Living with Emunah (Part 342)

Good morning, Boker to. Welcome back to living with Amuna. Kola Cavode. Eraf Pesak Pes living with Amuna. We took a poll last week and you followed through. Many or most or some of you did anyway, but it's impressive. It's great that you're here and this is how we set ourselves free. So much work and effort goes into preparing for pes shopping and cooking and cleaning and it's all important and it's critical and you can't have yont without it. But this is the most important work you do to live with amuna to learn and live with amuna. That's how we set ourselves free from the bondage and the tyranny of thinking we're in charge and we're in control of holding on tight is m that constricted place of of holding on and thinking we're in charge and we're in control and it's entirely up to us. You got to let go and let God. That's how you get ready for pes also cooking and cleaning and preparing and shopping. But too many people do all the physical preparations while neglecting the spiritual preparations. So living with amuna is how we get ready call for being here or finding the time to watch or listen later. Our amuna series is generously sponsored by Dr. Zab and Bella Morgan in memory that Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbat and in memory of Bella's mother Dr. Ellen Shanzer. We remain very very grateful to them. also sponsored this morning. Shir for the ze of Miriam Basp peril should sing and dance at her simka and sponsored anonymously for Rafu Schlma Mosha Shimon Bena Esther should have a speedy and a painless and a complete raffle. Obviously we're off for Pes and we'll resume following PES just in terms of maintaining your schedule. Let's hit some emails and we'll get back into the text we're learning at David Abu. Dear Rabbi, my daughter broke her engagement five months ago and I was searching for some amuna in my life. I started listening to Shir on Spotify. Thank you Spotify. Your checks in the mail. No, no, it's definitely not. And I was hooked immediately. I don't miss a week. And I've listened to many of the old Sherim as well. My kids know if they're in the car with me, then that is what will turn on. It has been profoundly impacting my life. Blah blah blah blah blah. Recently, my nine-year-old son went to the ATM machine with my husband one night and the machine swallowed his credit card. That can be a very frustrating moment. My nine-year-old looked at my husband and said, "Aba, your card is exactly where it's supposed to be. Thank you so much for adding Amuna to our family. It's amazing. Stressful moments become so much calmer when you have Amuna. I really want car decals, coffee mugs. Please tell me how to get them. Send regards." So, yeah, this is amazing. If we collectively, we together and we those who are writing the emails can uh we can make this phrase much more than a phrase and a motto which now can have on the back of your phone and the windshield of your car and on the luggage. But yes, embrace your place. You are where you're meant to be. My daughter Estie's yearbook quote, you are where you're meant to be. Embrace your place. So, she's doing her part at least in her yearbook for the thousands who will read the Hadar yearbook this year will help embrace your place. But look, is there anything greater than a nine-year-old? A nine-year-old telling the father, "The card's exactly where it's meant to be. Don't get frustrated. Don't get flustered. Don't get bent out of shape." And I'll say what we say. We've said it a million times. Stay in the ATM ATM machine and your blood pressure rising and smacking the machine and yelling and screaming and maybe saying things you're not proud of is not going to make your credit card pop out of the machine. It won't. It doesn't make traffic open up. It doesn't make the flight go on time. It doesn't make anything in life ever any better. All it does is compromise you, your health, and your relationship with others. And so it's not just that theologically and religiously and conceptually there's a Hashem. He controls the world. Let go, let God. That's also all true. It's not just true. But there's a personal benefit. The health and quality of life and relationships of life all improve when we can keep calm and carry on. when we can stay calm and whether it's the doctor who after waiting a long time for that appointment and had to cancel. Okay, no problem. So what's the plan? Whether it's the credit card on the machine or whether it's the flight or whether it's the traffic or whether it's someone in our family who didn't realize we mean to be kashuring and put down the hot thing on the counter within our 20 whatever the thing is it's not going to make whatever the problem is whoever's going to spill the wine this mo shabas or Sunday night at the seder on the white tablecloth or the white kit or your beautiful shirt losing your cool is not going to make that white tablecloth turn white again it won't it doesn't make anything better so keep calm carry on let Go let God, embrace your place. You are where you're meant to be. All these what have become cliched mottos. They all make life so much better and they're all what life is really all about. This was the theme for those of you who were there. It only ended a few minutes ago. The shabas dasha that went on for way too long, but this was the theme of the shabas dasha. We spoke about the circular route of gula. That gula original gula of mitim and this is our hagada. Two steps forward, one step back. Kadesh kesh wearing our kito. We lean ba. We drink it while reclining. We're royal and regal. Next thing you know, karpas tears. We're dipping in salt water. Next thing you know, we take two steps forward, one step back because gula, redemption, salvation. It's not linear. It's not direct. Doesn't happen overnight. You can't flip a switch. You don't go from single and married. You don't go from wanting to have children to having a big family. You don't go from struggling in perussa to instant wealth. You don't go from gullis geographically or metaphysically there's a war on seven fronts to all of a sudden sweeping victory everyone home it's ciruitous there are vicissitudes there ups and downs it's rats of bashov that's the way it was originally that's the way it is for us now that's the way it's been for 200 years the last 80 years the last year and a half and that's the way it is for many of us in our lives and the takeaway and the upshot and I'll post I don't remember if I ever did in our living with WhatsApp groups I'll put the maram makcomomas we have many many many many many pages of fascinating Torah sources and articles of the value of failure, failure forward and the the idea that life is securous and how success looks is not a straight line but it's all the zigzags. I'll put them in the WhatsApp group because print it out, read it, learn it, study it, talk about it over PES because that's what PES is about. It's unshackling and unburdening ourselves from the tyranny of thinking that world and life is about us. We're in charge. We're in control. So, putting ourselves in Hashem's hands, embrace your place. A Jew is never stuck. We are where we're meant to be. And that was true with Mitsim. And that was true for the last 2,000 years of our longing for gula. And that's true in our own personal gula. And therefore, the upshot is yes, we're trying to break out. Yes, we wanted to leave mim. We want to be married. We want to have children. We want parnosa. We want shalom. And we want peace and security in Israel and around the world. Yes, we will fight and we will work. We'll take initiative which is what we're learning right now in order to get there. But the goal is not only the destination. The goal is not only the outcome and the result. What the journey and process of gula teaches us is that there's value to the journey. That the journey is the destination. That these stops along the way are journeys themselves. And so if a person is in shukim person is looking to get married don't say my goal is to be under with a husband and I just wanted to come already and I want to flip a switch and I want it to be linear and direct and straight and I want to be there in a binary way single then I want to be married shine good done. No. Yes, that's the goal and yes, you're working towards it, but what could you learn in the process? How can you lean in and embrace the journey? What do you discover about yourself as you go through resumes, decisions, references? Who should I go out with? What was that date like? What did I learn about myself and others and the world from each one that wasn't the right one? There's a journey to having children to working on chalice to breaking through in parnasa to finally capturing our mental spiritual physical health. It's not only about I want to get to the destination. I want the result. I want the outcome which is a challenge in our generation because we're living we didn't get into this on chabas but we're living in the instant gratification world and we're living in a world of everything on demand. On demand. I I give this example. You probably heard me say it before. We got to get back to our emails and our text, but give the example. When I was a kid, when I was a kid, when I was younger, so if you bought a new record, or I'm not that old, tape or CD and and you know, every tape, I don't know how many, eight to 10 songs on a tape, two of them were fantastic, another three were pretty good, and the rest just took up space on the tape. They were no good at all. So, you had to get through the bad songs and the okay songs to listen to the great songs. Now, Steve Jobs invented the uh original uh iPod and you could download music on it and what could you do? Playlist, make a playlist. I don't have to listen to anything I don't want to listen to. I could delete, I could erase, I could make. And now we have our exercise playlist, our Arab Shabas playlist, our PUM playlist, our Pesak playlist, our fast playlist, our slow playlist, our Israel playlist, our sad playlist. I have playlists and I could delete and eliminate what I don't want to hear. And that has an impact on all of life. You know why? Because I say, "Hashem, this is not on my playlist. I don't want to deal with that thing. It's not on my playlist." We turn to our spouses and we say, "Where's the forward button? I just want to get to the next. I don't want to hear this lecture. I don't want you to tell me your feelings. I don't want to be dealing with what you're saying right now. Where's the forward button? How can I delete you from this playlist of my life?" It has an impact on us. We're living in an on demand on everything is on demand but life doesn't work on demand and guess what gula is not on demand arba gulos not lonos of gula I'm not going to rehash the whole shabas drussa it's not four languages or synonyms of gula of redemption points out there are four gulos four redemptions our life is filled with these journeys and stops and every stop is itself a journey and it's not only the outcome of the result it's not only the destination how can we embrace our place and lean into where we are and say I don't want to be here now and here can mean geographically I don't want to be stuck geographically where I am here can mean emotionally I don't want to be how I'm feeling here can be I don't want to be single and I don't want to be childless and I don't want to be struggling for parasa having to go to a pesak market of the Florida network here can mean all kinds of things I don't want to be here right now and I'm going to work as hard as I can to get out of here wherever here is but what gula is teaching us the journey of galas to gula is teaching us is embrace your place lean into where you are what can you extract says every galas there are there are sparks that you're supposed to extract something to learn a way to grow a impact and an influence to have there's something we're meant to do wherever we are even while we're working at getting out of where we are there's work to be wherever we are. And that's why the Rebat said that the only difference between gola exile and gula redemption is the letter alfu. And we don't have a new word. We take the gola within that exile. When you add hashem, when you find meaning and purpose, when you add hashem, then all of a sudden from in the gola, you have gula. It's not that gola. We have another word. We don't add it in the beginning or the end. The alf is in the middle of the word because you put hashem in the middle of the circumstance you're in and you use it to come close to talk to him to feel his presence to even lash out at him. But when you add the olive the alufa shalom within the go within the exile you bring a redemption. And that's why we ended the drussa. And if you're in the group, you'll read the sources with I don't know six, eight stories of hostages who found Hashem in tunnels, in captivity, in torture. You talk about Gola. You talk about being in exile. You talk about those who were in Mitim in our day who are subjugated, enslaved, captive, captured, captives. And yet it was there a bermuni. She chose chose Amuna in that place. In that place, Das Lowen about her husband Alicia and Jen Ely about her son Bin Yemen. He didn't die. We didn't bury him. We planted him. Read all those articles and find that faith in that amuna. So, as Estie says in her yearbook, embrace embrace your place. Don't try to only skip to the destination. Don't live life on demand. Don't live life trying to fast forward. Wherever you are is where you're meant to be. We're always trying to fast forward. I just want to get there already. I just want to be married. I just want to have a big family. I just want to break through with Parnasa. I just want to get there and not be on the airplane or stuck in traffic or be just I just want to get there. Just want to get there. Get there. Work to get there. But don't abandon or neglect or forfeit the joy and the benefit of the journey because you're f so f fixated and focused only on the destination. Before I tell you a story, I want to thank the rub so much for everything. Blah blah blah. After coming back from my spiritual life from seminary, my bubble was slowly popped when school began to start. I met with my rabbit who told me to start listening to Living with the Moon podcast. Thank you, Rebbitson. But I was very hesitant because I tried podcast before, but nothing ever stuck with me. I decided to give the podcast a try. Before I knew it, I was listening to it every day. I began to notice small differences in my spirituality, overall mood. Thank you so much for changing life and other listeners. Now, on to my story. This past Sunday is a great story. This past Sunday, I was Ubering back to co in the book that we're one day going to do. It'll have airplane stories. We're going to have a chapter, the Uber stories. Uber gets its own chapter. This past Sunday, I was Ubering back to college with my friends. We were ordering, we ordered the Uber. 10 minutes passed. By then, the Uber canceled. We got another driver. 10 more minutes later, another Uber canceled. My friends and I were starting to get frustrated. I decided to use my amuna muscle because, as the Rava always says, the Jew is never stuck. He's where he's meant to be. I said to my friends, I'll order the Uber on my phone. So, I ordered it. And as my phone was loading, I told my friends, "Hashem is testing our patience. Don't worry, we're going to get there." Then I looked at my phone and sure enough, another driver accepted our ride. And I tell my friends, "OMG, you guys are not going to believe this. The driver's name Hu Sa M. Hashem." I said, "How much clearer could Hashem be?" Sure enough, five minutes later, Hashem pulled up and barak Hashem and Hashem, we got to college safely and on time. How great a story is that? Everyone relax. Hashem is testing us. Hashem's going to get us there. Hashem's got it. Let go and let Hashem Hashem's in charge. Uber pops up. What's the driver's name? Hashem. So, I'll tell you something amazing. Hashem is always the driver. He's always the driver. Whether his name appears on the Uber app or not, he's always the driver. Put down your luggage and your baggage. Let go. Hashem is always the driver. Rabbi Goldberg, my family and I started a new game in Friday Night Shabbas table. We used to hashka stories but have moved on to you are where you're meant to be game. Each person goes around and says when during the week they found themselves in a place they weren't expecting. How they embraced their place and everything was for the good. It's a good game. Shabas morning we were supposed to attend the barit which is a 30-minute walk and my husband woke up with back pain. It's another chapter in the book. And he couldn't make the walk. My 14-year-old daughter had asked to come with us and I told her no because I wanted the opportunity to have a quiet walk with my husband. Now that my husband wasn't up for the walk, I quickly went to wake her, told her she should join me on the walk. We had a great walk and the whole time I just kept saying you are where you're I don't know if her husband was saying the same thing in bed, but she was saying you are where you are meant to be. Okay. Oh, one more. One more. There's so many. Please keep writing me the emails. I read everyone. They move me. I'm collecting them. I get back to many of them. So, keep keep writing them even if I don't read them that week. I listen to the Shir religiously daily. I've learned so much. But to live with it, to apply it, I have such a beautiful story to share as a we have a wonderful Yasum, an orphan who became very close to this last several years. Yasma lost both parents. Alone in this world, trying his best to navigate this very difficult journey. I don't think I read this one. Did I read this one? I don't think so. The last Yam we hosted him, he became emotional. The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. We sat in our suka and we're in deep conversation. He mentioned how broken he is, how much pain he is holding in his heart, how much he misses his parents, how he doesn't know how we'll ever move on with all the pain. It was a very emotional and painful conversation. How can I help him? So many thoughts ran through my mind as we both sat beneath Hashem. Wiping my tears, I made a promise to him. sitting in our suka. I looked up to Shmayim and said, "Hashem is listening. Hashem is watching over us right this minute." I said, "I'll work on finding you." I gave him my word. I had complete amuna. Here we are sitting in a holy suk. Hashem is listening. Of course, he will help. I have no doubt. After we connected and started working on his dating resume, I cannot sit here and type this letter and say it was easy. Easy. It was not. It was a challenging few months. I kept looking for suggestions, young ladies who are compatible. And after a few months, we found her. Dating is fun but also expensive. I reassured him, we got it. We'll help you pay for the dates. Not to worry how I couldn't figure out as a large family, life isn't cheap. But I kept doubting to Hashem, help us find a way. So we did. Community got together. We all as a cl helped Hashem's child. My amuna kept growing stronger and I knew Hashem was holding our hands. It was time to get engaged and of course it was time to purchase gifts. My head was spinning. How are we going to do this? I took a few minutes to dive into a sha I ding with tears I could couldn't see straight. I reached out to a friend in the jewelry industry and gave him my budget for the jewelry. He asked what it was for and mentioned it's for a yasum an orphan and he gave it all for free. The jeweler didn't take a penny. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My heart exploded and I couldn't sit crying uncontrollably. At that point, not only did my amuna get so much stronger, I knew a thousand% Hashem is guiding us and here is another beautiful story. There are many more. But back to our text, we're on page top right hand column of page 34. And we've been dealing with this question of we know we have to take initiative. You can't sit back on your hands and wait. Gula takes our effort, our initiative. We see that. That's what we're about to celebrate. Because Hashem told the Jews in Mit. He didn't just take them out. They had to do their part. And what was their part? Go take the god of your oppressor. Tie it to your bed post. Leave it there for five days. Risk your lives. Find the courage to look at your oppressor in its face while you tie up his god and say this is no god. Then slaughter it. Then sprinkle the blood on the doorpost and then I'll be able to skip over those houses and take you out. Why? Hashem could make 10 plagues in a splitting of a sea. He didn't know where the Jews lived. It's a very, very simple thing. Every driveway that has a Honda Odyssey, that's where the Jews live. It's really quite easy. Where there's a minivan, there's a Jewish family. That's all. You know, why do you need us to sprinkle blood on the on the doorpost? On the doorpost. Every home that has a designated Amazon driver with endless packages at the front door, that's a Jewish home. There's a lot of clues. That's how you know. Every non-Jew has one garbage pale with half of it left over for each garbage pickup. And Jews have to buy three, four of the garbage things. They're all overflowing. There's Costco boxes sitting on top of the filled garbage. And that's how you know. Sashem, there's like endless countless clues. How you know which are the Jewish homes? You don't have to make them get involved with slaughtering a sheep and sprinkling the blood. Why did he have to do that? What's the answer? Hashem says, "I'll tell you what. I'll bring salvation and redemption, but you've got to be my partner. You can't sit back and be a spectator. You've got to get up and you've got to do something. You've got to do something." That's why towards the end of the seder, after three cups, we're exhausted and tired and and ready to pass out and we sing ali what do we get up and do? We get up and open the door. That wasn't a true question. We get up and open the door. We get up and open the door. I ask you, Elia and Ni can visit every Jewish home simultaneously, but he can't come down the chimney. He can't walk through walls. He can't go through the window. Why do we have to get up and open a door? Why do you have to open the door? What's the answer? Because you've got to get up. If you want to come, you want redemption, you want salvation, you want change, get up and get going and do something. We know we have a principle. We have to take initiative. We have to do aas. It doesn't just happen on its own. On the other hand, we can't take excessive initiative. We try too hard. We do too much. We hold on too tight. We think it's too much in our control. Let go and let God. He's in charge. He's in control. So, what's that balance? How do we find that right balance? That's what I told you this Yant is all about. The first days and the last days. First days, we got to sprinkle the blood. We got to offer their sheep, their animal, their deity, their god. Initiative, initiative, initiative. And then we come to the sea and Hashem says, "Matuli, what are you doing? Why are you ding? Start walking. Start walking." A little less diving, a little more initiative. Who is Chernobyl? Is the Chernobyl used to say that if a person opens their store, opens a door, opens their store towards the public thoroughare, they think they need the foot traffic, they think they need to open up in a highly populated place. They really lacking and hashem because hashem can send customers who will find you in an alley. If a person lived at the highest level of amuna, so you have to have a store. You need a business. You need to sell something. No one's dropping off a brown paper bag of cash at your door. You got to take initiative. You got to do something. But going out of your way to pay a high rent to be in the place that has the highest foot traffic, maybe that's considered excessive. Now, he's not describing that. Anyone who's sitting here right now wondering, do I do excessive? Should I not market? Should I not publicize? Should I not? No. Those are wonderful strategies. We believe in capitalism, free market and uh and in marketing and advertising and strategizing. Those are great things. It's an example. It's a mush of in evaluating where does the line of initiative where are the boundaries of initiative and excessive initiative? Where do I need to lean in more to amuna the would tell the story of the chernob he would add that he found a source for this insight or observation or story of the in the work of the it says says, "I want you to know the following. Yes, you take initiative. Advertising, your marketing, your slogan, your campaign, social media, status updates. You think that's what's bringing the results. What brings the results is when you earn the merit, when you're virtuous and righteous, when you're living the right way and Hashem puts in the heart of someone, you know, I want to check out that store. I want to buy from that online person. I want to hire that person. He puts it in that person's heart. And then the next person's heart and then the traffic builds up and then the success comes. Can you trace it? Can you point to and say, well, it was this strategy, it was this breakthrough, it was this brilliance. Of course, I'll be naturally. You can also find an explanation. But as believing Jews, we need to know that it's not the explanation that's the cause. It's that Hashem put it in someone's heart. We said yesterday in the parishes, there was a fire always burning on the altar. It could never go out. I Why did we need a fire on the altar? What consumed the sacrifice? Not the fire on the altar. There was a fire that descended from heaven that came down and that's what consumed the Corban. So why did we need a fire on the altar? So we spoke about because Hashem does his miracles in concealed ways. Hashem is ata. He's modest and he's private. And even when he's doing what he's doing, he doesn't flex about it. He doesn't share or show off about it. So you make a fire. So to the observer, it looks like what's consuming the sacrifice? the fire you made. Ah, it's really the one that descended from Shmayim. Okay, fine. So, similarly in our work, what will make our business a success is Hashem putting in the hearts and minds of others to frequent it and to use it. But, you know, we don't, Hashem doesn't do revealed miracles. So, if I wouldn't advertise or market, if I'd lock the door of my store, if I wouldn't ever show up to work, it would take a miracle for me to break through and have success. So in order to give Hashem the opportunity to do for me I need to be able to explain it naturally I have to make my effort but this is such an important and critical we need to know that our effort does not correlate with the result our effort is a prerequisite to the result our effort is the key that unlocks the result but our effort doesn't directly correlate to that result it doesn't correlate I have to do my effort The result often doesn't even correlate with the effort I put in. So you market, you advertise, you post, all of a sudden people are coming, they're using, you're bringing it in. You ask them where did I hear where'd you hear about me? So they didn't hear about you from all the marketing and advertising and social media you did. Ah, it was something else, someone else, something you forgot about altogether. It's connected. We need to do our initiative because that's the rule. The way that Hashem made the world, Hashem says, I have all this blessing. I have she I have all this blessing I want to give you. But to unlock it, to cash in on it, you've got to take initiative because I need it to be explainable naturally. Once you take initiative and it's explainable reasonably, rationally through nature, now I'm ready to open the storehouse and overflow you with blessing. But the blessing doesn't come because of the initiative you took. Just that taking initiative is the key that unlocks the gate, the door that lets the blessing flow. So we should know in all the work that we do, Hashem is the one who puts it in the hearts of the people. It's Hashem. Hashem creates our clients and our customers and our profit margins. Hashem decides the tariffs and the stock market. Hashem puts it in the heart right now of other world leaders. Will they negotiate? Will they acquies and concede? Will they not? Will there be a 90-day freeze? What will happen? There are a lot of players. There are a lot of actors that look like there's a conversation going on, but it's all Hashem. It's all inside. He's got a plan for where the economy is supposed to go and how the markets are supposed to turn out and will all the pledges for our new campus come through because will people have the money to pay them? If you need another thing to daven for, it's all it's all it's all him. It's all him. So when you sit in your store literally or figuratively maybe you have a store you sit in the store maybe you have a business and you're working it online maybe you have customers in whatever you're doing in life no yes we're taking initiative and yes we're thinking oo creative entrepreneurally what can I do what good idea what breakthrough what deal can I offer how can I market it what status update can I post think about all those things they're wonderful take that initiative do it but know that ultimately it's hashm who puts in the heart of others whether they're going to do business with you or not. Therefore, don't work excessively. Therefore, you need to know that your initiative doesn't impact one direction or the other. as the elaborates on there says once we do our now let go and let God we say Hashem do your magic I did my part I opened the business it was reasonable it was rational it made sense I did my part. I unleashed my marketing. I did my business. Now, Hashem, it's up to you. It's up to you. The results, the outcome, what will be, it's entirely up to you. Like the story goes, once the holy didn't have a penny in his pocket. He had no money. He had nothing. He had nothing to buy the meals for Shabas. Once Shabas was coming close, he left his house. He went to his neighbor and he gave a little knock on the window. He knocked on his neighbor's window and then he went on his way. So his neighbor having heard that faint, that soft knock, ran out of his house and chased and followed the Bashm to find out what did his righteous neighbor need. He said, "Oh, so nice of you to follow me. Actually, I've got I've got nothing. I don't know how to put food on my family's table." The man wondered Why did you knock? Why did you leave? If you came because you needed something, so you knocked. So stay until I answer. If you were ready to leave, why'd you bother coming? What what's the message of the story that you knocked and then you left and I had to follow? to have answered. With every person born in this world, Hashem decides and determines our parasa. I guess from our birth what we'll have and every year tells us that Hashem allocates for us what we're going to or the maximum that we can have that year. Now, the truth has already been determined. Meaning there is a trust, there is a um escrow. Hashem puts money in escrow for each and every one of us the beginning of every year. What determines whether we can tap into the escrow? Does the escrow get transferred to our personal account or not? Our merits and demerits, our values and our virtues, our assets, our liabilities, our worthiness and our unworthiness. Do we deserve it or not? It's sitting in Estreo. It's been designated. It's got our name on it. We are the beneficiary of it. But will we be able to access it? It will depends because of our failure and shortcoming because our great ancestor Adam couldn't observe the one thing he was asked to do in Ghana. We now have to work for our wages. Doesn't come easily. But how hard do you have to work? How much effort do you have to put in? What will it take to tap into that escrow? Depends on each person and their worthiness. Some people sit at home in their pajamas on their couch and go on the internet a few hours a day and the 4-hour work week they're able to earn the parasa of a whole year. And some people have to wake up at 5 in the morning and they work till 10:00 at night. They work three jobs and they break their back and they sweat and they work just to get by the minimum level. So told his neighbor, it became clear to me that because of who I am and how I live, I don't have to work that hard. I can do something small. I didn't bang and smash through your window and say, "Help. I have no food for Shabas." All I needed to do was a gesture, something small, a little tap tap. I had to do it because you got to do something. Is teaching us something here. You can't sit back on your couch and say, "Hashem, if you want me to have parasa, so someone will knock on the door." In the old days, it was Ed McMahon. Someone will knock on the door and say, "You're the winner of a big prize, here's a brown paper bag. This is all yours." That's not the way it's going to go. It's not the way it happens. It's not a realistic expectation even form. You have to do something. How much do you have to do? That depends on your merits. We mentioned last week says that Hashem has enormous blessing. Do you know what's being held in escrow for each of us? Not the same. But Hashem is enormous blessing. And by the way, escrow is not only or even money is a great expression. It's a sad expression, but it's a profound expression. And it goes something like this. I'm paraphrasing. There are some people who are so poor that all they have is money. There are people so poor all they have is money. Health is wealth. You could have all the money in the world and if you don't have your health, it's useless and worthless. If you can't buy a cure, if you can't buy strength and that's true not only for physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, mental health, health is wealth. If you're physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy, even if you got to be working on to earn a few dollars, you're very wealthy. And if you have millions or billions in the bank, but you can't cure that illness, Steve Jobs, the end of his life, and others. If you have billions in the bank, but mentally you're unhealthy, struggling, suffering, spiritually empty, and numb emotionally, relationshipwise, failure, then then it's all then you're a very poor person. Health is wealth and there are people who are so poor all they have is money. Hashem has huge escros of good health, happiness. He has huge escros filled with blessing. How do you access it? But it has to be you've got to do something. You've got to do something. Now, how much do you have to do? So that's what the Bashem said. Someone like me who's living such a high level, I have to do something, a gesture, something small, something that could at least then justify or explain why I got the outcome or result. Someone else might have to do a lot more. When I gave a little tap, you heard this loud noise and you came running and rushing and chased and followed to help me. When I hit what I need to do, given the level I am on, then I was able to let go and let God, then I could be confident. The rest was up to him. I did what I had to do and then I walked away because the rest was up to him. Would you follow me? Would another neighbor come to me once I knocked, which is what I needed to do to turn the key. I don't know how Hashem's going to provide it from there. That's entirely up to him. But I had to do my part, which was the original knock. We all have to figure out what's our part, who I am, the level I'm on, the level I live, what's my part? And then once we hit our part, then to not take initiative that is excessive. So I ask you for example to work three hours a day with all due respect to Tim Ferrris four hours a day and think that you're going to earn a livelihood is probably unrealistic because in the natural order of things in the world that we live in a person has to put in a full day of work in order to earn a living to pay for a life. So working less than that normal amount would be to rely on a miracle. We don't rely on miracles. We believe you have to take initiative. But if you're working a full day, you work 8 hours, 10 hours, 20 hours, 12 hours a day, and you earn enough for yourself, for your family, you're able to support your life and your lifestyle. Why are you still working more? Why are you still at work 14 hours and 16 hours and 18 hours and 20 hours? Some people, you'll say, because I want to earn more, millions, and billions, and be the first to earn a trillion. Now, if Hashem wants you to earn a million, could he not have you earn a million working 10 hours a day? Do you have to work 14 or 16 hours a day? At some point, a person hits that line of excessive initiative where if Hashem wants that result, he could bring it about with the normal natural ordinary initiative you're taking without you having to do something excessive. And at some point when you start doing excessive initiative now it's in fact a lack of faith in Hashem because essentially you're demonstrating you don't believe he could bring that result unless you help him along by doing that excessive initiative. So it's very complicated. How much exercise do you have to do? Too little? Well, you're not going to be healthy if you don't take care of yourself. become addicted, do too much, then you don't think you could be healthy with a normal amount in work and exercise in every area of life. That's what we're going to continue to learn. We'll pick up with after pes. How do you find that line? Where's the boundary between healthy appropriate initiative and not excessive initiative? How could I show Hashem I believe in you and that you have an escro? You have a trust fund with my name on it and I got the key. And the way to open it and access it is taking initiative. But I also know and believe that you're in charge and you're in control. I let go and let God. I submit and surrender to you. And that's why I don't do excessive initiative. I do what I need to like the Bashm. I did my part. Iworked. I posted on my status. I did my marketing campaign. And now I sit back and the rest is up to him. I trust in him. I believe he will give what is right and what is appropriate and what's coming for me. How do we find that line between? That's what Pes's all about. So may we each have a kaga gula. Let it be a yant of redemption. Our hostages should come home. Our soldiers should be safe. Please remain. If everyone takes a booklet, we can finish all safet in a few minutes. Should be a yontiff of national gula and a yontiff of individual personal gula. A yontiff of not only getting to the destination but leaning in and living the journey as well. Some air.