Parsha Perspectives for Today (Chukas)

a family member of ours is having surgery significant surgery Shimon benit please have in mind shimi Shimon Ben yit surgery should go well he should have a complete speedy and painless Rua scha this is our last par sheer for a little while as a reminder so I'm off until the week of Tish RAB masz will be giving the parir same slot Tuesday Mornings 9:30 very excited about that uh it will not be streamed but if you're in South Florida you don't want to miss it you want to make sure to come and to enjoy it and we will resume I'm back before Tish and we'll resume then lastly I want to dedicate our Shear this morning Paras page 838 in the Arts girl Stone I want to dedicate our parar to the memory of the laab today is the 30th year site of the Reb and uh I still remember when he was nifter when he left this world as I'm sure do many of you we're all beneficiaries of the Reb whether you identify technically asab whether you're signed up inem I happen to be a general I don't want to show off right now I happen to be a general gave me a major uh a major what's it called promotion thank you gave me I was a private for most of my life it's amazing when you have someone behind the Bea what you can get out of it I became a general overnight in but the truth is we're all enormous beneficial of the Reb's Vision the light that he brought into this world the army that he released onto the world and if you've ever minimally this is such a minimal superficial expression of our appreciation but if you've ever traveled and needed a minion if you've ever traveled and needed kosher food and you found thead in the most obscure place that's the Reb's Vision that if there one Jew anywhere when the Reb was asked what do you send a for how many need to live there in order to send a I have friends who are in obscure far off far-flung places enormous personal sacrifice M Nish for them and their families they buy a one-way ticket because they don't plan to return they're there how many Jews need to be there in order to send aah so the rebba would say if one of your children lived somewhere would you not go to help them to be there for them these are hashem's children if there's one Jew somewhere they need support they need that love so we're all beneficiaries and this significant Milestone urite the 30th yite I want to relate it to actually our para so we're not going to begin from the beginning it's unusual we'll come back to the beginning don't worry but I want to go in our paraa to the tragic death of Aon of Aon it seems to it feels like it comes so prematurely chapter 20 verse 24 and the Torah tells us what happens the Jewish people Journey from Kadesh they come to the mountain mount said to M and he said aon's going to be gathered to his people you're not entering the land we think of and we'll get to the punishment for hitting the rock instead of speaking to the Rock we tend to think about it as Moshe was punished that mosha didn't enter the land but it wasn't only Moshe Moshe and Aon were both instruction instructed de speak to the rock it was a failure of both and therefore neither entered the land and the Torah here tells us that Aon will expire Aon will die before entering the land take Aon and his son go up on top of the mountain take aon's clothing his uniform his the reflection of his position of Distinction and undress him elazar B it's time to pass the Baton Pass the torch his son elazar will succeed him Aon will die will be gathered there did told him he took the clothing off of Aon and Aon died there there is so much to unpack you know we read thousands of years later we read this story detached unemotionally but if we actually enter into the scene and if we feel the feelings of the personalities if we live and experience what the narrative is telling us in real time can you imagine the instruction Moshe gets your older brother the brother who saved you he put you in a float in the Nile and watched over it refused to walk away cried till he saw that you were rescued your brother who when you demur and hesitated and said I can't be the spokesperson of the Jewish people Hashem said don't worry your older brother's coming with you he's an oror he'll articulate he'll speak on your behalf your brother who's been with you through thick and thin all along Time to Say Goodbye take him up on the mountain take off his clothing his uniform and give give it to his son it's time to transition and then you're going to say goodbye because I'm going to take him and mosha doesn't say no don't do it give me more time how could you Moshe follows the will the word of Hashem takes his brother Aon and how about Aon when Aon is being undressed does he not know why does he think he's passing the Baton and a live 25 more years in retirement and watch as a spectator Aron knows what this means he's hit the final step of this journey and they climbed this mountain and if you had to paint the scene if you had to watch the scene we should all be emotional and break down and the Jewish people did the people all died they cried for 30 days Co basis so the whole Jewish people they cried for 30 days they cried they mourned this was their Aon The Peacemaker the lover the people person the Aon who believed in them when they didn't believe in themselves this was the Aon cheerful and positive and they lost Aron for 30 days they were inconsolable they didn't stop crying and at the very end of the parash year last year we were away hukas we didn't give two years ago T PID 2022 we gave on kukas and the last vort we said at the end of the pares year which I almost thought Bears repeating because by then I was checked out for sure you were checked out was over an hour the last vort go back and listen but it was a meged yosf on they cried more for the loss of Aon than of Moshe why why' they cry a little more for the loss of Aon than of mosha mosha provided their parnasa mosha was the source of their freedom and their sustenance Aon was the source of their happiness and their peace of mind their sholom bias and as much as we value Financial stability Harmony and peace of mind and Shalom bias the loss of Aon it's a beautiful inside of the mega Joseph go back and listen to it but they cried for 30 days so mosha knows what he's about to do Aron knows what's about to happen and here the Torah spells it all out and we're not ready I don't know why because I'm not a young man anymore even though I look like I am I don't know why pasas every year I'm stunned and I'm startled and I'm shocked and I what do you mean we're in the middle of sa midbar we're not up to D why are we saying goodbye to Aron it's as if we forget we're still in the desert it's not the end of the 40 years we're we're not even done we're halfway through the fourth book we haven't even started the fifth we're not near Sim Tor we're completing why are we saying goodbye to Aron we forget how early in how so far from the end we already say goodbye to Aron why am I bringing this up and why am I starting with this because the schl SCH rsk is bothered by the language the Torah uses yeah safe what does that word mean means to gather why is aon's departure from this world why is it communicated articulated in the language of AA of a gathering and where else do we find this the Torah tells us that he was gathered to his people there tell us was gathered together with what's this language of being gathered say expired you don't want to say died it's harsh to say died so we have nicer ways of saying died we say expired we say passed away we say departed we said demise we have a whole list of synonyms to use because died is pretty cold and pretty harsh so the Torah doesn't want to say mo that Aron died he dropped dead so find a nicer word but we would never use we don't ever use in the English we don't say we don't send out a Shiva notice and say we regret to inform you of the Gathering to the people of so and so sa it's not a word we use so what does it mean here wonders the because you might think that after sadic leaves this world after they're no longer physically here you can't attend their she bring in their Tish they can't hear their lecture you can't go get a br you can't go get advice you can't shake their hand you can't DAV with them in a minion you might think that one they're once they're physically no longer here they're done they're finished they're gone now I have their books and now I can listen to them on tape not tape I know we don't have tapes now I could listen to them but a physical connection their presence their presence in this world is over it's not true someone less than a sadic life is fleeting we're here for a while we're here hopefully we leave a positive image and influence and Legacy and when we're gone we're gone but thead is never gone the righteous even in their death are called alive they remain alive their influence their light their energy their presence is still fed and that which it seems what do you mean but I went to his funeral I was two weeks ago as at the O of the rebba I try as often as I can when I'm in New York to stop at the O of the rebba I'll tell you why I stop at the O of the rebba I mentioned this recently in a different sheer I don't remember which when I'm in Israel who doesn't when they get to Israel go DAV at the cotel why do people go DAV at theel har the holiest place on Earth where the mikash was and it's only second fiddle that we're at the bottom of the mountain we should be on top of the mountain and please God soon we'll be on top of the mountain Where We Belong but for now we're on the bottom of the mountain but I'll tell you for me daving at doota is one of the most distracting daving in the world yes it's the holiest place and yes we're supposed to connect there but it's so hard it's so distracting there's so much going on but you know why I go not just to feel close to Hashem I go to feel close to his children because nowhere else on Earth do you see that cross-section of the Jewish people like you do at the Koto religious and not religious not yet religious and as and old and young and soldiers and the whole cross-section of the Jewish people and plenty of tours of non-jewish people because it's called a place of prayer for all the nations of the world so you want to just be with people and I I know there have been conflicts and challenges but I've never gotten into a debate at the cotel about should we this and who should you vote for and shut down that let's let's enlist these and let's the co everyone's just there to connect to pour out their hearts into DAV and I've never seen anyone in a minion say no this minion is only for this minion is only for this minion is only for black hatat this Minion's who they yell you're a Jew you can't we need you that's it it's a beautiful thing so if you want to go outside of Israel where can you go outside of Israel nothing could compare with the cotel but you want to see the whole cross-section of the Jewish people outside of Israel go to the ohal the O of the rebba that's where you'll find it everyone everyone in every state of dress every background every identification every affiliation Jews non-jews non-jewish politicians who think it will it will help have to remember that they went it would help but anyway it would help so everybody the oh you want to see a cross-section of the Jewish people you it's a very special place and when you're there thead is not you can feel it's still there the the righteous the holy they're still here their influence is still felt they remain because when they get upstairs they're still a they're not done the rebba famously did not believe in retirement the Jew never retires the Jew never takes a vacation and even when they leave this world they're not retired they're still doing their work just from above they're still doing their work being a loyal Advocate they're still doing their work watching over so they're still here they're still here and that's why when the righteous pass away expire experience their demise transition to the next world it's called because they're still gathered with the Jewish people they're still with us miss they're gathered so when person dies it's called they're gathered they're gathered with us all over the Jewish World last night today there were faans gas not just the Reb some R on another date and some leader on another date I'm not just talking about the Reb now talking about sikim when we continue to gather we're Gathering not about them we're gathering with them with them we're standing with them they're continuing to shed their light bear their light in this world posted this morning we're going to move on to Paras but I posted this morning one of the outstanding things to me about the Reb's Legacy is the rebit died he didn't have children he and the rabbitson did not have children did not have children and the Torah describes kazal understood that a person who lives without children a piece of them is not even Fully Alive because that dream is squashed that dream is lost and there's a negativity and a pain to a lost dream an unrealized dream but you'd never know it the rebba was the most positive POS and upbeat and optimistic and focused and here's the thing in all of human history I don't know if there's anyone more who didn't have biological children but had more children than anyone else in the world look around the world today how many hundreds of thousands view the rebbe as their parent he left so many children he left so many children how many schlim were born after the Reb died never met him never overlapped with him in this world and think of him not as some distant great-grandparent think of him as their father as their father so one of the enduring legacies of the rebit to me on this giml tamas one of the enduring legacies of the rebba is that we don't have to be defined by what's missing in our life we don't have to be defined by unrealized dreams we can be defined by the difference that we make and by the reality that we create and by the dreams that we make come true and that's I think a big part he's so that's all sikim and that's why describes we're not ready we're never ready never ready but we're part Torah when it wants to describe the loss of Aon the Torah describes him as this word We Gather We Gather we're going out to the beginning of the para but I'll just tell you one story because it's a great story I was at the O once and I heard the story and I was I was telling the story and something extraordinary happened that there was a person once who had a heart condition and went to doctors and there was a debate should they undergo surgery not undergo surgery one doctor said you have to undergo surgery you're going to die and the other doctor said if you undergo the surgery surely you're gonna die so the person didn't know what to do and went to the Reb for a they got advice from someone they weren't laab said go speak to the Reb they went to the rebba and the rebba spoke to him and he said don't get the surgery you're going to be just fine you're gonna be just fine he didn't get the surgery and he was just fine and he lived for many many decades and the rebba passed away and a heart condition came back he had the problem again and again he went to doctors and again the doctors debated and one said you have to get the surgery you'll surely die if you don't the other said don't get the surgery if you do it will kill you and again he was left with this dilemma this conundrum surgery or no surgery and didn't know what to do and he cried the Reb is not here to go to for AA for advice and guidance I don't know what to do so someone said the Reb is not here but he is still here go to the O he's not physically here but sadim they're gathered to their people sikim still are here here so he went and he DED at the grave of the rebbit the O and he still didn't know what to do but if you ever been to the O aside from the delicious cookies and the great coffee station they also have a TV screen playing of the Reb giving out dollars of the rebba talking about uh of the rebba meeting people in bras actually now thanks to facial recognition in AI laich has a website you could put in a name and it will find in all the years of given out dollar it'll it'll pull up immediately someone was excited about this sent me this morning a picture of R and rebit getting a dollar from the rebba of you could put in any name and you'll find when they came to the rebba and got their dollar so this man is at the O depressed not knowing what to do should he have the surgery not have the surgery and on the screen playing the Reb he suddenly sees himself when he went to go get the dollar and asked the rebba for advice the first time and the rebba is there telling him don't have the surgery everything's going to be okay and he understands that the Reb is still here and the Reb is still answering his question he didn't have the surgery and he was fine and I was telling the story at the o to someone and a person ease dropping and listening came over to me and said that was my father and the story is 100% true happened to be standing next to me at that time unbelievable we believe about that this world is not all there is people don't die and leave it but the righteous and the righteousness in us when it comes to our children and grandchildren we live on forever so we don't describe death because death it sounds like something permanent death sounds like something closed so we don't describe death sadik they're alive there are people who are alive and they're dead I'm gonna behave myself right now not make any editorial political comments but there are people who have a pulse but they they're even while they're alive they're like they're dead and there are people who technically have a death certificate technically on the books they're physically no longer here but they are so alive ask if the Reb is alive today 30 years after his body left this world 30 years after he was buried and the Reb is as alive as ever his army is as vast and dynamic and active as ever I'm sharing it not just it's giml thas it's the 30th yite but it's a message and a lesson for all of us on how we live our lives and the Legacy that we want to leave and whether we want to be timeless and to achieve immortality we can achieve immortality not by like Walt Disney you know freezing our body whatever you achieve immortality by our actions and our choices and our influence and the light and the difference we make and if we do if we succeed will'll be gathered to our people that will continue every time every time a family gets together to observe the year site of a parent or a grandparent and they remember and they talk and they tell stories and they quote and they eat the food that was the recipe and they they are safe they are gathering they are gathering but they're not just Gathering about the person they're gathering with the person that's the notion that we have of a of sikim and that's why the word we have is not death We Gather not about we're gathering with because they and their influence are still felt page 838 let's go back to the beginning of the par okay back to normal times speaks to M this is the of the Torah that God spoke saying speak to the Jewish people and take a go take a completely red heer that has no blemish and upon which a yoke has not come you have to take a completely red heer that never worked that never labored that is not of any blemish and that's what's qualified to be burnt and take the Ash and mix it to create a recipe a concoction it gets sprinkled on the impure and it makes them pure the pure person who sprinkled it becomes impure and this is so incomprehensible it makes no sense it's so illogical and irrational that we call it a it is the quintessential paradigmatic h h means a law that we are given that we don't understand a law that is IR rational a law that doesn't make sense and we've spent listen to previous par and we' spent countless times interpreting offering several interpretations of this of but now we're learning new so we'll bring in theirs as well the we start with others will scoff cynics will look and mock it makes no sense why do you do things that make no sense so we acknowledge that we recognize that to begin with and we cut it off by saying it is actually the greatest Testament to who we are that we don't only do what makes sense for us and to us we observe not only if but especially when it doesn't make sense and then that reflects positively on even what we do when it does make sense says many have asked why is this introduced with what should it say this is the law of the paruma it's the law of Tara this is the law specific law of this red heer why is the introduction this is the of the whole Torah and now we get into one detailed law introduce it accurately precisely that this is a law of paruma not of the total Torah gives an answer again we've spoken out in the past he says I'll just Briefly summarize he says because I think we gave this metaphor every year if my wife asks me to do something and it makes sense to me it's logical it's rational I understand it it's to my benefit it's our family's benefit and I go to do it does it prove my love my devotion my loyalty to her no it makes sense to me too I understand it's to our benefit so I do it but when she says go do something I say that makes no sense whatsoever I couldn't disagree more it's totally illogical and irrational totally based on anxiety and fear and what this is totally hypothetical and it's totally based on all these other things so if I refuse to do it because I don't understand it so even the things that I did that she asked I never did for her and I never did for us for our relationship I did why for me I was worshiping myself I was being loyal to myself it makes sense to me so I do it but I refuse to do anything that doesn't make sense to me I'm not really invested in you I'm invested in me and I'll do you when it makes sense for me but when you ask me something that makes no sense to me and I jump and I do it because I care about you now everything I do I'm showing I do about you not just about me so says keep shabas because shabas is a beautiful thing a weekly technology time off weekly disconnect to connect week beautiful makes sense logical love it great but now hasem comes and he says paruma now hasem comes and he says shotas don't mix wool and linen now hasem comes and he says something we find arbit difficult irrational it's our attitude to what we don't understand that actually will reflect on everything we observe that we do understand and that's why it's called the T that's the answer of the then quotes the the gives a different answer is only one why do we call says the because the truth is just like there are borders and boundaries to our understanding of the paruma even the Mitzvah you think you understand you don't begin to understand is there a layer or a level of understanding yes you can scratch the surface of understanding but the depth and the profundity of understanding you don't begin to understand you don't begin to understand so a our attitude our loyalty our Fidelity toim to the laws we don't understand that's all of Torah that's what Torah is all about that's what Torah is really all about so a person who is consumed by understanding the Mitzvah and we believe in It's a Wonderful exercise to ask what is this Mitzvah all about what's the pus what's the depth what's the deeper meaning what's the cavana what's the mindfulness what's that's going on it's a beautiful thing no the symbolism of the lul van and of the chauffeur and of the manura and why do we like candles and why do we make Kish why am I wearing tius and why what do the all that it's beautiful beautiful but know that there's a g there's a boundary there's a border of what we can understand and we don't do it because it enhan our doing it when we understand but that's not why we do it and when we're loyal to a we're demonstrating our greater loyalty to the entire to the entire Torah he brings a mush he brings a mush what is the third meal on chabas called sh sh is a funny word it's not really a word sh three meals sh shal is shal sud three meals but it's not three meals the third meal is the third meal so that's why some call it sud the third meal but that's not what it's called in in it's called sh shal why is it called three meals so it's famously explained and why is it R the most important meal and you should all come on chabas it's the holiest time of the week most auspicious time of the week we have a very Holy Experience so why is it called shalash when I eat the Friday night meal is it obvious and evident that I'm eating it to honor chabas no why it's dinner Friday night yes I introduce it with KES but I'm eating every bite every Morel that I'm eating it's not obvious I'm doing it to honor shabas I'm doing it to honor my Bo I'm doing it because I'm hungry it's dinner time and I also ate dinner Sunday night through Thursday night when I eat lunch on chabas is that obvious and evident am I demonstrating I'm doing so to honor shabas no I eat lunch every day I need to eat lunch but you come to shalash not during the summer but during the winter Shas in the winter can be 20 minutes after you finish lunch you could have to bench from lunch to make it to and have shalas are you hungry absolutely not do you have an appetite none at all do you eat shalash anyway yes because it's a beautiful and a big Mitzvah not for now why but it's a beautiful Mitzvah when you eat shalash what you doing is demonstrating that Friday night and chabas lunch we're also to honor chabas so it's called three meals it's not called the third meal it's called three meals because the attitude to that third meal demonstrates that all three meals are to honor shabas and now you know why it's called shal shal it's called three meals not the Third meal it's called three meals because our attitude to the third meal demonstrates all three meals we fulfill three meals through that one meal of sh that you don't even want to eat but you eat any way to honor chabas so similarly When You observe a tah the attitude to the H is reflecting on the feeling about the totality of Torah not only about the one that one Mitzvah not only about that one Mitzvah has another suggestion but for the sake of time we'll go on here's another suggestion about why it's called but we'll see it another time okay we said to qualifies theuma it has to be a completely red heer it has no M and Allah that's a tongue twister and there was no it never worked it never what's an old technically a yoke meaning it never wore it on its back to plow it never did work it's a pure red heer that never worked but brings down from the on this a person who says I'm perfect I have no M I'm perfect I have no blemish I have no shortcoming I'm perfect a I have no M such a person who acts and walks around I have no they have no they have no if you think you're perfect you have no fear of God so it's a cute on this you think you have no m all have a m in fact in fact K tell us that a person who sees a mum in someone else is really seeing the m in themselves is really when you judge and reject someone else call when you disqualify someone what you're really doing is projecting about yourself what you're really doing is revealing about yourself we all have M we all have none of us are perfect we should remember particularly in we should remember we should remember we should look in the mirror some forget to look in the mirror what they bring to the table when they're looking at what the other person needs to be so everybody has a m we all have shortcomings and a person who thinks they're perfect so arrogant to think person is so arrogant to think that they have no shortcom shortcomings all they're revealing in fact is that they in fact have no continuing down so the process of preparing this paruma burn the cow before his eyes it's hide its flesh its blood with its dong shall it be shall it be burnt and then the Torah continues to give us the continues to give us the uh prescription the Coen takes Cedar Wood hup Crimson thread and he shall throw them into the burning of the cow so he's creating ash from the cow he takes these other ingredients puts it into the concoction into the recipe what are the other ingredients again Cedar Wood hup Crimson thread and why are those the ingredients pinch of this and a dose of that why are those the ingredients nothing's random nothing is Chance in the Torah just like any medicine any ingredient in the formula of that medicine is is thereby designed it's contributing something so to in hashem's formula and recipe every ingredient is there for a reason there is a symbolism and there is a message so what is the message of the eight and of the Cedarwood the and the Crimson thread what are they doing here so the says the following Rashi tells us a person who thinks that they're Cedar a cedar tree Cedar Wood it's tall firm strong steady so a person who such an inflated ego so arrogant that they see themselves as a Tall Cedar should lower themselves to realize their lowly hiip hiip is a branch hiip is a bush you think it's such a big cedar tree you're a little H branch so if the whole idea of this concoction the person who became impure was contaminated because they exposed themselves and they were arrogant to think that they're all that and they need to be humbled and brought back down to earth such a person so just use the hup ingredient which is the symbol of humility why do we include Cedar which was the symbol of arrogance so there's many questions the toos asks the asks on this so says we learn that there three things we should look at and that will prevent us from a know where you come from where you going and before whom will you have to give an accounting if a person thinks about that where do we come from a you come from a a rotten seed and where are you going to be future worm food to push up daisies we're all going to be go to the same place going to be buried underground and before whom ultimately will we hel be held accountable the almighty and when we realize no matter how many followers and fans how much power and money and fame no matter how much we've achieved or accomplished in our lives and we think we're all that just remember where you come from remember where you're going remember before you have to appear and that should humble you on the other hand the tells us that same tells us know that you're precious know that you're inestimable value know that you are incredible you're one of a kind because you're you're made in the image of God Mish you're a piece of God in this world you're all that and more and the whole world was created just for you so which is it are you a gourish are you a nothing are you future warm food are you pathetic or are you great and Magnificent the answer is to be balanced in life you need both you need a healthy balance of both I would argue to have proper mental hygiene we've tried to place an emphasis in our community on working on Mental Health not focusing on mental illness which is what the world talks about of course supporting and loving and helping Mental Illness but focusing on Mental Health how can we practice and live with mental health and proper mental hygiene and so much mental illness and the lack of mental health and mental hygiene is the lack of balance and equilibrium between these two qualities some people think too much of themselves and many others think too little of themselves some have no self-esteem and some have too great esteem in their own eyes some love themselves too much and some don't even know how to love themselves at all and the source of so much illness and struggle is the imbalance in these two areas and the Torah tells us to have an equilibrium and a health to live a balanced life is to find exactly the proper measure to know know when I need a little bit more of this a little less of that and when a little less of this and a little more of that sometimes you want to do a mitvah and the comes and it says who are you who do you think you are you're gonna close your eyes and sing with kavana you're gonna Shuckle you're G have a long you're gonna take upon yourself a new practice you're gonna increase your observance of Torah and mitos who do you think you are you clown you reject you iar you know you'll never finish you know you're nothing the is trying to belittle us and to Minish us and it says who do you think you are it's a joke you're filled with a I know what you were watching last night I have the search history on your phone and now you're shuckling with such a long and now you're giving such big don't bother you're a clown you're ridiculous I know what you're made of it brings us down to we become hopeless and we Despair and the answer is to remember in those moments you have to pull out the cedar in you say what are you talking about I'm a cedar tree I'm tellim do you know who I am and what I'm about do you know what is the real me use a little holy arrogance you know who I am do you know who my parents were do you know Inside Me is This holy Jew I am not defined by what I watched last last night I'm defined by what I want to do right now that's who I am and what I'm about so we need that little kick that little push that little schmeck of GAA that little bit of a holy arrogance but on the other hand sometimes we get so arrogant and so taken by ourselves and we think I'm all that you how much stuck I give you know how much learning I do you how hard I D you how much I volunteer for you know how smart I am how goodlooking I am do you know what I'm all about are could kick in and say you were the cover picture of the big kabad video of the everybody had to text you they saw you the spokesperson of I don't know if you saw you know who you are trust me that doesn't grow arrogance so then you have to pull out the other and you have to remember you're a hup you're an eight eras you're garnished your future warm food you're nothing so the paruma which represents our process of purification our journey towards self-actualization we need both ingredients because life needs both ingredients a little bit of eight and a little bit of a we need both we need both and that's why sometimes we need a little Moshe in US who's Moshe only he's only the humblest of all men and sometimes we need a little Aon who's Aon why does Aon wear the big we sometimes we need a little bit m a little more an a little more humility and other times we need a little bit more honor and Glory we need to find that balance between the two it's famously brought down in the name of many different that a Jew has to walk around with a little note in each pocket and one it says the whole world was created just for me and on the other note it says I'm just dust and Ash I'm nothing and the key in life is to know when to pull which note out of the pocket sometimes you have to remember nothing and sometimes when you're really feeling low and like a nothing you have to remember to pull out of the pocket these were two schools of thought in mus know time we're not gonna get into now but salant had many tal had many students and muser this effort that R salant did not invent but expanded upon and really introduced as a formal curriculum and focus of self-development took on different forms what's the best way to develop ourselves which part focus on which part so slka n the different schools had different focuses FY different folky so one was Godless slka was God the greatness of man greatness of man we're just a little bit less than God we're really God's here we're his children we're just right here God L do you know who you are and where you come from you're prince and princess your royalty you come from God you're great now see the greatness in you and walk around like you're great and carry yourself with greatness and know your greatness slco is Godless and I won't start to list last time I did it I left people off but the great students of slatka who were the who who of rabic leadership of the 20th century in America among them some here knew RAB tits my mother will tell you RAB tits G will tell you never saw RAB tits without being dressed in Rabbi Royal Garb and walking around slodka had a tailor on staff you weren't allowed in the base medish if you were missing a button because Yeshiva Bak is gonna be missing a button there was no dandruff on the shoulders there was no crease there was no stain there was no missing button godam the greatness of man greatness of man rutner had a button under his desk hutner also waska when you left his office you had to walk out backwards otherwise he didn't unlock the door for him to unlock the door you walked out backwards where footner was a Bala no he was a graduate of slka Godless was a rashash the Torah he represented there's a greatness a greatness and other schools of must Focus not on Godless Adam the greatness of man but on shiam if you really want to develop and grow great don't focus on how great you are focus on how pathetic you are how lowly you are be filled with the humility of knowing you're nothing you're nothing they would focus on sh so therefore they drew straws who was the lucky student in Yeshiva who got to clean the toilets because that was considered reserved for the greatest student the privilege and they would do silly things to make themselves feel foolish go into a hardware store and off ask for a loaf of bread go in the bakery and ask for a hammer and nails so that you'd be laugh at to feel i'mthe I'm nothing I'm a Fool nothing great about me so these two perspectives and approaches says the that's why the paruma the process of Purity and of growth has to include the eight and the aov there's the Godless Adam the sh you know who was missing this balance B we'll read about next week because bam was blind in one eye the two eyes that we have are to see ourselves the greatness in us and the loneliness in US and only in combination do we have a periphery Vision that we can live a balanced life and when a person is missing one person thinks they're all that a person thinks they're nothing at all they're not balanced they can't achieve they won't be mentally healthy we need to be able to see with both eyes bam is describes as being a he was blind in one eye why was he blind in one eye meant that he thought he was only arrogant he had no humility he had no humility korak also was blind in an eye when we see a reference to being blind in one eye it was lacking this peripheral vision of seeing both aspects of Our Lives this balance and this equilibrium of who we are of who we are and gar in the beginning of the beginning of the gam says that we know three times a year we have an obligation to go up to to the we have to go and be seen by God go and be seen by God so the garist those who are exempt some who's lame somebody who has a broken or missing limb who can't walk up to obviously is exempt and then the gar lists somebody who if you're blind even in one eye then you're exempt from you don't have to go up on to B to the temple why not maybe blind in both eyes I understand it's hard for you to journey and travel it's hard for you to get there but blind in one eye why not you can still see why is there an exemption so the gar the learns you have to be seen the same way you see and you have to be seen with both eyes and just Hashem has two eyes just like you have two eyes Hashem has two eyes he sees with his two eyes to be obligated to be seen you have to see with your two eyes what are these two eyes of Hashem what are our two eyes I once heard byab from RAB Risman hashem's two eyes are that he sees us Godless and Sh he sees theas and the a he sees the Great of man and the loneliness of man and that balance between the two bam failed to see it korak failed to see it we have to live and see it and sometimes a person feels too little of themselves they have to remember you're your royalty you're this far away from God and if a person thinks I'm God I'm practically God you have to remember you're garnished your future worm food you're from the dust of the earth you're a nothing and the balance between the two and knowing how to balance them is the secret to a meaningful and a positive and a successful life the r also has a comment here on this and he says the following he says the following quot Rashel these three ingredients of the cedar wood the hup and the Crimson thread represent the 3,000 people who died with theel with the mistake of the golden calf Arab Cedar is the tallest of all the trees the is the lowest of all the bushes the trees lower ourselves to lower ourselves so these three things that's how we will achieve atonement when we don't live arrogantly but when we come down from our our perch and we uh and we live with humility both also you can add these ingredients when it comes to our relationship with other people we should be like AIP low and humble and modest and not needing the spotlight and not needing all of the credit but when it comes to our spiritual relationship with ourselves we should say I'm as tall as a cedar I'm as high as a cedar tree I'm as great as a cedar tree so similar to says why do I need both of these ingredients because they're speaking not the two parts of me but two relationships I have Vis others humble modest lowly his Vis myself my potential my capacity my mission my purpose I'm like a Tall Cedar I'm like a Tall Cedar that's what the mission says the same if not for myself who will be for me and is the same H said if I'm here everybody's here we have to find that balance the difference between versus others and versus ourselves per turning the page wow turning the page this is the teaching Z if the is coming to purify those who are impure contaminated now we get into some of the laws of contamination of tar of Purity and impurity the Torah tells us Tor introduces again with a great introduction a title Torah this is the Torah what's the Torah if a person dies in a tent we have a concept that contamination happens not only through contact the laws of T among the most complicated areas of T impurity can be transmitted through contact impurity can be transmitted even not through contact but through lifting so for example someone's lying on a on a bench or sitting on a chair and I lift them even though the chair or a pillow or a cushion is interfering I didn't technically touch them I can still be contaminated Midas even through lying down on something under many layers there are all kinds of forms of of T and one of the forms of T we have is what's called Tas o is if you are in the same airspace the same under the same cover or roof as a source of Tuma you will be contaminated by that Tuma that's why Coen can't go to the hospital because of the hospital as a morg in the in the hospital and there are those who've been gathered to their people in the morg in the hospital and the coing being under the same ceiling the same roof will become contaminated so it's not only that the Coen can't touch a dead corpse can't do a tahara it's not only that the Coen can't stand within four Amos of a grave it means a Coen can't even be under the same roof which is why a Coen can go to the cemetery if they're six feet away from any grave but they still have to be careful about the overhang from a tree because it's an o that will serve as an O if there's an overhang there's a big Shila Lenny's Pizza on Lion's road is in the same shopping plaza several stores down as a Jewish funeral home that can have body that can have cremated bodies and the question if it has a cremated body is that also a source of T rapai did a lot of research turns out that our modern day cremation um doesn't actually burn it obliterates and often there are several pieces of bone that are left and Bone the size of an adasha a lentil still contaminates so a bone the size of a lentil mixed into the ash could still contaminate so can a Coen go to Lenny's Pizza and we forwarded it to several post around the world wrote Chas about Lenny's pizza and if for those who are strict Lenny's Pizza is a service if a Coen is driving they'll bring the pizza out to the curb pick up the Lenny's will bring the pizza out to the curb so you can pick it up so this is the law what about a woman a pregnant woman is a fetus if she has a a a isas Coen or a Bas Coen is not obligated in these laws so a wife of a Coen or daughter of a Coen is allowed to go to a cemetery they're not bound by this needing to be protected from the purification if anything that's a bias against men not women that's to their advantage but that is in their reasons that is the law so if a woman is pregnant and ASA Coen the wife of a coen's pregnant at what point we know from we spoke about this that not only do Kohan over the age of bar mitzvah are they not allowed to become contaminated but even under the age of bar mitzvah how far under the age of even a fetus must a woman undergo a pregnancy a a ultrasound or genetic testing to know if it's a boy so she won't go to the hospital or Cemetery if she's pregnant with a boy interesting question believe it or not this is all this is all discussed but not our question for right now on this says the following how do we know that you can only really retain Torah if you're willing to kill yourself over it you only really learn Torah and retain Torah when you don't approach Torah casually you have to be willing to kill yourself over Torah simple understanding is people use this language in other disciplines you'll only really grow in that discipline and master that discipline if you're willing to kill yourself over it are you willing to kill yourself over the discipline of learning Torah and discipline in the Torah we describe yob was he was a disciplined student diligent student and O is an O of Torah the B Med the study is called the all of Torah you'll only grow in Torah if you kill yourself in the so says if that's the case if really only a person who can grow in the T so why when you're in the O do you become if you're in the O you should become what it means is the following so if you are if you are just if you're y if you're y if you kill yourself over it you'll grow in Torah but you're just you're a casual spectator you're a casual onlooker you're just checking it out you're just giving a look or you're in the O but you're just you fast asleep in the B you're sipping coffee in the B medish you're smoing about the sports scores in the B medish you're B but I so then you understand if you're willing to kill yourself over Torah you shitz over Torah you work and you break your teeth over Torah you're working hard over Torah you're gonna grow on Torah but if you're just Bo o I'm giving a peek I look into the basement I just give a look I give a look or a I'm in I hang out in the B Med that's where I read the newspaper I'm AER but I'm just then so it's not only about learning Torah it's about the attitude and the posture we bring to the learning of Torah do we sit learn Torah in a recliner do we learn Torah waiting for it to be spoonfed are we learning Torah casually are we spectator the Torah or are we in it are we breaking our teeth over it are weering and reviewing are we working on it are we shvitzing on it that is the sorry the also addresses the and he says the following what do you mean why are we being encouraged to kill ourselves over it after all doesn't the Torah enjoin us doesn't the Torah instruct us Torah is supposed to not kill us we shouldn't kill ourselves over it it's the opposite supposed to live through Torah and live by Torah of the following life is precious life is invaluable life is incredible and we should appreciate every opportunity every gift we have to learn Torah not only the comfort of learning Torah in a b medish but the images of those who are learning Torah in a tank learning Torah in Gaza with no electricity in plumbing learning Torah you talk about t you talk about for Torah you talk about being for Torah it's one thing to be m atmo in the comfortable air conditioned Bas medish with the coffee station and the padded chair how about the images and how about the people we know who are killing themselves over learning Torah where they're risking their lives to protect us I don't know that there are Holier images in the world it's a beautiful video I saw last night morab of rash talking about he went to visit someone Soldier I know who lost both legs in one arm a hezer boy he went to visit him he should have a continued and the boy had four questions foras can I put Fillin on my other arm he had four questions questions one of them was when sukus will come I'll have my prosthetic where do I hold the Lula vaness Rogue he wanted to know about making a sh on a prosthetic when I get my prosthetic do I make a Shu when they give it to me or when I first wear it you have to see rash in this video say who who ever heard of such Angels such holy people that's their question he says I was never asked such a question in my life on a prosthetic so this young man looked and he said I understand on a beg on a beg a new suit you make a the thing that will help me walk or hold something I wouldn't make a shha talks about the admiration and the love and the appreciation we should have for such a Ben Torah M atmo for Torah I'll post it in the para WhatsApp group first one is closed out we had to open a second group if you got closed out of the first para WhatsApp group it over a thousand WhatsApp closed us out we opened up a second group so M so what do you mean MMO Tor we have to be MMO and you want to know MMO look at soldiers in a home in Rafa that they took over that has no Plumbing or conditioning and they're still learning look at soldiers in a tank who are learning look at Torah look at who in their moments in between fighting are not sleeping or reading but learning look at rasher who produced last week we quoted from one of the little little that was produced by to thousands were distributed to soldiers in the field who asked for it so they could learn and keep it inside their ceramic vest for the few moments in between that's MMO for Torah that's the MMO for Tor doesn't only mean working your way through a toos in a comfortable based means you're killing yourself to be able to learn Torah so what happened to I thought we live what happened so he says it means you should look at the opportunity to learn Torah as so precious that when we leave this world we will look back and say if you just let me go back for one more parier just let me go back for one more sitter snippet just let me go back for one more D just let me go back for one more chance to learn with my son or daughter with my grandson or my granddaughter just let me go back for one more rash just let me go back for the Torah is so precious so valuable such a game changer that's means when you don't feel like learning and when you want to diminish the value of every moment of learning picture yourself when you're gone and how much you would give to come back for one more chance to learn so learning should give us Life Learning is all about giving us life if you want picture when we're no longer here what we give to come back to have one more with what would you give for one more para questions with your child or grandchild at the shabas table so when we have the chance now grab onto it love it lean into it appreciate it be grateful for it take advantage of it that's what tor's m you want Torah to be for generations to come we want Torah to be M it'll only be M when we're MMO if we picture when we're gone how precious it is and how much we would give to come back and have a little more the last is Torah is only successfully learned when when we're name is the atmo you have to kill your atmo your ego if you learn Torah with an ego and you're trying to tell Torah what to say and you're projecting onto Torah and you're making Torah conform to your ideology your policy your perspective your personality your belief you're not learning Torah you're not worshiping Hashem you're worshiping yourself if you want to learn Torah while I'm learning there's no more me my bias no more my filter no more my preconceived notions a is atmo we have to get rid of our ego so we can absorb and download and hear what Torah is telling us instead of trying to mold or make Torah conform to what we believe that's another idea of being MMO we got about halfway through not bad halfway through but that's it so wishing everyone a good summer healthy summer happy summer by the time I come back and resume parash please God we'll be we'll be learning together in having won the war with mashia coming in the B mikdash please stay for tum we're going to divide and recite allum tonight 7:30 p.m. very powerful very important program for Israel connecting to Israel two incredible speakers who are coming one who lost her father to an act of Terror her brother working in the mosad another brother fighting in Gaza and a cousin in Bei she's gonna come and speak about those experiences and a media personality political analyst from Israel coming 7:30 tonight don't miss it a healthy summer we here BOS toos yeshu V Alo we