alive feel alive it's happening in Israel all over by the way right now I said there's no such thing as a secular Jew the spiritual awakening that's Spiritual Awakening soldiers just yesterday I met with somebody it's connected to an organization that for years has been giving out fill into soldiers on average gave out a thousand a year what do you think they've given the last four months request and they can't meet it so far 30,000 pairs of fill it's actually starting a program now we're going to share it there are people who' passed away left their they're not being used people got new there are Kosher that are sitting in cabinets that soldiers could be putting on every day tens of thousands of them we got to collect them and find them and distribute them where does that come from a soldier who has no idea what's written in the thin has no idea what the Fillin are about doesn't know why they want to put them on but is now saying can I get a pair of fillan I want to where tius 2,000 pairs we tied here hundreds of thousands for the soldiers where's that coming from where's that coming from the Jew has become that Jew inside us is awake has become awakened it's become aroused is become it's the truest part of who we are and it feels so much better in the most authentic and Lasting way than any happiness we had from a life that was free of those Torah and Mitzvah so that the this time of the year we're trying to get ourselves I said we were going to push we're not going to make it so we'll have to to finish this next week which will be the week after mbam so it's still but this we have to get to how how do you do it how do we how do we do it how do you do it but you want to press play and watch the thing you shouldn't watch you want to eat the thing you shouldn't eat you want to say the thing you want to forward the thing you shouldn't forward you want to how do you do it how do you do it we know it's inside us we can have it so we can go to Israel for our year right now everyone back toiv Seminary we wish we had that luxury but even if you can't how can you connect how can we do it pick up with that next time should be a good day for