Part 111: Answering Amen With All Our Effort

good morning B to help yourselves to Coffee we continue our study and our learning and our and our reinforcement of oura growing in our faith and Reliance and dependence and gratitude to Hashem to feel his presence in our life we are continuing the same piece hopefully we'll finish it today that one lives through their amuna only with amuna are we alive a life without amuna a life where we think we are the center of the universe a life where we think we are in control and we are in charge a life in which we think the opposite we are the subject or object of Randomness or chance is uh to be dead even while alive the only way to truly be living is to be to have a sense of faith that carries us that supports us that guides us and that directs us so we last left off last week and rolat talked about from where do we derive this strength this energy how can we on a daily basis when we're not sure about what to do and where to go and how to find the courage and the strength to know that everything is for a reason that hm is with us so he said is the Jewish people we are characterized as we are believers the children of Believers could we be here and would we be here after 2,000 years of Exile persecution expulsion extermination pums would we be here and could we be here if we were not people of faith we would have given up we would have walked away a long time ago the fact that we're stubbornly still here is only because of the strength of our it is our strength I mentioned yesterday in the paraa class at the end of the paraa we have the story of Miriam who was punished for the way she spoke about her brother she's placed outside the camp and the Jewish people wait they don't go anywhere they wait and the med says why do they wait in the Merit that she waited when she put her brother mosha in the basket she didn't go home she didn't walk away she didn't give up she waited and she watched because with a sense of optimism and hope with a sense of Faith she knew with confidence that there was a master plan that there was a reason that it would come together and the Merit of her waiting the Jewish people waited for her and the fact that she waited and then we waited implanted within us that capacity to wait the Jewish people have waited patiently for 2,000 years we waited patiently to come back to our homeland we continue to wait for MSI we wait for anti-Semitism to end and to disappear we have that capacity where do we get the strength to wait it's not just that we have more patience than anyone else Jews are very impatient so where do we have the strength to wait the answer is the waiting is inspired by faith if you have confidence and optimism and hope and you have faith in a bright future then you're willing to wait for it you believe in it then you can wait for it we are it is embedded in our very DNA it's embedded in our character and when we falter and when we fail and when we stumble and when we're worried we're going to fall is when we need to tap into that DNA to remember that we are we have that ability not to sit and to analyze philosophically not to start to provide all the proofs and evidence for God's existence and all the evidence uh for why we should believe not intellectually but it means emotionally we remember that we are M we think about our parents and our grandparents and our ancestors who went through infinitely worse than whatever it is that we're going through not to minimize what some people are going through but they went through that times six million for example and yet many preserve their faith we are M last week there was a wedding in Israel I just saw the article yesterday of uh a young woman whose parents were murdered by terrorists and a young man whose parents were murdered by terrorists from two neighboring areas in Israel um one was on pesak morning they came into their into their yesu and killed the parents in the home the other two horrific Terror events and the children two orphans of victims of Terror got married and there was a video of This Magnificent and singing you know so what is we will yet again here for 2,000 years we Sayang shama we will hear is there a greater patience is there more waiting is there a greater expression of Faith o shama we will hear so they're singing and dancing and bopping and celebrating and joyous and there's no parents they're orphans they both what they have in common in fact that's how they met they met through the one family fund that runs events for victim family victims of Terror that's where they met as young teenagers they've stayed together and now and they got married last week A Beautiful video where do they draw that strength how do they have that strength we draw strength from them they're half our age we draw strength from them they draw strength from the people that comes before them we are M and we have the capacity to wait and we have the capacity to with faith and to sing that we will once again yet hear and we're meriting to see and to hear it in our time and there are there are stumbles along that way but the trajectory of the path of the Jewish people is extraordinary okay we're in the second full paragraph on page gimmel anyone else wants more sheets here in his [Applause] says when confronted and passed 10 tests 10 tests I mean 10 real tests not the plane was delayed he was stuck at the red light the person yelled at him they ran out of the the sail they ran out of the kalas at the supermarket I don't mean 10 tests like we go through tests that we like the internet was slow the AC wasn't working the like these are our 10 tests I don't mean that Al mavina went through 10 tests being thrown in the fiery furnace being asked to kill his own son I'm talking 10 tests and says the purpose the goal of the result of going through those 10 tests was that he embedded and imbued within us in our DNA he made it the tea of am Isel we have certain genetic things that we pass on and this is a joke but it's true right I can't speak toam but ashkanam have a long list of genetic diseases a long list of ashkanazi genetic diseases most which rolve around the bowel so but apply to other areas as well so what does that mean I'm ashkanazi so like if I D at a certain minion I'm predis predisposed to certain diseases got to do dor sharum or take your blood test before you get married make sure you're not both carriers of these ashkanazi diseases that's our great privilege is that we have designated diseases ashkanazi diseases so the answer is that yeah we've we have a strong DNA we only marry we're supposed to marry not ashaz supposed to far but Jews marry among ourselves so we have a DNA which remains intact and says which true physically that we have a physical DNA is true metaphysically that we have a spiritual DNA we have an emotional DNA and just like the doctor may ask you about certain illnesses in the history of your family or want to know if you're ashkanazi descent or want to run several tests because if you are of ashkanazi descent it means you're predisposed to have certain diseases it also means if you're of Jewish descent are you from aru yeah great that means that you have you're predisposed not to a genetic disease but to a genetic Health that you are among the among the wonderful attributes and character traits among the assets that we have is amuna we have that capacity to tap into Faith even in hard times it has been transferred from generation to generation to the point that it became naturally implanted in us a living is the core of all ques the prophet who said to be a righteous person who's alive what is it mean to be living the name of the saer to be a is one who meaning the sadic is the person who as they go through life and everything in life they say this business deal this thing that happened this fend and Bender that's going to cost me X Y or Z this frustration everything is from hem they live it informs and inspires the whole life her whole life everything that happens is this is for a reason is it frustrating yes is it upsetting is it sometimes deeply painful and sad yes is it sometimes joyous and incredible and amazing and fantastic there too you have to remember oh this gift that I can go on vacation and where I'm going and how things are working out and the gifts that I have of the I'm getting from my family from my children that's also finds life lives life all of life is animated is informed by a sense of Amun it's not that Amun is in the OR raun is at the group rauna is in my Amun I listen to or I subscribe to amuna is everywhere in everything I do everywhere and everything I do and you see the people who don't have amuna often they're not what kind of life is that there's there's deeply anxious and depressed and worried and angry and envious and I don't mean I say this every time we give these examples I don't mean clinically somebody who clinically has challenges in these areas it's not their fault there's all kinds of reasons they need to address it they need to heal it and solve it but I mean the other genetic disease that we all ashkanazi Jews have towards being anxious and and angry and all those other things not at the clinical level but just the being alive and Jewish level so what kind of life you forfeit your life if you're envious of what everyone else have you spend your life looking at what everyone else has and you say that's not fair that's not right they don't deserve it I do I want it I need it I should have it I deserve it more than them what kind of Life do you have if you're not happy with what you have what kind of Life do you have if you get angry and lose your cool and you blow your top at your spouse at your children at your neighbor at your friend at your cooworker cuz you think life revolves around you and a person didn't fall in line and do things the way exactly you wanted to and you get mad and Furious and angry you forfeited your own sanity your own well-being your own Tranquility your own Serenity so if it's notaso if you're not living with amuna that this is the way it's meant to be and this happened for a reason and I need to challenge it and confront it and I take my initiative to heal it to repair it to overcome it but in the end of the day I can't control it it's the way it's meant to be if you don't have that attitude you forfeit your very life you forfeit Serenity you forfeit Tranquility you forfeit peace of mind you forfeit good health high blood pressure and and heart disease and cholesterol and sugars and all of the anxiousness and envy and anger and rage you forfeit physical health mental health spiritual health so you're not alive what kind of life is that when the world revolves around you everything has to happen the way you want when you're so worried about what will be and you're living life on shilkus and you're living life life on the edge of losing your cool you're not living you're not alive so the only way to live how do you live when you live reinforcing and flexing that amuna muscle and saying whatever happens it's for a reason is it the way it's meant to be okay we'll solve it it's good how do you get to that point where the amuna informs everything you do you lend someone your car and you get a phone call that they had a fender bender good so how do you react in that moment you could could you could absolutely go crazy yell and scream and how could you and what happened what's the matter with you or you say okay it's just money I'll fix it everyone's okay nobody got hurt thank God thank God that's all it was amuna if that weren't meant to be it wouldn't have happened if it happened it was meant to be that doesn't mean you don't hold people accountable if you're the front car and your Fender was bent you hold the person who hit you accountable collect their insurance you make them pay for what they did to your car I'm not suggesting that we become pushovers I'm not suggesting that we become people that could be taken advantage of it just means not in the easy moment you know you got the phone call U yes do you have these numbers on your lottery ticket I'm calling to inform you you've won the lottery oh thank God it's not hard to be grateful to God in those moments is not in the getting the phone call that oh you know the medical test and you were worried that you had something and that just going to let you know it's nothing oh thank God that's easy is when you get the phone call there's been a fender bender you get the phone call God forbid that says we got the results and they're not what we wanted so how do you get to that level so says and he reinforces this in Al too when you live with mindfulness and intention in doing mitos then that is working on all the time we spent a lot of time this year on May making 100 a day not 10 bras a day not 50 bras a day 100 bras a day so if you make a h hundred bras and with each BR I'm about to make a br on my cup of coffee over here when you make that BR and you say everything came to be because I spoke and wied it and wants it and whether it's the fact that the water molecules in this cup of coffee stick together and stay hot and have caffeine and keep me awake and all the good in this and I'm thanking Hashem for the coffee and for the person who brought it and the person who sponsored it and the fact that it's still hot and the Ambiance in which I can drink it and I'm thinking Hashem for this whole thing and then I take that experience with mindfulness not the shahak where I didn't think about it and I was talking to you and I don't remember making one of the hundred bras a day but if I remember if I take that level of mindfulness in the one bra and now multiply that out times 100 what does the end of that day look like when you're falling asleep in a 100 times during the day you said that everything hasem is from you the Coffee Bean and the farmer who harvested it the person who packaged it and the distributor who trucked it and the store that carried it and the one who ground it and the person who cooked it and made it and the one who put it into the box and the one who transported to the Shool and the one who sponsored it and the fact that it has all the elements that it has that makes it so delicious and makes me wake up and the fact that it's hot and it's comforting and it's a warm beverage and the Ambiance and the Good Feeling cup that I have that I could from which I could drink it that I don't even have to bother washing it afterwards there's a million there's a million and one things to be grateful for within what what did I miss there's is right there there are at least 100 things to be grateful for within the one braa now it'll be debilitating you won't really have a very productive day if all 100 Bros you stop and have a half hour meditation for each bra I'm not suggesting that it will not go very far life but you could have a 30second meditation for each braa how about this you got have a 3 second meditation for each braa a little bit a little bit we worked on in benching God you sustain the whole world with your goodness whole world my whole world is sustained it exists and with the challenges we have and some more severe than others but there's still so much good and there's still so much to be grateful for and there's still thank God there's a foundation and there's a support system and there's medical knowledge and breakthrough and there's the ability to bounce back and one day blends to the next to the next where a month or a year or 10 you could look back and say I survived that challenging situation all this is so worthy of BR so when a person does mitv says r with kavana this whole thing the tagline on my website and what I'm trying to I think captures my teaching style or the message I want to get across or how about this the message I want to live myself is towards a Mindful and meaningful Jewish life that's what all Torah and Mitzvah are towards a Mindful and meaningful Jewish life a Mindful and meaningful Jewish life we're in a world that is trying to rob us of our mindfulness this and it's trying to get us to lead a Mindless life and that overflows into our Judaism where it is a Mindless and meaningless Jewish life that's the tragedy of so many of our children going off to University and elsewhere and running away because what they saw what they experienced what they were taught was a Mindless and meaningful meaningless Jewish life and our mission is to actually do the opposite to teach a Mindful and a meaningful Jewish life why are we doing what we're doing and how does that enrich our life how does it make our lives come alive how does it make our life In Living Color and high definition how do we achieve that how do we do MIT with mindfulness excuse me one second I have to make a it's unbelievable right it's an amazing amazing I didn't just actually make the I was in Starbucks last week in the table next to me were two women they were clearly working they had lap tops open and notebooks open they were working and I wasn't EAS dropping on their conversation but but no no I wasn't ease dropping I was not ease dropping on their conversation the decel level of their conversation went up when they stopped joined hands held hands closed their eyes and prayed on the work that they were doing together wow wow and I took a picture of them maybe that's wrong but I was so blown away because two observant Torah Jews would be embarrassed and totally utterly embarrassed hesitant reluctant in any public place first of all even in the sh two people were sitting in the sh having a meeting could you imagine they'd stop and say I have to hold hands but let's Davin let's ask Hashem to help us with this we're not sure what to do next what should be the strategy what's our next move where do we go or we've now plotted out a strategy but let's not leave without saying Hashem please bless this with success could you imagine they'd be afraid they'd be looked at as weirdos and wackos right nobody would want to marry their children nobody would want to stand next to them near the Kish nobody would want to be so these two people these two women Starbucks I was going to go over and join them for their prayer but I wasn't invited it uh I was so blown away I was so inspired that's I'm in a meeting I'm sitting in a Starbucks we've just went through what we need to do to make this business a success we stop and we say now we needed to have the blessing of Hashem now we need to have the blessing of Hashem that's a whole other level that's a level of mindfulness and meaningfulness in everything that you do from the business you do to you're about to start the workout to you're about to put the potato cogle in the oven to you're about to engage a difficult conversation to you're about say Hashem please help me find the right words Hashem please help this be a success Hashem thank you for the fact that that went better than I thought it would Hashem sh with mindfulness and with meaningless with meaningfulness and shabas brings us to this level of in a very unique way we describ shabas in the we say shabas is what is it means a true rest what's a true rest a true rest you know people say last night I slept like a baby up crying every hour like that is not a that is means a true and a genuine and a authentic and a lasting rest what does it mean a rest of amuna I understand AAS what is AAS amuna and from there we get to that if we do this hasem your children will see and they will know that from you comes man and through man we can sanctify your name says you know what it means it means it depends what your shabas looks like spoke about this yesterday also in the para the man had seven branches the six branches that the the vision said face the middle Branch the middle branch is shabas the six week days should all be about counting down to shabas do we count down for shabas to begin or do we spend all shabas counting down for it to end what's our attitude towards shabas so it says R if we come to shabas where there's Torah and there's miros and there's time with our family and we're disconnected from technology and we're having meaningful conversations that is AAS it is a man which yields a greater sense of amuna we walk away from that chabas with an injection a boost of amuna with an elevated level of amuna that's what chabas does for us I heard a she I heard a Dr I sang I spent time I did my people at my table I enjoyed great Delicacies in fact I had a little I drank a little bit of wine and my inhibitions fell away and I was able to really talk about deep deep things it is a rest which yields a level of if shabas is observed properly he said I once asked somebody what is what does it mean and he said it is a perspective a view of how you see the world so a um what's true about somebody's an artisan or craftsman as an attitude towards the world is certainly true the person who lives with a sense of amuna to live with amuna is an Outlook in life it's the glasses that we wear and Mauna are the glasses that we wear do we see things in sharp Focus or are they blurry do we understand can we interpret do we see the reality or are they blurry how do we get to this how do we put on those glasses so that we see everything in our life the frustrating moments the good moments the happy moments how do we get to that level of amuna that we put on those Amun glasses so that we can see and interpret and understand everything through that perspective and the answer is kazal told us how we work on answering aain and answering aain with cavana says anyone who answers aain with all their energy and all their strength a true aain aain so the gates of G are opened my what is says stands for the word is an acronym for God is the king who trustworthy in the word itself there are three Illusions the word you say I say Amen brother amen sister am what am I saying the is kale there's a b there's a creator of the world there's a source of all existence there's someone in charge he's not just the God who created the world and then moved on he's kale but he's also he's my king he's the king of the Universe I am his subject I am his servant I am here at his will I serve at the pleasure of the king and lastly that God is trusted to bring mashiah he will bring the Redemption I have faith I have optimism I have hope I'm positive I'm confident about a brighter future optimists optimists you know it's we joke that we as Jews are predisposed towards being a negative and farb and difficult but we are the Eternal optimists like we talked about that Miriam waited and we waited for her and we've been waiting for 2,000 years and Y we are Eternal optimists we have survived only because we are Eternal optimists we are Eternal optimists what was the quote of the week in my newsletter last week from Winston Churchill Optimist see an opportunity in every challenge pessim a challenge at every opportunity something like that that was Winston Churchill a go back and look at last week's email newsletter so what was that quote it means you could live life in one of two ways either you come across a challenge and you say you know what this is an opportunity remember last week I read about the individual whose wife died very young after a short bout with cancer leaving him with young children who said a broken heart can either be your heart is in shards it's in shattered in peace a broken heart can open up your heart to discover new things so there are things that break our heart but how it breaks our heart and where and what we do next is up to us so you could live life in two ways either you in every opportunity you're the pessimist no this is why it's going to go wrong this is why it's never going to work out this is why it's never going to happen an opportunity is presented and you see all the negative possibilities the pessimist sees why there's a challenge and why it's a crisis in the opportunity The Optimist is confronted with a crisis a challenge instead say what an opportunity this broke my heart I'm going to cry I'm going to grieve I'm going to mourn it broke my heart but there are opportunities to learn about myself there are opportunities for the next chapter of my life there are opportunities to still Forge ahead who I'm going to become and what I'm going to contribute to this world are you an optimist or pessimist I mentioned that one family fund how many Jewish founded organizations began out of tragedy but the person took the tragedy and channeled it into healing this world and repairing the world and making an enormous difference that's an optimist an optimist sees the challenge confronts The Challenge and sees the opportunity the pessimist sees the opportunity and imagines all kinds of challenges so we have faith we have optimism we have hope so these three themes are all included in that short word of three letters so every time we answer aain which could be toades or it could be aain to the people around us making a out loud what we're saying when we say a is K he's the Creator there's a creator of the universe M he's the king I serve at his pleasure I have hope and optimism and confidence that in his world things will yet be better things are for a reason you know in a Jewish Court when a person has to make an oath one person swears they say the sh the other person answers aain and legally binding is the oath they answer aain too so just like it's transferred it's legally binding when you answer aain to someone else's oath says the mar similarly when you answer aain to someone else's BR you have said that BR you are offering that recognition that acknowledgement you're saying so now we understand why the said to answer aain with all of our strength and vigor and energy most of all answer aain with mindfulness and meaning not an aain where you muttered it and don't even remember saying it not the aain that you don't even say because someone made a br but you're too busy talking or texting or you don't even hear the but to stop and to say to say it not to answer aain to someone's bras presupposes that people are making Bros out loud which is what we should all be doing it could be in a business meeting I guarantee in Starbucks those two African-American women if they were going to make bras on coffe would have not hesitated in the middle of the business meeting to say excuse me one moment I'm just going to make a blessing to Express gratitude for this cup of coffee I want you to give you my personal guarantee that you can do that with anyone at any time in any setting and I promise you that the person will only be impressed and inspired and not the opposite we're embarrassed or reticent or ashamed or apologetic or defensive or worried we don't do it we're worried to wear yamaka on our head literally and figuratively but it's the exact opposite our mission and our purpose here is to spread the name of Hashem and if you're in a business meeting you're at the gym you're wherever you're talking to someone next to the treadmill and you just took water from the water and you say excuse me one second I just want to say thank you for this cup of water I'm so thirsty right now what what a miracle for this cup of water no one's going to look at you like you're crazy they're going to say that's amazing wow that's extraordinary that's incredible what are you saying what does that mean how do you say what do you say you say that every time you eat something that's what they said what every single time you eat something you say something yeah I do but don't worry I don't usually pay attention so it's quick you know what can imagine the difference in the world we're going to make so to be able to answer presupposes that the people are going to say BR out loud and that's our mission that's your homework for the summer right the said the word this week's para mosha is challenged when his siblings speak about him and God testifies on Mosa's behalf and says Whoa you can't talk that that way about my Moshe he's the humblest of all people in my whole home he's and said what did the word mean he is the most reliable and trustworthy Dependable consistent don't you dare talk about him that way what is a means ditto it means I'm a card carrying believer a means I'm standing upright in my faith the fact that I answer means I have just affirmed my membership in the club of Believers the goes even further and it says the person who answers a is greater than the one who made the BR it's even greater to answer than to make the and the reason is when you make the you're limited to just the sh or whatever the words you said but if you answer you're saying not one thing but three imagine if he answered 90 times a day you want to open the gate to G you can see it from here we studied a r piece a couple years ago we've been doing this a long time I think today is the 1111th Amun year that's weeks we've been doing this for a long time please God we'll continue to do it so we learned early on R interpreted what does this mean if you answer AO we open the gate to ganen first of all usually the promise when you do something right is you become a Bena you become worthy of the world to come why are we saying ghade in here as opposed to the world to come number one number two what do you mean you open the gate I don't want to open a gate and look in for on the outside I want to go there so the reward for answering aain is opening the gate don't open the gate let me in I want to be in there on the inside so explained why ganen Nota here's the message what was life like in ganen life was had everything God's presence was undeniable he spoke directly to them they lived with him in the garden they lived the most beautiful amazing life where they had everything because they were living with him in the garden we want to get back there we want to live that type of life you know how you do it you answer amaz when you answer when we live with we can't go back there you can't go back to Garden of Eden where there is no pain in childbirth and you don't have to work for a living and so on and so forth we can't go back there but we can open the window we can open the gate we can see into it we get a glimpse of what that life was like when we live it here when we answer AO when we sing out K he's a creator of the universe and he's my king I serve it his pleasure and I have hope and optimism and trust that all that he does is for a reason and for a purpose and when I live life informed and inspired by those three themes and principles then I have seen into Gan aen I got a glimpse of what that world was I get to go back there a little bit still from the outside I can't get on the inside but I get to go back there so that's our homework to answer a over the summer to make bras out loud so others can answer a we are on break now till the end of July our summer recess but yes on another wonderful season and our should only grow we should be that we truly find life through living with