Parsha Perspectives for Today (Vayishlach, 5783) - Diversification

good morning Booker told welcome back to partial perspectives for today the privilege today of studying pastures critically important as every Parsha is but really has a tremendous staying power because it continues to inform our sense of diplomacy until this very day I want to thank our generous partial series sponsors Dr Becky sorry Becky and Avi Katz and family a member of the David Grossman I also want to dedicate our Parsha sure this morning to someone who just passed away unfortunately very sadly Dr Gill Mellon Dr Gill Mellon lives in Woodfield Country Club I never had the privilege of meeting him very young man who passed away after being diagnosed or with an illness only in June and just passed away yesterday Stanley called me because apparently he loved to listen to the parachute class and though we never met and he never came here he wanted to meet before he left this world and so we spent some time together on Sunday and I just learned of his passing so I want to dedicate our learning in his memory and also be a reminder in life never wait never wait until it's too late take advantage at every moment does someone you want to meet or spend time with or have lunch with or coffee with or be in conversation with don't ever wait is nashama was a very special person to his family to his community and Beyond Dr gilmelon I love Shalom okay page 1070 in the Arts girls it's time for the big red reconciliation it's time for the big reunion after 34 years of being apart 14 years has been learning Yeshiva shame forever negotiated that with his parents 14 years in Yeshiva but he did like what shot what year are you up to you I think you stopped counting by then I don't think you're no longer saying any longer saying what what Shawna what year you are so 14 years in Yeshiva shame the ever 20 years working for Lavon he's now got two wives many children lots of assets and property and it's time to reunite he wants to reunite with his brother before what the passing of his father why because he feels he's got a much better shot Ace of might be much more likely more predisposed to reconciling if it's still alive because Ace of excels at what mitzvah would want that reconciliation he stands a much better shot than waiting until yitzler's gone Ace of so to say has nothing to lose so still in his father's lifetime he wants to try to reconcile and he sends ahead of him Angels normally in the text when we encounter the word malachim what does it mean Angels here Russia goes out of his way to say malachim literally ambassadors literally agents literally Messengers why are they called malachim why didn't he send angels as in the Angelic Celestial beings of Hashem why does he send malachim mamesh people now is not the time I think we've spoken about it in the past even as there's a fascinating Insight but you know what's higher than an angel a person who acts like an angel our mission is to be angels for one another to be agents to be ambassadors to be activists to be those who represent one another advocates for one another a human being who cares enough to go out of their way to help to act on behalf of another is a malach mamish is literally acting as an angel so this is a very reference I alluded to the fact that this is a very very significant Torah portion not only because it's our Parsha for this week but because of what it represents and in fact the ultra Polo Satora tells us there used to be an old ancient Jewish Customs some still observant observant that a person is going to be traveling a person is going to be journeying from their home that week and here we have a lot of the world is global we have a lot of snowbirds seasonal people we have a lot of people who go back and forth between New York and Florida I know that there was an ancient custom that the mozai Shabbos before you leave before you embark on a journey what do you read parshas to read this partially setting out on a journey you have a destination you're going to have to Traverse some territory so there was a custom to read parshaslach the Moze Shabbos before you leave where does this minute come from the idea that you're going out you have an important journey of an important business trip that you read this partial before and it comes from none other than and his friend was the Caesar was the great General and before he would go and represent the Jewish people and their interests before he would go meet with him for Acts or conversations of diplomacy didn't matter what Parsha it was didn't matter which time of the year he would always read parshas you want to know what the Playbook is how to navigate the golus what's the formula where's the Playbook where is the instruction manual how do we navigate this deep dark Exile how do we navigate a rise of anti-Semitism how do we navigate having to confront the aceives of Our Generation how do we navigate difficult conversations in Exile the answer is when you're living among Gentiles when you're living among potentially hostile hosts what do you say how do you navigate what do you do believe the answer is go back to the precedent myself how did yaakov navigate his relationship this reconciliation with ASAP it went so far that one review a very wealthy man who was good friends with this Roman general when he would take leave of him and they offered him an escort home a police escort review danasi a great man a great friend a great peer why should you have to sit in traffic why should you be in danger at risk we'll send you a police escort reviews invariably always turned it down and why did he turn it down because he continued to follow the Playbook of yaakov and ASA not only on his way there but on his way out on his way from and when ASAP says new yaakov we hugged we kissed we made up Lou knew let's go together what does yaakov say I'm not going to press my luck I'm going to quit while I'm ahead he doesn't say that he doesn't say that what he says is I got a lot of wives I've got a lot of kids they're very slow they need to take a lot of bathroom breaks you go ahead you go fast you go ahead I don't want to keep you so reviews to learn from that not only what to do on the way in to those conversations but on the way out um foreign and so he agreed because he had forgotten the Playbook he didn't review the instruction manual so he agreed to be escorted at home with an Entourage um he had to bribe that escort he had to bribe those armed guards and so he had to sell all that he had on him in order to bribe them for protectionism you're invited to a meeting with a congressman a person a senator the person of influence a person of power you're going to sit in the Roosevelt room before you go and before you sit down you read and in fact this is what happened we just showed a film on mozai Shabbos 300 people came and sat outside on the lawn beautiful weather a beautiful night thank you Hashem a wonderful documentary done about Menachem begin I feel honored to have been a small part of it and when Menachem begin this is not in the film the documentary it does talk about that when he won Against All Odds and he became prime minister and he came to New York to meet with some great rabbis there was some pictures of him in about but it doesn't say what they spoke about when prime minister Reagan came to New York to prepare for the critical meetings with with Sadat and Carter he stopped in New York on his way to Washington and he met individually with three great rabbis anyone who they were the Barbara that was in the documentary gave it away who else from salavechik and robmoshe Feinstein he met with three great rabbis on his way to this important meeting and negotiation which would have enormous impact consequence for the Jewish people in Israel and it is reported that in all three meetings all three and ramosa all told him read parsha's vayishlach before you go into the White House you have to read vaishlach before you engage in that conversation before you engage in that conversation Mario quotes the story a little bit differently and otsar Palace has a big discussion of this but we have the Minogue not only when you're going into a place of power we'll have an audience with somebody of influence but he quotes a custom anytime you're going to be traveling that week the most Shabbos before the story of a journey and how we navigate our way and how we make our way so he does three things he sends three things we all know the story he prepares in three ways here's the message here's what I want you to get across go ahead recognization they want you to go and spy investigate a little bit and I want you to get the following message across tell my brother that your servant yaakov imlavangata you know where I've been 34 years long time why didn't you make any effort not One text not one email not one postcard why didn't you try sooner where were you tell them in Love on guardi I was living with Lavan and I was delayed until this point I was living and I was delayed until this point says Rashi garti is bigamatria you know where I was I was living with Lavan but yaakov embeds in now lest you think your holy brother yaakov while you were out hunting for women and for money and you were at the casino gambling and you were experiencing experimenting with drugs and alcohol and your brother yaakov was always the Goody Two-Shoes sitting and studying sitting and learning and now you're gonna smile and now you're gonna have some some Joy I was living with love on you think that I was influenced no in Love on guardi Garcia's Gematria taryag no I didn't compromise in Iota and in compromise whatsoever tayog mitso shamarti I observed I kept everything I didn't learn anything I wasn't influenced in Iota we've quoted in the past the beautiful inside I forgot from whom was actually saying something to indict him myself he was not advocating for himself he was actually criticism himself why Lola Martin I didn't learn anything from him that's a good thing no why would that be a negative because how did love on perform how did Lavon pursue his masks of Haram with a passion with a Zeal with an enthusiasm and yaakov said I didn't learn from him I could have learned what not to do I could have learned the same excitement enthusiasm that he devoted to pursue the wrong thing I could have learned to to apply that to do the right thing but I didn't learn I didn't learn now many ask what's up among them how in the world can yaakov with a straight face assert that I observed altario can anyone here raise their arm raise their hand and say I keep all Target mitzvos can anyone say I've lived in hostile environments I lived in difficult circumstances I lived in challenging times I want you to know I observed all time why is it no one can say that did someone here perform Botha anyone here do the avode in the basement there's a long list of litany of mitzvos that were simply ineligible to perform you cannot have the status simultaneously that would make you qualified to keep altering mitzvos it's impossible so what did yaakov means what do you mean how is that possible how is that possible so those apologize suggests maybe we can understand based on a gemara in managos the gemara teaches we have a notion that sometimes when a person is devoted to studying a portion a part of Torah it is as if they kept it it's not the same thing to actually act to perform to observe to keep to behave but to study to engage the head the heart and the soul in the topic it is as if one kept it is listen I can't keep everything I'm not a coin lady in Israel at the same time but I've learned I've studied I'm committed to and I'm connected with the totality of Torah there is no part of Torah that I'm not part of and I think it's important when you think about it in this sense and he continues he quotes these are the words by caring about and being committed to and believing in altaryag he doesn't write this but it occurs to me the gemara tells us quotes and we practice I have more conversion meetings tomorrow we're doing a conversion this Friday and we ask a convert both in a meeting and while they're in the bhikvah are you committed to keep omitsos what do you mean they should look up and say I'm not even Jewish yet I'm not a coin a lady Israel I came to ibim and khaliza I can't don't you know anything rabbis of the based them don't you know anything Diana it's impossible for one person to keep everything so how could you ask me to be macabo kolatura or mitzvos the gamara says a person who accepts omitters is not eligible for conversion let's say a person says look I believe in it all it's beautiful enhances life comes from the omnipotent God except for shortness shyness makes no sense to me I'm not willing to check my clothing for wool and linen I just don't buy into it it doesn't make sense I'm now I'm willing to keep everything except Kalisha I love the Opera I can't give it up I'm going I can't do it makes no sense to me doesn't apply today I'll do everything but kolisha will you convert such a person does it depend if it's derisa durabana does everybody agree is a minority opinion why are they saying they won't keep it what's the we once had a woman we were converting who had survived cancer had recovered from cancer and she said my hair means a lot to me not just fashion or vanity or looking in the mirror but I didn't have my hair when I was undergoing chemo and now every time I see my own hair when I'm in public it's a reminder to me that I've survived so I can't cover my hair I believe in the Mitzvah but I just can't do it emotionally they're interesting questions that if a person says I'll keep all Mitchells except for one thing so think of how remarkable that is I'll tell you sadly we've had candidates who when we've tested how much they're observing and this isn't part of the parsh I gotta get back to the Parsha but when we're talking to them about what they're observing they'll say rabbis you know you have some members who pick and choose that's the kind of Jew I want to be you know I've come to be integrated into a community so there's some who keep kosher rigorously and vigilantly in their home and out of their home but you have some members who eat out that's that's what I'm going for can I sign up for that level and it's sort of an indictment on us and in our community it's sad statement to a certain degree though we're not judging everyone everyone's on a journey everyone's on their own place last Shabbos we spoke about the rungs of the latter everyone's on their own rung it doesn't matter which rung but it matters which direction you're heading so we're not judging but it is an indictment that when someone who says I want to embrace and pursue and I want to become Jewish engages a community and says oh there's a menu of which way I can be part of the community that picks and chooses so the Allah says you can't you can't so someone who says so how what's the answer back to the convert in the Mikvah who when we say do you accept to keep all of mitzvos they say well I can't keep old Mitchells Rabbi because we're not in Israel so I can't observe Tremors and maestros and I came to you later and I came to the Abode I'm a convert I'm not a coin what would our answer back be we're not asking you to technically keep all of Mitchells we're asking you do you believe in the divine nature of all Mitzvahs do you believe that they're all from Hashem do you believe that they're his blueprint for creation do you believe they're part of his prescription for Humanity that's what we're asking so says Robin Iona that's maybe what it means when yaakov says doesn't mean I kept because you can't keep it says it's very medulla because what does Rashi say listen to this schmuck Jacob avino doesn't say in Love on guardi vitarian mitzvos the target what does he says shamarti he doesn't say I kept all Tara against us he says I safeguarded all Tariq Mitzvahs I protected I I represented I advocated for all Tariq Mitzvahs that is really what's going on auto plus I thought my new favorite safer then goes on here for pages and pages to talk about where do we get the idea of Tariq mitzvos where does it come from where does it come from so the smug and his actama writes that you have to know all time even though we can't keep them all today there is a notion of studying of knowing there are people who memorize he carries in his pocket a little booklet so that he could review orange 613 misses on a regular basis as if there's a Mitzvah to review the Tariq mitsos with a commitment to safeguard to protect to Advocate all of them the safer he quotes in the in the um in the study of this he had a clock a big clock and he would look up at the clock all the time and his family wondered how come when he was learning he would stop and look at the clock he'd be in a conversation he'd stop you look up at the clock why was he always looking at the clock and he answered because embedded in the clock were hints and Illusions signs for old tired mitzvos so every now and then he'd look up as he would review the clock as the hands of the clock went it would remind him and he was able to review all of tariyag all of tariyag mitzvas where's the first reference in Tariq mitsos just like the pasaka is one of the 613 Mythos and we see it elsewhere in Shas most notably comes after masaka Shabbos is and we learn 613 and therefore we have a combination Jews have a combination for their luggage thank you very much thank you very much and it's the first one to write so the gamara Marcus tells us there's 613 bases on an apostle how do you now go through all of Torah and identify which of the 613 so the first one to do it was let's say for Allah one of the great Bothell so he was the first to write to say foreign undertook this project we have a tradition of 613 how am I going to squeeze many more into 6 13. what will be my rules and my criteria my principles that will guide me to be able to reduce many more into 613 to count the 613 the number I'm going to say foreign makes another great point says revolva where did yaakov avinu get the fortitude the spiritual resilience to observe the Tariq mitos Rashi writes gati I live 6 13. so says revolba in his something brilliant says you know why Lavon was able you know why yaakov was able to say because he says in Lavan garty what does the word mean what's a gear stranger what did avram avinu tell Ephron gear of the tosham I'm just visiting I'm passing through I'm a gayer I'm a tourist I'm a visitor I'm passing through gear vitochev I'm both a resident I live here I don't have any state income tax because I spend one day more than 50 of my time in Florida I'm a toshev I'm a toshev but really I'm a gayer some of you are like that I don't know if state income tax I spend 50 percent of my time in one day so my tax purposes but really I'm Still A New Yorker but a New Yorker I'm a gayer I'm a gayer gear for tax purposes I'm a toshav for culture purposes double parking ame ame gear I'm a gear so Yakov avinu was saying in love on garty you know how he was able to say Target because garti 20 years is a long time think about where you were 20 years ago what has transpired in the last 20 years of your life 20 years is a long time for the entire time that yaakov lives with love on you know what he didn't do he never unpacked he never unpacked literally or figuratively but he never moved in he never became a permanent resident he never changed his address he remained garty and says revolba that's why he was able to confidently say tired mitso shamarti when we are through we let down our guard and we assimilate into the society around us and we forget that we're just visitors this is a foreign country it's a very hospitable country it's a credential it's blessed us in innumerable ways but we're just guests here where we gave them we're just visiting we're just visiting and we have to remember that he says there's some truth to the claim that assimilation is a natural process a person behaves like the nunches around them it'll lead to a simulation revolver lived in Sweden for eight years during and after the second world war and he had a lot of occasions to observe the Swedish Customs on the 20th of December the local residents would dance around the roasted pig the longest day this summer the entire populace men women and children the dancer on adultery and sing children songs even if there's nothing intrinsically wrong technically there's a danger in adopting foreign Customs that will make us continuously or increasingly forget who we are and how we're different and how to maintain that balance look around this great country which has blessed us in so many ways that now there's a 70 intermarriage rate outside of Orthodoxy and look at the assimilation rates don't follow the practices of those around you says revolve but the word hope comes from the word fake means a person's chest a country's custom stem from the heart of the nation and if you join those customs and you feel connected to the heart of that Nation you'll forget the beat of your own heart and it's easy to Lose Yourself and the way that the way that Jacob avina was able to maintain and confidently be able to say Tariq Mitzvah shamarti was because he was only garti he never became a toshib with love on he remained a a gear so he prepares what does he do but Yakov gets afraid he's concerned maybe he'll be unworthy maybe God won't save him maybe aceable in fact annihilate Himachal he divides the people on the flock cattle and camels into two camps he introduces us to a very important concept called what should you do with your Investments diversify if you diversify and you divide you mitigate risk did you go all in in one way then you take on enormous risk but if you diversify then you can mitigate some of the risk it can't eliminate but you will mitigate some of the risk says a very powerful lesson here not only about our physical enemy the physical enemies of our world like a a sub but a powerful lesson also of the spiritual enemies says marching towards him with 400 people he's afraid so he divides his family into two camps foreign sometimes we stay in bed we don't make it to minion sometimes we don't keep up that promise or pledge for the learning we were going to do sometimes we give in to our Rage or our anger and fly off the handle speak in ways we regret sometimes we look at things that we've promised that we're going to stop looking at we don't always wins sometimes we say I'm not winning I'm losing how many times have I tried to stop looking at things I shouldn't look at how many times have I promised to stop speaking lashinara how many times have I said I'll make it to minion and not talk during daviding how many times have I said I'll never raise my voice or lose my patience or complain so what do we want to do when that happens we give up we give up on ourselves and we don't believe we're capable and we don't believe we'll achieve and we say you know if I look at that late at night at the internet then what's the point of going to minion early the next morning what's the point what's the point of learning the dafyami of going to the daf is then maybe I sometimes struggle to submit receipts as business expenses even though they weren't so what's the point of going to the duff if I'm not entirely honest to my income taxes you sometimes feel that it's all or nothing and if I'm not going to be Pious and righteous and virtuous entirely then why bother either even striving why have ambition why ever trying sort of nothing in those moments of weakness those moments you want to give up and give in those moments you want to have despair you have to turn to Hashem and David let me believe in myself let me believe in my capability and capacity let me believe in my brighter future let me believe that it's not all or nothing and that I shouldn't give up just because I'm struggling in this one area and he quotes this beautiful safer with the teachings of abnachman on the Parsha is is coming out and what does he do he diversifies and why does he diversify so that he won't have to be hopeless and despair if God forbid ASAP is successful and he wipes out one Camp one unit one segment yaakov says I'm going to survive another day I'm still here I have upon which to rebuild why because I divided and conquered because I've Diversified it's a beautiful song there is no yes you can't have despair you can't give up can never be hopeless we have to attack and we have to confront the yetara the same way yaakov did with asaph how by dividing and diversifying by saying you know my entire religious identity in life is not all or nothing and therefore if I skip the duff I shouldn't skip minion if I looked at the thing on the internet doesn't mean I should fly off the handle with my wife or child and if I wasn't honest in business doesn't mean that I shouldn't try still to not talk during kanesh and kadusha it's not all or nothing the same way that yaakov's strategy when confronting the embodiment of the yet Sahara in Asaf was to diversify similarly we can do the same Adam it's too hard if you lose it or give up in one don't give up on everything divide and conquer realize that in overcoming the it'sahara it's not all or nothing says wonders about the order wonders about the order Russia tells us history tells us that yaakov prepared him three ways what were they doron what's their own a gift diplomacy the minute is when you go to the White House and meet with the president you bring a gift that's the men I llah you gotta dive into Hashem and if both of those are unsuccessful what do you have to turn to you better be prepared for war gerd for war the Durant is like the reverse first he prepared himself for war divided as camps made sure they were armed trained ready to go theni davend Hashem spare me in the Merit of my father and grandfather and then at the end here's the gift here's the diplomacy but Advance what should we expect a righteous person like yaakov to do first what should come first davening Davin first comes darling because the true arbiter he's going to determine the outcome so first you submitted surrender to him first you dive into Hashem and then you go through the other exercises of human initiative and the gesture or the effort towards peace diplomacy should come before the signal for war so why is it in the wrong order I'm still consume in the opposite order rise why does Russia quote it in this order and he says the following fascinating idea this is the entire ecosystem of condensation and reign of the earth and the soil going back to partial Bridges but he didn't press Start he didn't press go he didn't make it start raining why until when what was missing man so what why can't the ecosystem of the world operate even before man because until there's a person tadavan Hashem doesn't press go why do you need a person to dive in because the person needs to feel they lack they're missing something it's only a feeling of lacking of missing a feeling of submission and surrender a feeling of dependence on Hashem that makes Philo authentic Fila that comes with a sense of arrogance or confidence is not authentic gamar says in several places the three things quas Hashem to examine a person closely three things to be done to judge a person what are those three things if you walk under a bent wall crooked flimsy ladder why because himself says to himself this person feels so confident they're so worthy they're engaged in such risky Behavior they're so confident they're worthwhile being saved everything's gonna be okay bring me their file let me see if I should protect them from this wall that naturally should collapse on their head second thing is somebody who turns in someone else why you think you're in a position to rat on someone else snitches get stitches my kids tell each other all the time snitches get stitches you can't rat someone out in Judaism of course unless they're a danger person is a danger it's a Mitzvah to be Moser but otherwise one can't because Marcus is bring me their file and what's the third thing the gamara says Ian filler was meant to eat Fila what does that mean Ian Fila what did a person do wrong she tells us there what it means is a person who walks out of davening two people I was once davening there's one stopping what's that street on the bottom of Ben Yehuda very narrow Ellie Alleyway there were some restaurants there was Solomon there's a little hole in the wall that minion Factory I was once diving in there and two hippie looking guys were diving there and Dominic ended and the two gave each other a high five awesome darving dude great prayer man and they walked out while skipping their step happy a lot of cavana great darling Hashem is surely going to answer I'm not judging them it was a beautiful scene I remember it many years later but the gamara saying Ian's Fila is if a person dabbing really well a lot of cavana really present and mindful for every word they said and then they walk out and say you know I was really connected Hashem is surely going to answer me now he's definitely going to give what I've asked for you know why because I I dive in really well so Hashem says you think so um bring me your file let me see whether you're worthy why what's the problem with the problem with the attitude that if I dive in well Hashem will surely answer me who's in charge you're then the whole exercise of davening the whole idea of davening is an exercise in humility the whole experience of dominating is that I submit and I Surrender and I say he's in charge not me he's in control not me I work for him he doesn't work for me but when you say as long as I dive in well and with a lot of cavana he'll surely answer me then Hashem is just another check on your checklist gotta go to the doctor gotta go to the pharmacy gotta tie the red Bendle guys I put the mic doors from a cloth I got out of this I gotta that oh and I gotta dab in really well because then everyone will answer me everyone will do my bidding everyone will respond the way Hashem is not your Pawn it's not your puppet he's the one who's in charge in control can I ask we do ask we ask our father but we don't ask our father on condition that our father it's like the kid who tells his friend I just spoke to my father at I got it don't worry I know how to ask him I know what to say to him I know how to manipulate him we got this don't worry we got this if the father's eavesdropping on the kid who says don't worry we got this I just knew exactly what to say the father says really let me remind him who's boss so Ian's Fila so Russian's not quoting any of this but it's undermine underlying what he's saying what if Sarah's been saying is why did yaakov why does it Rashi of the tradition Jaco first Gets Ready for War arms for war and only then davins because when you get ready for war and you realize what's at stake that's going to be a different type of dominant before The Six Day War when they dug a hundred thousand Graves throughout Israel and prepared for what could have been the end of Israel your teela after digging those hundred thousand Graves is a very different Fila than before and that's why it's out of order made and so on and so forth a beautiful explanation yes great so he's getting ready and he says Hashem save me save me from whom from my brother from Asaf that seems like a little bit of redundancy isn't your brother ASA so we shared many times what was yaakov saying my brother is duplicitous my brother's two-faced I don't know which version of my brother I'm going to get will I get Mia or miyad Asaf I don't know which version I'm going to get foreign if he comes on like he's my brother and I'm vulnerable and I'm going to forget that sometimes he'll stab me in the back and betray me then save me and if he's an asaph who confronts me as an enemy save me either way save me but listen to this incredible Satora dug up says the following foreign and you know what the son's name was akhi Edition you know why Ace of named his son my brother said every time he'd call his son time for dinner did you do your homework he would remember oh I have a brother and I'm gonna get even so he would never forget the intense feeling of hate that he had towards his brother when he did what he did he named his son brother to always be mindful he had a brother and he was going to get even anyone over here did anyone here ever hear that before never heard this okay I should get royalties so he had a son and that's what Jacob was saying says save me from my nephew oh and save me from Asaf save me from both so says but now we got a problem why because we find in several whose names were foreign how can we name after Ace of sun but nearly yashif so he says maybe we can answer this is sometimes people come and ask a question there was a grandparent there was a person that we wanted him after we're being pressured to name after but they were they weren't at scientific let's just say like that can we name after them says the tradition from The gamar Yuma that you don't know after Russia is if embedded in their name in the etymology of their name is a negative notion is richest but if it's a neutral name just happened to be that your ancestor who was a Russia had it and now you want to use again that neutral name then you're allowed to Allah also called is different than than akhi the son of asaph so again he dug up fascinating really interesting I had never heard that before so he's about to go and encounter and confront and seek to reconcile with his brother but first he forgets something what do you forget he forgot his pakshaman so illusion to Hanukkah he goes back for the jugs that he forgot you see that the Jewish Neurosis to not waste money is not just because throughout our Exile we've been persecuted oppressed and in a position that we couldn't afford to waste any resources which is true right the Jewish tickets you know taking those sweet and low packets and wrapping up the cake in the napkin to bring back to the room for later and all we all know all of the embedded in the Jewish DNA practices of not wasting is not just because we descend from survivors who who understood what it meant to get a appeal of a potato every morsel of food what it means it's more than just that it's that we understand the value of resource we understand what it is and waste is not just haste waste is is offensive to Hashem you'd think that the wealthier you are you can afford to waste but you can't sashem's world where do you direct those resources what good can be done with them what can we bring out of them so yaakov is not just cheap that's why he goes back to get his pakshman he's teaching us a very powerful lesson about resources and preserving and protecting them and using them and channeling them he goes back though some suggest reading it not live adult but likado to go back to get his card Shaman to go go back and what happens and he wrestles with a man the entire night he wrestles with the man the entire night he goes back so we all know the story did it happen or not is this story true are we meant to believe it happened or is it a metaphor is it a dream is it a prophecy did it really happen foreign about whom exists a spirit a scriptural text that an angel talked him or that speech came to him from God it did not occur in any other way than in a dream or a vision of Prophecy the rabam holds in all these cases bilham did not speak Golem's donkey did not speak to him and the snake did not speak to khava and yaakov did not wrestle with an Angel all these things are meant to be taken metaphorically they're meant to be taken as a prophecy they did not happen literally the ramban is very unhappy the ramban takes enormous issue with the rambam the rambam right the Ayla advances it is forbidden to hear them let alone believe them the rambam for this and other at the time radical positions we know the ramam's books were burnt when we sit on the floor on Tish above and we say show us roof of each and we cry and lament of all the volumes of talmud that were burnt in Paris says that that was a punishment for Hashem for the burning of the books of the rambam the ram said what was considered to be many radical things at the time this among them so ramban says God forbid not only that you believe him God forbid you even hear them basically Goldberg why'd you read the rambam in the Parsha class you have no right to repeat that rambam God forbid we should believe it and then Raman asks a very compelling question is if all of this is really a matter of a prophetic vision so when yaakov walks away with a limp why is he limping if it was a prophecy or a dream if it's a metaphor why is Yakov limping foreign so why in the world would yaakov say I've seen God face to face and my life was preserved prophets would not fear they might die from prophetic vision it's a pretty compelling question of the ramban if it was all a dream of Prophecy why in the world is Yakov limping Ben Gershon offers an explanation listen to this rabbagh I dug up the shop I didn't dig it up I must have seen someone else to talk it up he suggested the limp was not a consequence of the dream the limp actually preceded the dream the gemara tells us that we dream based on what we're thinking about in our subconscious when we're awake what do we dream about at night what we're thinking about that happens to me all the time when you have a dream a strange dream all you have to do is think about what might have been in your mind what was the last conversation you had before you fell asleep what are you worried about in your Consciousness or subconscious and that's what we tend to dream about what we experience influences and shapes our dreams so what a box suggests that yaakov had hurt his leg right he twisted his ankle when he was going back for the park Sherman for the parking yaakov uh hurt his leg a dislocated his hip and then when he had this dream he had a dream that incorporated that reality of the injured hip into the dream so the limp wasn't the result of the dream the limp is actually the cause of what precipitated the dream that is a wild raw bug that's fascinating but I want to tell you the about a benel foreign you can answer in this way says the barbanell our imagination creates reality there's research that shows today that that's true we didn't need the research it's true because Torah tells us it's true but the research confirms this the dreams think about the phenomenon of placebo effect you know the placebo effect every major Pharma biotechnological study incorporates placebo to one part of the population you give the drug you're testing to the other you give Placebo sugar water sugar pill and you see those who think they're taking the real thing but take a placebo often have an improvement too how much greater is the Improvement of those who got the real drug over those who took the placebo right you could have a kid who doesn't feel a way insisting medicine give them a Tic Tac and tell them it's a Tylenol and they'll tell you that their headache got better it's called the placebo effect adults same thing ailments ranging from Pain and depression to Parkinson's disease have been improved through the placebo effect in a study Crawford measured brain stem activity with high resolution MRI and participants as they rated the pain of a hot stimulus applied to their arm the team conditioned participants to think three types of cream had been applied to their arm a pain relieving cream with lidocaine a heat intensifying cream with capsicane and Vaseline the answer should have been none of them because they were all actually Vaseline which is completely harmless often soothing this means that any perceived difference in pain came only as a result of result of placebo placebo effect influenced activity in the same brainstem circuit but in opposite ways the strength of the placebo effect was linked to increased activity in an area called something of the medulla and decreased activity in the nucleus and uh and made people feel like it was less painful it's not only true for physical ailments but mentally as well is a new study patients with social anxiety who were assured that antidepressants would help them were much more likely to feel better than those who didn't receive such assurances despite receiving exactly the same treatment almost four times as many patients responded to the treatment when correct information about the drug was given so basically what the barbinal says is that you could believe like the rambam you could believe it was all a dream but you know what happened what we dream about what we think about what we fantasize about what we put our imagination to creates a reality the placebo effect happened to Jacob avino the Hebrew word Adam is rooted in the word dimion which means imagination suggests that what does it mean to be an Autumn what it means to be a human being who is created in the Divine imagination is to also create using imagination we are created by the Divine imagination and we imitate God by creating with our imagination just like we are the results of hashem's imagination we can imitate Hashem when we create with our imagination and we have the ability to create with our imagination we can create reality reality with the placebo effect and reality with our dreams and all this comes from a fascinating barbanel that maybe that may be yaakov avina woke up with a limp even if it was all a dream because psychosomatic right the whole impact of psychosomatic disorders there's a big controversy among fibromyalgia about other diseases are they I'm not weighing in don't email me if you struggle wish you a foolish Lima from fibromyalgia but there's a big debate sometimes you have patients who present with so many ailments and every test they do show there's nothing wrong and doctors conclude sometimes correctly sometimes incorrectly unfairly and cruelly that it's all psychosomatic psychosomatic something else going on with you it's all in your head psychosomatic essentially the abundance concluding that Jacob avino was experiencing something psychosomatic but if that's true for the negative it can equally also be true for the positive we can use the power of our dimion if you want to really be an Adam to be an Adam dimion is to actually engage that power of of uh the power of the imagination the power of the imagination that's what it means that's what it means as a result we don't eat the giranasha I always quote why don't we eat again the sciatic nerve we trade bro why don't we to get an Asha to commemorate what the limp what about the limp so most people think even though they've heard me every year say this because most people think you know what we don't need to get our national commemorate the limb because this Alter Ego of Asaf wanted to kill yaakov he survived let's wonders I don't understand everything else on the Jewish calendar everyone knows the old Jewish joke they tried to kill us we survived let's try to kill us we survived let's see that is the motto of every yantev so they tried to kill him he survived let's not eat that doesn't make sense so why don't we to get an Asha says you have it all wrong it's not because yaakov survived it's because yaakov almost died and why did Yakov almost die what's the key word Yakov levado why was he alone because yaakov says to his 12 children I gotta take out the garbage anyone want to help I'm so tired I'm already changed I'm already in bed but I'm comfortable sitting on the couch so yaakov goes back and how does he go back Le levado so we remember forever we don't need to get an usher to remember that what he was live Adele a Jew never leaves another Jew alone a Jew never leaves another Jew to go by themselves a Jew never abandons another Jew we don't need to get Anusha not to celebrate a victory but to know just how close we came to losing avinu yaakov because we left him levado that word love we spoke about in the past we won't revisit now as good and bad on the other hand yaakov has an enormous spiritual breakthrough why because he's levado is practicing some his Buddhism he wrestles through the night how does he wrestle by himself when do we wrestle we don't wrestle when we're in a crowded room when we're in conversation we don't wrestle with ourselves at the kiddish when do we wrestle with ourselves when we're alone when do people have the biggest breakthrough thoughts when they're dominating when they're in the shower or when they're falling asleep what do all three have in common you're alone with your thoughts you're not listening you're not watching you're not talking to anyone else all three you're alone with your thoughts that's why we have the biggest breaks of your thoughts in those moments in those moments falling asleep in the shower while diving so yaakov is levado hopefully you're not doing all three at the same time but yaakov has live Vado yaakov breaks through in this battle with Asaf because dafka he was levado he was alone in that moment let's see what else we'll get in here Israel Hashem changes his name to Israel because you wrestled and you won which is a funny name to give because you wrestled and you won that's why he gives them the name because it should have been because you won not because you wrestled what do you see from here the import where our name Israel is we're a people that wrestle we're a people that battle where people that don't give up and don't give in we are people that believe in ourselves we don't Despair and we're never hopeless Israel but also I'm better in the name Israel is Jacob's name is the sin is sorrow racism so you see the Russia tables of our matriarchs and Patriarchs Israel yaakov embodies all of our of us animals because embedded in his name Israel isos for all of them all of them together all of them as one all of them is one uh skip ahead para kilometer hay pasta Bass lemonade base spoiler alert he survives when he reunites with Asaf but yeah they're going to bait L and yaakov turns to his family and he says listen up everybody get rid of the idols get up get rid of the idols cleanse yourself change your clothing we are out of here says he brings a gamatria Elohim get rid of your idolatry is the same as anyone want to guess yeshu yoshika Jesus you're allowed to say Jesus you know why you could say it in the show because that's how he got nalia when he was called to the Torah Yeshua Jesus was Jewish yahshua that was his name quotes you could say his name his second name you can't say because that means deity or God that we don't believe in so C you can't say J yeshu Jesus you can say the gross at it because that was his name that was his Yiddish that was a Jewish name anyway Yeshua and gamatra is Elohim when yaakov says get rid of the idolatry Purge it destroy it purify yourself from it says that was a a illusion that was already pretending to a Time get rid of yeshu I've been a frame heard from abena Tom that one time this is near Missouri says he once heard from urbana-tam that he asked an angel in a dream are Jesus and his mother Miriam alluded to in the Torah and the the angel said yeshu um that there's an allusion to Jesus and Miriam in the Torah our parasha get rid of the Elohim also it says don't uh don't adopt or follow their or follow their way being hacked a little bit online okay maybe that's a sign that we stop here I have to say one more one more vote one more vote because it connects to something you said earlier I love this idea foreign where does the time go you're wondering at least I'm wondering one more here it is these are the children of yaakov who are born says why does the Torah list all the children of yaakov as that being born in was not born in you see an incredibly important um is sowed from here that the real birth of something is not when we get it the real birth of something its conception is when we dive in for it it's when we diving for it you know we we tend to we find ourselves that we um we dive in for things and then the next day we dive in for the next things and then the next day we'd have them for the new things and the next day we're done for the new new things we need but do we ever stop and pause and realize that the Brokers of today are the answer to this feelers of yesterday do you ever pause to realize my feelings are being answered they've been answered I'm grateful for that having been answered do we ever realize that that which I got today they got news that a grandchild got engaged a great grandchild was born a job that you got ashirach was made do you realize wow when I was darling under my that I would have grandchildren thank you Hashem when was that grandchild born the date on the calendar that their birth certificate says now when you Daven under the you would have grandchildren or whenever it was we have to draw that line and connect those dots in order to realize that that which we have the brachas that we're blessed to get are the answers to this philos that we and those who before us offered and that's what the huskuni says how can you say binyama was born in what do you mean all the yako's children were born in padanarama was not born in yes he was you know why Rahul was governing to have another child in padalaram so the Fila foreign should know and and we should pay that forward our children and grandchildren need to know that the Brokers of their life is because they had parents and grandparents who davined when they let the candles Who Davin when they came out of the Mikvah when they were most in so many ways that's when they were born the brachas that they're receiving and experiencing were conceived they were born even earlier when those trilas were offered it's a lot more to share about that wishing everyone fantastic day stay happy stay healthy and stay home