Living with Emunah (Part 351) - Should You Embrace Your Place if Your Place is a Bomb Shelter?

Good morning back. Welcome back to living with Amuna. Want to thank our generous series sponsors Dr. A Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbin in memory of Bella's mother and Chanzer. And of course in honor of our heroic Israeli soldiers, Air Force pilots, in honor of the return of the hostages and the safety and security of all those in Israel, including the Morgans, as all of Israel now is the front lines. Until now, for a year and a half, we've davened from the bottom of our hearts for soldiers who've been going into Gaza and into Lebanon and fighting on front lines. Over the last few days, all 10 million people in Israel, the whole Israel is the front line and we d them for the safety and security of all. Also sponsored by a fun couple in LA in honor of their wedding anniversary by Howard Koig in honor of his father's David Koig and Aliyah by Jenny Schwarz in honor of her father for Father's Day, her mother for her birthday. both of whom exemplify Amuna and by Sarah David Kazdan to recognize the Arashm her brother's apartment in Tel Aviv was hit Monday morning but things can be replaced and Ms. Moda her brother was safe in his bomb shelter which is extraordinary and we add our voice to the gratitude to Hashem. And lastly also sponsored by Ellie Walden her grandson Mishi Barak Hashem who was in that horrible car accident is home and healing and recited and she continued to have a complete healing and you should have only only. Okay, I want to um sort of do a special edition of the Amunashir which is geared to all of us wherever we are, wherever Jew is in the world. We need these messages and we need to reinforce and we need to come together. We need to remind ourselves and but also particularly geared towards the countless people who have reached out to me, heroic people, people I am absolutely in awe of in Israel. those 10 million I described who are on the front line who are running in and out of bomb shelters. I just uh published this morning my newest article and I began that over the last few days I've had several conversations interrupted with my daughter, with my sister, with someone else I know in Israel where each of them said, "Listen, I got to run. We just got an alert. The siren's going off. I got to get my kids and get into the shelter." And as commonplace as that has become, just to state what we know and as obvious, there is nothing normal about ever saying, "I need to get my kids and run to a bomb shelter because there are ballistic missiles headed my way." That can never ever ever be normal. We can't ever adjust. We have to remain maladjusted to such a statement, such a comment. We have to never tolerate. Never tolerate. And that's what the heroic air force pilots and IDF are doing. They are ensuring that never again means never again and that we don't have to tolerate ever having to utter such words. Such a sentence should never come out of a Jew's mouth. 80 years after the Holocaust, here we are again running to hide, to protect, to secure ourselves from attacks. It can't be. It can't be. And that's of course what we dive into Hashem from the bottom of our heart. So countless countless people I am in awe of have reached out. I'll read a couple of the emails, but about uh how some of the messages that we learn together each and every week and we try to incorporate and whether the decal in our windshield or the sticker on the back of the phone that reminds us to embrace our place. We are where we're meant to be. You know, that means one thing when you're at a red light that's taken too long. It means one thing when your flight's delayed, but eventually we'll take off. And it means another thing when you're running to a bomb shelter and you don't know what's going to be or where that missile will land. So I want to direct our our learning this morning and some thoughts in particular very very very humbly here from Boca Raton and the safety of security sitting under our palm trees. I'm not so presumptuous to think that I have a message or anything to say to heroes who are living it in real time. So it comes may Omei from the depths of my heart just a fellow Jew who cares who loves who wants to send the biggest hug in the world and these are just some thoughts because I was asked but not because I feel I'm in a position to share so it's really with tremendous humility so let me share with you a few emails gober thank you for all the shirum the amunits really had an impact on my life myself and I always listen to the para perspectives and discuss together after thank you so much I'm currently learning she names her seminary in Israel As a result of the current situation, may Hashem speedily bring the Yeshua. All our flights have been cancelled and we're having seminary extended indefinitely even though it was supposed to end yesterday. And I got this a few days ago. We're still debating whether to call it Shauna 1.5 or our seminary in overtime. Many of us are struggling with the challenges posed with the current situation that Cla is going through between our fears for our safety bead and in personal levels what's going to be with our flights and our summer plans. many of us listening to the shirim and she asked her seminary her friends asked maybe I could uh maybe I could put together an amuna so I invited come on I don't know if they're watching live now we'll watch later or not at all but I invited her and her friends to to join us for this conversation because I organized some thoughts that I want to share this is another email hi Rav are you in Olab Bodha writing to you from my cousin's bomb shelter in Petikva during Iranian missile attack again No words anyone should ever put in an email. I'm writing to you from a bond shelter during an Iranian missile attack. It can't ever be normal. As commonplace as it's been for a few days, and it's shocking how quickly something can become a new normal, those words, that email, that interruption to a phone call can never become normal. I haven't been to my apartment in five days because I don't have a maad. I don't know where I'll be able to when I'll be able to go home. I miss my home, my friends, my life. I sit in the bomb shelter at 3:00 a.m. with such loud booms and all I want is my parents, but there's practically no way to be with them. I'm with the most loving family in a beautiful house, yet tas I feel so alone. How on earth do I embrace my place? Why is this where I meant to be? We're meant to be at war. I'm meant to leave my apartment. I know this isn't an extraordinary email, but feel free to share the share for anyone in a similar situation. Thank you for the and life-changing Torah three weeks ago and I'm not exaggerating. There's no way we could have done it without the amu. But those are very legitimate feelings. Then a follow-up email, the same person. Also, they speak only Hebrew, so the language barrier adds to my loneliness. I'm not fully able to express myself and be mem. I know my situation is great relatively, but it's still difficult for me. How could a person embrace their place and their place is a bomb shelter? How can a person feel that's where they're meant to be if where they're meant to be is in the target of ballistic missiles? How does one execute or employ everything we're learning and talking about? Not when it's when you're at a red light or a delayed flight or a carpool that's annoying, but when it's literally life and death. Dear Rab Goldberg, love the ongoing talk about believing where we're meant to be. Sadly, we're at war, which is ongoing even though we've been miraculously successful in our mission to Iran. They will continue to barrage us in every way possible until the IDF completely demolishes their ability. We live in Ram Sheamesh. We have a safe room in our apartment. So far, we've been spared. However, we're extremely vigilant, extremely cautious whenever we hear the sirens. Suffice it to say, there are many, actually too many. We follow the guidelines in accordance with the home command, a director of the IDF, and we dominantly tell them with a tad more cavana. On another note, hence my email, we were in New Jersey for a few short days last week to celebrate our grandson's high school graduation. We have just made the last flight out of Newark landing in Tel Aiv. My daughters, who live quite close, were not quite ecstatic to welcome us back as they usually do. They were hoping our flight would have been cancelled and I would end up being in Boo where I reset. They would rather we have showers of rain as opposed to showers of missiles. Just think about that sentence next time you complain about having to get your car in the rain in Florida. However, Hashem decided otherwise. And here we are. And as new women, as proud citizens of our beloved Israel, we're grateful. Why, might you ask? Because I take this opportunity to knock on my elderly neighbors to do grocery shopping. I take this opportunity to help my grandkids with their children to come over to watch some cartoons, giving their parents a slight reprieve as there's no gun. As there's no shulu, my husband had taken the opportunity to be the tenth of needed for a minion. I went shopping down the street on Friday before noon. I was taken by surprise when I saw others do their pre-shave fillins. I was amazed how calm and orderly all were like an ordinary Friday shopping. Did they know that we're at war with our greatest enemy? And then I overheard a conversation between two men in Hebrew which I actually understood. Shout out to Opan. And basically they conversed regarding the upcoming threat. And one said to the other the effect of, "Yes, but we have Hashem on our side." And then we finished. And then we wished each other Shabbat shalom. It was at that precise moment I knew with all my certainty that I am where I meant to be and quietly thanked Hashem. I left the store with my elderly neighbors and my own groceries, although with a lighter step. Yes, the Mats is dire and scary. There'll be destruction and worse loss of life. I don't say that haphazardly. Is it destined for me to be in a war zone to David and say more? Maybe my neighbors and grandkids would be okay regardless where I am, but I know Hashem has given me the opportunity to do and for that I'm incredibly grateful. Each of these emails are Israel emails like what other people tens of thousands of Jews are trying to get back to Israel. Who else is trying to fight their way back in to a war zone? They're paying to go on boats for 20 hours and ride the seas from islands near Israel to find their way back. It's like the book Exodus. I mean, it's like it's like it's like the pioneers originally settling the state. The Jewish people are just unbelievable. Hi, Rabbi. I've recently started listening to my family lives in Israel, owns a camp in the States. We travel each summer and the camp is our parasa. As you know, the Iran attack has shut down the airport. We have no way of getting to America. Not only that, but most of the staff also lives in Israel. We're having a lot of trouble. Thanks to the Sharia, I realize this is truly just Hashem sending some sort of sign. I don't know what he's trying to tell us, but thanks to the Sharia, I'm extremely calm. I have full belief in Hashem. I know what he's doing is right. I'm trying my best to calm my family. Thank you for the Sharia from the city he lives in in Israel. Hi, Rabbi. Last Thursday night, we got the wake up call 3:00 a.m. letting us know Israel's attacking Iran so we could prepare ourselves from imminent retaliation. as many have said like couldn't they sent an email did they have to wake everybody up the homeront command said the schools are canceled and shabas didn't bother me too much but once they said school was canceled for a whole week and now for the rest of the year I went into a bit of shock reminded me of the trauma of corona lockdowns and with seven kids blear it's a lot for me to have to deal with I said my sister sent me a meme going around Israel what did it say it's like corona and October 7th had a child that's what this feels like Corona and October 7th had a baby called this Iran more schools closed, running to bomb shelters, the worst of both. Then I remembered that we are right where we're supposed to be and I need to embrace my place. I need to be a strong positive mother for my children. I had the same thought every time we have to go to our safe room in the middle of the night. This is where Hashem wants us to be right now. May we only hear besos to habber only have a minute to sit and write. Keeping it short. We live in Israel like everyone else. Waking up this morning by the siren letting us know we had we attacked Iran. We spent the next few hours in the safe room with our three small kids. And it came my husband got called up to Miluim in the air force. My immediate reaction was to have a complete meltdown. How could he be leaving me and the kids in the middle of an incoming attack from Iran? What was going to be? When will he be back? The whole morning was busy and stressed. We were supposed to go away for Shabas. So I quickly had to whip up Shabas because we have to stay home. After listening and trying to distance myself in the situation with rant random YouTube videos and podcasts, I decided to put on last week's living with Amuna. Thanks for reminding me it's okay to have anxiety, but ultimately we need to recognize it's all up to Hashem. Boy, has he shown us some craziness and miracles already in the last 12 hours trying to recognize the scoot we have of being part of writing the history of the Jewish people. Besos to for all of Israel. I'll just read just one more, but I can't tell you how many came in incredibly humbled. Here we are in our comfort learning living with Amuna and the people who are living it in real time. Applying it real time and applying it in life and death, the most dire, consequential, meaningful, not in theory, not hypothetically, not to calm their nerves over something relatively insignificant, inconsequential, but writing this in the middle of this. Thank you. This one came in just this morning. Thank you for sharing your recent blog post and for the the article I mentioned that I wrote this morning reminded me of something someone had just sent me this morning and frames it in a different word. So the person shares I thought when they announced new guidelines for miss alerts instead of just having a siren there would be an early alert 20 to 30 minutes in advance and alert 5 to 10 minutes before in the actual siren which is what they do the homeront they actually just changed this I think they just got rid of the 30 minute one they're down to the 10-minute one and the real-time siren but originally it was again If you wanted to write up something that would increase wrote in the article, is it any wonder that Jews disproportionately suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, which is countless research and I can testify is 100% true. Not only Ashkanazm Jews in general, but 2,000 years of running away from puggrams. 2,000 years of running and hiding in atticts and in haststacks and now in bomb shelters. 2,000 years of exterminations. 2,000 years of expulsions. And here we are 80 years after the Holocaust and still running now to bomb shelters. Is there any reason that despite and I said I'm in awe of our brothers and sisters in Israel who smile and they're positive and they have a healthy sense of humor and they're incredible. Is it any wonder it's absorbed into the kishkas into the literal kishkas of the Jewish people? So, could you imagine how to make people more anxious? Then 30 minutes before, say, you got 30 minutes. Finish up what you're doing. Then you're going to look in the sky and see it's raining missiles. As someone who now jumps at heart races at every dot, at every ding and alert on the phone, is it another early alert for missiles or just a normal message? I first wondered why the need for so many alerts. Of course, it's great to have extra time to physically prepare, especially if you need to run down the street or a public shelter. You're driving, you need to find one. ways in Israel as a new feature to find the closest shelter if you're driving. Again, these are not normal things. Ways should tell you where the policeman's hiding. You shouldn't need the to know where the policeman I got it. But ways should tell you where the police is hiding with his radar gun. Ways should tell you where the traffic is to avoid it. Ways should tell you where there's a pothole. You should never need ways to tell you where the closest bomb shelter is. That is not normal. And no other people on earth would ask or tolerate such a situation. There's nothing normal about that. Or if you just want to have a quick shower or prepare your mama, could you imagine? I'm just going to jump in the shower on the way to the bomb shelter. And you know, have a heads up. But then on Shabas, I realized it's not just about the physical prep time. It's a gift from Hashem to the deadly missiles may already be in motion, but Hashem is saying you got 20 minutes. Get physically safe and be spiritually safe. Say some while they did away with the 20-minute warning. We still have 5 to 10 minutes. Still enough time for a quick file as we physically prepare oursel. How many would say if I have to run to a bombshell, God, you're the last thing on my mind. Where are you and why you and I have nothing to say to you? And instead, this individual in Israel is saying, "Ah, I figured out why. You know why we have so long to run? We could say something to him while they're in the air. we could dav and they're intercepted when we gathered on Friday this past Friday night for extra tailum and the most heartfelt incredible davening I mentioned the image I try to have when I'm saying my especially every one of those alerts comes in is that the areim are making their way to and tieum are missiles are our ascending on high we're shooting them into the sky and on the way to Hashem they're going to knock out the missiles they're going to take out the ballistic missiles your will take on a new meaning a new concentration a focus, you'll say them differently. If you're picturing that if the iron dome or arrow or sling don't get it, your tahill might be what makes the difference. That's what we believe. We don't believe that to the extent that you shouldn't go to your of course and again that's what we've been learning all these last months the balance between initiative our effort and our faith. Hashem says even in Benbra they released a Kore after a tragic uh death because of a missile that landed in Benbra and the rabbis reminded everybody this isn't the Khaz's time the missiles aren't the Khaz's missiles and if there's a siren get to your safe room I don't care how righteous religious I don't care how deep and profound your faith I don't care who you are get to a safe room that's our responsibility but we need to know particularly those outside of Israel that artila are domining it matters It means something. It makes a difference. And that we can intercept those missiles. Art tom can help the sling and the arrow and the iron dome and the air force do everything they need to do to intercept. So, can you imagine the perspective of a Jew who's running to his bomb shelter with his family, who's getting an alert even earlier, and instead of being angry and taking it out on, God says, "Thank you for giving me enough time to have a conversation with you on the way there to not only ensure I'm physically safe, that I'm packing the snacks for the latest round of the barrage of missiles, because again, these are not normal things anyone should ever say to kids. What snacks would you like while we're waiting for ballistic missiles to fall on our head? What would you like to eat? What snacks would you like? What do you want to watch? What do you want to do? And our family WhatsApp groups in Barashem so proud to have so much family in Israel, siblings, children, cousins and I. And what's every time they post a picture from a bomb shelter, everybody's smiling. It's little kids. It's intergenerational. It's in pajamas. It's middle of the night. It's like a can you believe we're doing this again? But the Jewish people are mind-bogglingly strong. extraordinary, nothing normal. I would say there's nothing normal about the situation, but the abnormality of the situation is matched by how not normal the Jewish people are. As not normal the situation is is as not normal the Jewish people are. So I want to send a few words and this is a biggest virtual hug and I wish I don't know my wife wishes but I wish second the first cider went off I want to take the first flight to Israel in those moments I don't want to run away I want to be there I have a dear friend in Israel and he texts me says how you holding up how am I holding up how are you holding up how am I holding up under the palm trees and bokeh doing just fine. How are you holding up? So he said, "No, I mean how you getting through this?" I said, "Yeah, to be honest, the only hard part is I so badly want to be in his He said, I know that's what I meant. How are you holding up that you can't come? Maybe I'll hire a captain, take a boat, I'll bring whoever whoever could go." So I want to get I want to just send the biggest hug virtually through this. I wish it could be in person. And I want to do it with these words and they're the humble thoughts of a small Jew init who desperately wishes he could be there with you but understanding that that this is your story and what you're living and you are our heroes and we have endless gratitude and you are what make us undefeable, impenetrable, unbreakable. You are you are what make unlike we just celebrated his site and leaving the cave writes wherever the Jewish people are exiled Hashem himself comes with us did spend his life in running and fleeing from Romans wanted to execute him having to hide in cave. He understood that wherever a Jew is, he hid in that cave. He hid in his shelter. He had to go to his maad. And when he was there, what was his message? What did he take away? How did he feel? Wherever we have to run and flee and hide, wherever we have to take cover and safety, the Almighty himself is with us. He doesn't say, "I don't need Iron Dome. I'm good to go. No missile can touch me." He doesn't say, "I'm the infinite. I'm the omnipotent. I'm the source of all existence. Good luck to you. I'll be watching from afar." He says, "Wherever you go, I am with you." So, while we are searching for him, while we're looking and trying to feel him and find him, if you're in a bomb shelter, just look over. He's right next to you. These moments are opportunities to feel his presence more intensely than any other. to feel his love, to feel his embrace, to lean on him and to lean into him. These are moments where he says, "I am more accessible and I am more available and I am more with you than ever." Wherever you're forced to run and take cover, wherever you're forced to flee and exile, what is the word? A neighbor, a close confidant, accessible, available. He's right there. That Hashem ordinarily is so distant and far. That Hashem who we can't understand. That Hashem who sometimes we can't feel but he's a he's a he's right there when Hashem doesn't watch from a distance and from afar. Hashem is not following the news of what's happening. He's in it. He's a target. This is his war. So we said on Shabas we take out that Torah is who are our enemies? These are those who hate the Jewish people and are dedicated to our demise says if you hate the Jewish people then you are then you hate the creator of the world. This is not a war between Iran and the Jewish people. This is a war between Iran and God. It's not the Houthis firing on Israel. It's the Houthis firing on the Almighty. And if a Jew has to run to a bomb shelter, the Almighty is with us. There's a read with all their pain. Lo, no anguish to Hashem. But we're told to read it differently. Not low lid alsar but lammed v low he has with all of our with all of aren with every siren with every struggle with every campus protest with every member of congress who doesn't get it too many of them Jewish somehow with all the every network every media pundit every person who doesn't get it with each of them You know that you can get through anything if you're not alone. To feel I'm not alone. One of the writers, one of the authors of an email describes I'm alone. And they speak I'm alone. No, you're not alone in that shelter displaced from your apartment or home. Not with your loved one who's on miluim or stuck outside of Israel. You're not alone because wherever a Jew has to go, we were looking, we're searching, we're trying to find man in search of God, trying to find him everywhere. But if you're in a bomb shelter, you know exactly where he is. He's sitting right next to you. Low s. And to the degree we're in pain, we're in pain with you, for you. We're watching. We're in our own pain. The rise of anti-semitism, we're in our own pain. protests and marches. We're in our own pain. Members of Congress who don't get it, we're on our own pain. Fake news misinterpreting what's happening. Low, not that Hashem doesn't have pain, but low, he has pain with us. And tells us and promises us he doesn't leave the gullus until we do. Until there's an all clear and everybody can leave the shelter. He doesn't leave the shelter until the Jewish people are home. He's not fully home. He's with us through thick and thin, from beginning to end. He's with us all the way. He's doing it from a sense of he's doing it from a sense of Hashem says, "I'm with you." When Hashem first appears to Moshe in the bush, the sn the fire, the bush that's on fire but not being consumed, Rashi there says, "What kind of a bush is it? It's a lowly thorn bush. It's not a rose. It's not a bed of roses. It's not violets. It's not buggalia. It's not any other beautiful, magnificent landscape. He's not sitting in a magnificent centerpiece from a wedding or school dinner. Where is Hashem? In a thorn bush. Talking about the almighty, the master of the universe, the creator of the world. And when he's going to make an appearance, he does it in a thorn bush. Not in magnificent flora. In a thorn bush, says Rash. You know why? Hashem says, "If the Jewish people are in Egypt in servitude, suffering, subjugation, then I'm not in a bed of roses. I'm in a thorn bush with you." If Jews are running to shelters, says, "I'm in a thorn bush with you. And I'm not leaving till you can leave. I'm not in the clear till you get in an all clear. You're looking for me. You want to find me. You'll never find me more easily. You'll never feel me more intensely than when you're in distress because I'm in distress and I'm right by your side. And for us, we should know that could be, God forbid, in a hospital room. That could be in a rehab center. That could be in a doctor's office. That can be online for unemployment. Anytime a Jew, that could be being treated for fertility. Anytime a Jew is it's the rest of the time when all is going well that we have to look and we have to search and we have to try to find. But when we're in pain and distress, when we're in crisis, we can find him most easily. He is most available and accessible. His presence is most intense. With all says, I'm right there with you. But it's more than that. It's not thus Hashem is sit right there with us in this moment. Hashem says, "I'm not going to defeat Iran as a favor for you. I'm not doing it because you're my children. Not doing it because you're my chosen. I'm not doing it because we've been through a lot together." Hashem says, "I'm doing it for me." Because they're not just attacking you. They're attacking me. Any enemy of the Jewish people is an enemy of the Almighty. Iran, the modern personification of evil and wickedness. The modern the modern amik they're trying to diminish Hashem's presence. Hashem says this is personal for me. I'm not just like a hired assassin. I'm not just going to fight for you because it's a favor because we're allies. Hashem says I'm not just your ally. This war is against me. And that's why Hashem is going to do everything he has to do to take them out. So what do we have to do? What's for us? And for us, I'm not so brazen or bold or presumptuous or pompous to talk about our brothers and sisters in Israel. We are in awe. And every Jew outside of Israel should non-stop be sending messages and checking in. And someone shared with me yesterday a beautiful idea. Just send they have Uber Eatats in America and they have what's it called? Woot. Woot. Walt. Walt in Israel. Just the people you know, just send surprises, iced coffee and donuts, and for no reason deliver hamburgers and French fries. Let the people you know in Israel get a knock on the door and answer. Have cupcakes and donuts for no reason because there was a Jew in Bokeh or somewhere else who thought of them. That's your job. Ah, you don't have time. You don't have the app. You don't want to put in your credit card. You don't want to spend a few dollars or she too bad. Shame on you. Shame on us. Shame on us if we can't. That's our job. I'm not telling those in Israel their job. But a general statement in the spirit of our amunir and for anyone listening for whom this is meaningful because it's also the message of our para as we spoke about last week. The alterb has said a Jew has to live with the times. Living with the times doesn't mean the New York Times certainly or even the times of Israel. Living with the times doesn't mean wearing the latest or listening to the latest. Living with the times mean that we interpret what's happening in our lives and in the world through the prism of the para. It's not a coincidence. It's never random what we're reading. We're reading it when we do because that's what we're meant to read because there's something in it that's for us. There's a message for us. That was true last week where several times Hashem makes a promise in that para that when they go to war, your enemies with you, I will take care of you. I have your back. And it's true this week as we're trying to make our way we're trying to make our way up into the Holy Land. and 10 spies. 10 of the 12 didn't get their mission. They were nim. They were great people, wonderful people. They were leaders of our people, but they misplayed. They didn't understand. And they came back and they reported the very first maybe at least in the Torah case of fake news. They came back and they gave fake news. There's giants. It's a land that eats its inhabitants. We can't do it. We can't go there. How do you understand and interpret such great people could make such a fundamental mistake? We've talked about it in the para class. It's for another time. How could it be? But I don't want to focus on the 10 who got it wrong. I want to focus on the two who got it right. The two who got it right. Because interjects and K announces, "Let's go up. We got this. We can do this. We can certainly do it. We can certainly do it." He openly opposes. He takes on these other spies, insisting despite the military prowess of the others, despite their nuclear ambition, despite their stockpile of missions, despite their proxies that are spread all over the tentacles that reach far and wide. Despite all that, it's true. Ephes, the point of the morag was accurate. It was true. It was the conclusion that was mistaken that was erroneous. And Kh gets up and he announces let's go up. We got this. We can do it. We can do it. The PNB of Pets of Kam of Kapir of Petsna was the Re of the Warsaw Ghetto who lost his life who was killed by the Nazis. Hashem Yik in that time we've learned much of this before. He gave somehow unimaginably. As a rabbi who speaks regularly, I cannot begin to imagine to be tasked or charged with standing up in front of people in a Warsa ghetto. Skeletons who've watched their loved ones murdered die of starvation. Corpses lying all around them. No hope for the future and to have to be tasked with every shabas getting up and giving a dra making sense of what's going on. living in those times through the para can't imagine but the pathna did he did and he himself was an extraordinary person a composer a musician a rashiva a rav a rebba an extraordinary extraordinary person and he scribbled the notes and buried them the shabas archives and they were recovered and put together in others Dr. Dr. Henry Abson did a great job putting together a beautiful book that correlates that drussia with what was happening historically at the time. So you don't read it in a vacuum but you understand it in its context. So the rebba addressed these words of khal let's go up we got this we can do it we can do it. He addressed it in 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto and what was happening then the news had broken that the French army had fallen to the German forces and that set the stage for the Nazi domination of Europe that if yet another front had fallen. The French had fallen. The Nazis were going to march their way to the conquest not only of all of Europe. We know they had ambition for Israel and beyond. And so the mood in the ghetto you can imagine was of dread and total despair. The psalb gets up against the backdrop of that news that the French had fallen. Dread, despair, hopelessness. And he notes that Khaliv in his response doesn't at all address what the other 10 had said. 10 get up and they make a presentation. 10 get up and they have a PowerPoint. 10 get up and they say, "But there's giants and it's a land that eats and look at the size of the fruit and they've got military fortifications and they've got Khaliv gets up and he doesn't talk at all how far they are in enrichment. He doesn't talk at all about how many sites, how far it is underground. He doesn't talk at all about what we have compared to what they have. All he says is alah, we've got this. We can do this. We can make it happen." Listen to PB's words. I want to learn with you this morning. Such must be the faith of a of a Jew. Not only when you see the way and the path forward of how of how you can be saved. That's not the only way. Don't just have faith when you can see the way out. Yeah, I can see the way out. If we do this and then we do that and they do this. Yeah, I could see it all working out. Yeah, if we change flights and then we change over over there and we'll catch over there. I see we could still make it at home. We'll still make it to the Yeah, it could work out. So now you got to dive in hard that all the things. Yeah. If we take that medicine, if we get that treatment, you could heal there's a decent recovery rate. Yeah. If I meet that sh and yeah, if I see Yeah. Okay. I see the path. I see the way. I see the way forward. Now I have to dive in that all the things connect. All the dots connect. Yes. Says the PB to these Jews in 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto. What Khaliv was communicating then and what Khal is still telling us now is that amuna doesn't just mean when you can see the way out now y and that hashem take you through it. It means even when you see no way even when it feels impossible. Even when you're prepared to despair, even when all feels hopeless, lean in. That's the moment. That's the moment. [Music] It's a brilliant insight. He says don't try to figure it out when it seems impossible because if you can't then you won't have amuna. So sometimes let go and let God say Hashem I'm not the pilot. I don't need to be briefed on the mission. I don't know exactly how many centrifuges. I don't know how far underground. I don't know whether it takes a bunker buster. I don't know exactly what it takes to do it. All I know is you got it. And if you've got it, we've got it. The moment your amuna is weak, the salvation could be delayed or compromised altogether. So says the piznb to a group of corpses and skeletons in 1940 in the wars ghetto that dava in this moment don't try to figure it out don't try to find the way out don't try to come up with the plan because when you fail your amuna will suffer and if it suffers it becomes taka hopeless how do you maintain how do you elevate how do you lean how do you have even higher amuna than ever when you say I don't need to know exactly I'm sure you like I have been tied to the news every 3 seconds. All we're looking for is some expert, someone who knows more than we do. Someone who can predict the future. No. No. This is how it And when Israel says, "Yeah, based on our pace, we're ahead of schedule. We only need one or two more." Oh, okay. Now I one or two more weeks. Now I can see, oh, and if America gets involved, then it'll be done overnight. And if this and I think that's going to happen, and here's the probability of that. We're desperate, says the PSB, stop. Yeah. Not if you're the pilot, right? Not if you're in charge of the mission, you need to be briefed. You need to know the plan. But if you're sitting in Boca Raton, it's okay. Your better use of time is open it to Hillm or send some cupcakes and some coffee to someone you know in Israel. That's an infinitely better use of your time because that obsession and that sense of entitlement to be able to know how this ends or how it happens or what's the path or to predict the future is in the end only going to compromise the amuna not help it not reinforce it not lift it not lift it if we expend our efforts to find a logical natural solution to a crisis that seems to have none then you're likely to have more despair more hopelessness and instead the PSB says this is what khali was doing. What was Kh doing? He doesn't take on their points. They get up and they give a whole three-hour powerpoint. Well, they've got military fortifications here. They have these weapons there. Here are the reasons it's going to be difficult. Here's why we're going to struggle. Here are going to be the challenges. K gets up and he says, "Turn off your PowerPoint. I have one thing to say. Let's go. Let's do this. We've got this because we have Hashem on our side because he's in this war with us. It's a war against him. We can do this. And that was his message, says the Preba. Sometimes don't try to figure it out with logic. Don't predict. Don't understand the politics. Don't be a pundit. Sometimes just say Allah, we've got this. That's what Israel, that's what Israel are in fact saying. That's what every Jew who's in a shelter right now is saying. That's what the pictures in our family WhatsApp groups are portraying. We've come to this land and we've got this. You could shoot ballistic missiles. You can attack us from all sides. You can vote against us at the UN. You could rally on campuses and you can share fake news about us. But it's not going to stop us. We're not going to address those one by one. All we need to know and feel. All we're demonstrating is And you know why? Because our people, our heroes, our brothers and sisters in Israel, you if you're listening like Khal, where does Khal get his name? Khaz tell us Khal's name is an acronym or is an etmology of his name. Khal kulo. He's all heart. He's all heart. Sometimes when your logic, well, explain it to me. How's it going to work? Explain it to me. What's the way forward? Where's the formula? What's the path? Explain it to me. I need to know. I need to understand. I deserve to know. I'm entitled to know. I need to know. Then you get stuck. But when you're a when you're when you're all heart, you could get up and proclaim, "We've got this. We're going. We have what it takes. We've got the heart. We're lions. Hear us roar. Watch us rise. We're lions. We're lions. And that's the name of this mission. And all I've been thinking and picturing is that, you know, when the mission was named for rising lions, it was the Air Force pilots. But the rising lions are the kids who are sleeping in the bomb shelters. Because the bum continues not only that we're a nation that rises like a lion but also bum continues that even when we're sleeping no one dares to make us to wake us up to rouse us. So on the one hand we rise like a lion bum observed and the other end he said and when we're sleeping no one dares touch us. And to me, those are the dual images. The Air Force pilots flying non-stop, relentless missions, 1100 miles brazenly over airspace, refueling in the air. They are rising roaring lions. And the sleeping lions that nobody dares awaken are the kids and their parents and grandparents sleeping in bomb shelters who no one dares awaken them because ko le they've got all heart. Ala, Mrs. Can, what are you trying to tell me? Because I I'm 50 years old now. I can't see that far. What does it say? Khalive. Kav. Oh, Kh. Kav. Yeah. 100%. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Khaliv Kav. That's we are the nation that is rising and roaring like a lion. And that's kav alah like a lion says you don't have to explain it to me. I don't have to see the way. That's what the pzn was saying in 1940 Warsaw. And we know how that sadly ended. He and most of those with him did not find that way out. Hashem dam but born out of the ashes of the Holocaust as the modern miracle of the state of Israel. He was right even if he didn't live it. He was right for our people. Out of the ashes of Warsaw ghetto came the modern miracle of the state of Israel. An air force that is the envy of the world right now. I don't know if you see when the news puts it up at all. When you see the image of the map of Israel versus Iran, you're literally seeing David and Goliath, you're seeing this tiny little sliver that you have to like, can you zoom in? Where is that? I can't see it. Versus this enormous Iran twice the size of Texas, Israel the size of New Jersey. And yet, I don't know, you don't get goosebumps or swell with pride when you see some newscasters when they're interviewing military experts who are saying, "We don't understand how Israel pulled this off. what they achieved in those first few hours, what they coordinated, how many they assassinated, scientists, military experts, they did it again. They keep doing this. These are different groups of enemies and they're not learning when they get together, when they expose where they're sleeping and pinpoint assassinations, targeted assassinations. Nobody could be accusing Israel of genocide in Iran because there are no civilian casualties because they've been so precise in who they've been taking out. So they took out the head of whatever the IRGC, he was replaced the next day. They took him out. You think it's a long line of applicants? I can't imagine because Khili Kul that's not just the Air Force pilots, that's all of us. 10 million sleeping in shelters. And please God, no more. They shouldn't have to enter EDI yet again. We should be able to take apart the bomb shelters all in Israel and take away the shelters in the south that so many of us have sponsored to get painted. They should look pretty. Israel deserves to live a life where there there's no such thing as a shelters. Bus stops turned into bomb shelters, homes that require bomb shelters, ways telling you where the closest bomb shelter. There is nothing normal about that and that cannot be tolerated any longer anymore. And so to our brothers and sisters, to the khalv, to the the lions, the of our of our generation, when they're awake, they're roaring. When they sleep, nobody can touch them because they're all heart alone. You're paving the way for all of us, for which there are no words to thank you. And our job is clear. We've got to send the tahillim to knock out the tieum. We've got to launch our davening to knock out their missiles. We've got to launch the food deliveries and the text messages and the check-ins and the love. We've got to be prepared that the second the airport opens, that's all we want to do is go home and give a hug and be with our family there to thank them for all that they've been through. That's our mission. That's our job. So I wanted to I apologize take a break from what we were learning to really address these incredible emails that will bind together and one day in history they'll look back and study and say really people in shelters were writing that they were embracing their place. They knew they were meant to be. They understood that wherever you're exile goes with you. Wow. What a nation that tak roars like lions. Absolutely extraordinary and amazing. And uh we just d from the bottom of our hearts that that sweeping triumphant victory should be today, should be now. That by the time the shar is over, I press end in one moment. We should hear news of the hostages return because whatever is happening in Iran hasn't made us stop for one moment thinking about inding for the hostages. We lost soldiers still in Gaza. We're still having kadoshim next to the kayak from Gaza. That war needs to end and all deserve to live in the safety and security together being able to visit being able to hug and being able to be together. We're going to end the stream. Got a couple minutes still for a question and answer the new format of our shear.