(Part 152): Grab the Rope and Hold on Tight

good morning and Boer to and welcome back to living with amuna our weekly relas support group to remind ourselves what matters what's important how the world is run what we can control and much more importantly what we cannot because uh once a week is not even enough for this support group the truth is the challenge particularly in the time in which we're living that we confront each and every day every hour almost every moment to be able to tap into the piece of us that knows that there's meaning and purpose to the universe that can turn and rely and feel the presence of our best friend Hashem Hashem is my shepherd may I never be lacking in his shepherding me through life every single day it's so easy to forget to think we're in control we're in charge or to think that we are subject of Randomness or that we're victims of nature but the truth is that we have a father a father in Heaven who loves us and he's watching over us and not every time does it feel Pleasant or enjoyable but it always is for a reason and a purpose and to live with that confidence and to live with that that therefore that sense of calmness to know that he's there and that everything is for a reason I want to thank our Amun sponsors for the year our friends drors Ai and Bella Morgan who sponsored laas our dear friend RAB Dr Brian galet were coming upon us first year at site it's really hard to believe the world has been a different and a much uh less bright place since he's left us but he was a model of of amuna and continues to inspire our amuna and on a daily basis it's also sponsored by and Leslie Abid our dear friends in honor of their children Joey and Marissa who are expecting please God should have a healthy baby a happy baby a holy baby and to give them a lot a lot of Nas and this Justus in also want to thank Fran and Jerry Weinberg who are sponsoring this morning in for should have continue to inspire and light up the world and a continued for elu Shan thank you all for your generosity and Your sponsorship we are learning We are continuing seems like a NeverEnding piece but it is finite just takes us a long time to get through every line but this beautiful essay by the author of The bav ra Schwarz who is describing for us what a life of Faith looks like what a life of amuna looks like what it means how when a person has an awareness and a mindfulness and a Consciousness that the world is not all about us we can't take credit and we're not only to blame that we are not the victims of of chance but rather there's meaning and purpose and order that when we're able to tap into that best part of ourselves to remember that and to realize that and to calm ourselves down over that then then we can rid ourselves of anger and anxiety and envy and arrogance the worst part of ourselves we can let go we can tap into and reinforce and promote the better part of ourselves I'll tell you the living with Amun we do now on Wednesday mornings you think it's for you it's a support group for all of us but the truth is it's really for me because it puts the pressure on me the rest of the week when I'm about to lose it or I'm about to give in to the worst voice that says Panic or fear fear or be anxious or be angry so what are you doing you give this class you preach and teach this each and every week you can't do that so with all of us with all of us you know thank God we have and I have the greatest challenge there is in the world and I know many people would kill to have this be their Challenge and so we're grateful for it not complaining about it but you know it's hard to make a Sim anytime planning a SIM is complicated now try planning a SIM with a moving Target where the rules are changing each and every day and figuring it out so it's easy to lose your cool it's easy to grow frustrated it's easy to throw up your hands and say what do you want from me and those are the moments that test us and we have to realize the best part of ourselves and say no it's going to be okay there's a reason I plow forward I do what I do I do what I know I can do and I leave the rest up to him so it's just an example each of us are are challenged almost daily with reminding ourselves that to live with amuna is to live with his presence is to live and see the world through Harmony as we've been talking about now for months the external voice the external sense of self it's battling it's involved in conflict and tension and the external sense of self from the moment we wake up until we fall asleep has to manipulate maneuver calculate conquer but the inner sense of self theim the godliness in us the godliness in US sees Harmony and peace in the universe says I'm willing to let go and let God I need to take my initiative and I need to do what I need to do and beyond that it's entirely up to him I shared with you the quote that anxiety is the tension between the now and the then please God they'll be a wedding in August between now and then is anxiety how do we get from now to then but the then's going to be wonderful it's going to be beautiful so if you had a crystal ball and you could fast forward to the then and you could see that the then is going to work out however it's going to work out 10 people a thousand people 10,000 people then is going to work out then you don't have to experience the anxiety what do we what do we lose you know the anxiety that fills for the now to the then it costs us mental health emotional health physical health it sabotages our relationships our creativity our sleep our success the anxiety's never ever actually generated anything good there's not a positive outcome that comes out of it now I know sometimes when you're a little bit anxious you'll work a little bit harder and you'll think a little bit more strategically but you don't need anxiety in order to do that you just need you the anxiety itself literally depletes us and debilitates us and it and it beats us up what do we give up in that process so anxiety is the tension between getting from the now to the then so just fast forward to the then and get a little window and a glimpse and say the then is going to be good the then is going to work out and if it doesn't and it's not good the then doesn't always have the positive outcome the person I D for or prayed for or the lab results that I've been waiting for or whatever the the then is the then always doesn't have the outcome that I hope for but you know what there's a day after nonetheless there's a day after there's a recovery there's a putting one foot in front of the other so the anxiety is never positive it's never helpful skip from the now to the then with your crystal ball fast forward to the then and then live backwards to the now with a sense of Serenity and Peace by speaking and listening to the better voice the inner voice The Godly voice that's inside each and every one of us oh we continue So lately R Schwarz is developing the idea that many of us too many of us have an overconfidence where we think that life is about us we're self assured we're self-confident we have too much self self esteem where we think I can control and micromanage and manipulate I'm in charge of everything I can take responsibility and credit for everything and we also have a overconfidence in all types of um things around us for example the Army the police there all kinds scientists doctors medicines all kinds of influences and Powers around around us we have confidence in and we should and it's good and we need them and we should fund them but we can't have an overconfidence in them what does he mean when a person makes a mistake and thinks there's nothing that can oppose them there's no force opposite them there's no tension with them if only I can get them whoever the them is the elected official the police the Army the doctor the lawyer the judge whoever the them is if if I could get the them on my side then there's no opposing Force there's no battling there's no tension it's a mistake says R Schwarz because whatever level of empowerment that address or those people have and there is a lot of empowerment in this world there is nothing and I repeat there is nothing and there is no one who does not pose who does not face opposing forces who does not have to battle that does not have Mish something opposite them except for the almighty except for God God is the only one who wills and wants and it is there is no impediment there's no obstacle there's nothing opposing God is infinite omnipotent Divine Providence dominion and for God therefore everything he Wills Is God is the only being God is the only entity God is the only that doesn't have any hisago has nothing opposite or opposing him everything and everyone else for every Force there's an equal and opposite Force it's a law of science for example says R Schwarz young children the younger you are the more they trust in their parents every child runs into a problem what do they do mommy daddy ABA T whatever they call you mommy daddy they come they scream they yell bail me out the little child bail me out my hands are sticky bail me out my siblings annoying me bail me out my teachers treating me unfairly bail me out pay my bills bail me out bail me out of where I am that I don't want to be what every age the level goes up but children think that their parents can come and save them their parents can helicopter in and their parents will bail them out literally or figuratively that is a natural innate within a child and that makes sense because from when the child is born who literally who literally nourishes the child if not the parents who protect and nourish and take care and nurture that child so it cultivates and conditions the child as they grow to think and to believe call Mommy and Daddy call Mommy and ABA Mommy and ABA can take care of everything they'll set the teacher straight they'll set the principal straight they'll set the camp straight the rules straight they'll set everything straight mommy and ABA they'll set the Apple Store straight they'll take care of it all even if God forbid there's a fire in the home the child calls for momy or AB our community knows sadly about a fire in the home there's a fire in the home and the child screams from Ab save me Rescue Me says of shorts but we know the parent knows that the parent will go to the end of the Earth the parent will Ex exert and express every effort every ounce of their being and their strength to try to intervene and save a child in every circumstance to do everything they can to bring happiness to their child but the parent also knows that they're limited and they're finite in the end of the day they could try everything they can try but in the end of the day they have to throw up their hands because they're not in charge they're not in control and in the end of the day they can't do it all they can't necessarily save the child from the fire we can't necessarily have the funds to bail them out of their debt and we can't necessarily that relationship and we can't necessarily give them the baby that they so badly want and we can't necessarily help them overcome that addiction or their struggle however hard the parent tries the parent knows it's a very I've been there I've been there and tried to counsel and help and support and love and every parent knows about themselves it is a very sobering and humbling moment when you accept and realize that with everything you try and as much as you feel that you've spent your life doing everything you come in to fix it to fix it you're the fix it man aba's the fix it man mommy's the fix it woman you fix things you fix things this thing isn't working my laptop's not working the lamp isn't working my friendship's not working and you've always come in and you fixed it why can't you fix this for me fix this and give me a baby fix this and make him fall in love with me fix this and let me get that job fix this and give me back my health fix this why can't you fix it and every parent has that Moment of Truth where they realize that no matter how hard they try and no matter no matter skills or powers are blessings they have they can't fix everything they can't so with children they realize sometimes at some point the children realize my parents can't fix everything and even though I've been conditioned from my youth and my adolescence to think that my parent can helicopter in and swoop in and fix it I realize my parents are finite and there are things that they confront and they face there are tensions and B that I have that not my parents and nobody can come in and can fix so the same way that the child because of a certain level of emotional or or cognitive immaturity the same way that the child makes the mistake of thinking that the parent can always fix it in bail it out that my parent has no conflict or confrontation or battle so to we as adults also make that mistake we have the arrogance or we have the um overconfidence to think that we or those we have access to can fix anything and everything but you need to understand and we need to understand clearly that what we need to know that just as the child has that moment where they realize as much as I love and admire my parent and as much as I look up to them they can't and they don't have the power to fix and to remove and to overcome every obstacle so too we as adults need to look at our lives and realize that we not the police not the lawyer not the doctor not the scientist not money not power not fame there is nothing in this world and there's nothing you can have and there's no one you could know that can absolutely eliminate the things you will confront and that you will battle I don't care who you are how much money you have Corona virus doesn't discriminate or care how many friends or followers you have online how much money you have in the bank account how popular you are among your friends it doesn't matter and it doesn't make a difference who you have access to or what you have or how beloved you are there is no one and there is nothing that doesn't have hogus that doesn't face challenges and obstacles and battles and tensions it's what it means to be alive it's what it means to be in this world it's what this world is filled with it's what this world is all about so just as the immature and unsophisticated and undeveloped child makes the mistake of thinking Mommy and ABA as long as I have them on my side I'm good to go they can fix it they'll fix everything and anything they'll fix my teacher and my principle and they'll fix my technology and they'll fix my friends and they'll fix whatever trouble I get into and mommy and daddy will always bail me out out and the child gets to a stage and they realize no they can't I love my parents I admire my parents but they're human beings and no they can't so to we as adults need to have the same realization we need to recognize we need to come to the same level of maturity and sophistication that there is nothing and there's no one who can bail us out of everything of everything except for one there is one there is one with whom we can have a relationship and there's one we can turn to and we can rely on and lean on and there is one in our life if we let him in if we feel his presence if we Embrace his love if we talk to him and confide in him and thank him and even protest him but there is one who faces no obstacle and there is no tension so we can live our external sense of selves and battle battle battle and fear fear fear and envy Envy Envy or we can express and tap into our inner sense of self that leans on and that talks to and that feels his presence and that says says there's nothing that's too big or too hard for him that he's got it all covered and he's got my back and he's got my back there's nothing a bank can do to guarantee a loan you can have guarant sign on the loan but you're not necessarily going to collect that money so the bank when you go to the bank and you take out a loan the bank wants to create all kinds of guarantees and one of the guarantees that the bank creates you need co-signers you need collateral I'm taking first position on the apartment so if you default on the loan simply taking back the property the bank takes countless steps of shorts but you know there could be a sinkhole and the whole swallows up the whole house the whole apartment falls into the sinkhole God forbid forbid a missile can land Corona virus can come the unexpected a pandemic can wipe out things in ways that you never ever imagined or pictured Beyond anyone's imagination so there are no guarantees with everything you do to try to guarantee with everything you do to try to back up there are no guarantees even though these things don't happen they don't happen often so thank God Banks lend with credit if we didn't have credit the whole economy would freeze would' be at a standstill credit requires faith and thank God banks have faith and they lend with credit and the economy can continue because they know that those Wild things don't often happen but it'd be foolish and unwise for anyone to lead their finances in a way that he felt I'm Invincible I'm Immortal I'm I'm untouchable because we've all heard we've all heard of the people who felt that nothing can bring them down who the unexpected came the point he's trying to communicate with the bank as an example as a metaphor is that there's nothing you can do for guarantees in life there is nothing you can do for guarantees in life there are no guarantees for your health your Wellness there are no guarantees for your mental stability and well-being there are people who deteriorate it's the saddest thing in the world there's no money that can slow down that can slow down dementia there's no money in the world that can help you recover from illnesses that currently have cures it doesn't matter how much money it doesn't matter how much popularity it doesn't matter even how righteous you are there is nothing that you can do or what you can have so what are you going to do keep trying to Chace more worry more Panic more try harder now there are things that you can do that are wise you should wear a face you should wear a mask and you should practice social distancing I'm not saying or suggesting and I I I think that those who do are grossly irresponsible they you say listen it's up to God let go and let God and walk around without masks and open everything up and be on top of one another because it's up to God and you can't do anything about it anyway no of course there are things we can do about it there's a way for living healthy you can live healthy physically you can live healthy mentally you can live healthy emotionally and you can live healthy spiritually and that's on us to try to live healthy lives of course there's initiative we have to take there are things we have to do but once we've done them and we've taken those steps and we're living responsibly let go let go because there's nothing you can do to absolutely protect yourself there's nothing you can do to become immortal there's nothing you can do to become a person who faces No obstacles or conflicts so look inside yourself and realize that ultimately you're leaning and relying on him look inside yourself and grab onto to those who hold on to it grab on to it grab on to it I don't remember if I said it in this year or others couple weeks ago we had the mitvah of and the M Likens the Mitzvah of the strings that we wear which correspond to our Mitzvah if you add up the strings and the knots and the twists they add up to 613 and the reason that we wear those strings is to remind us like a person ties a string around their finger to remind us of what matters and what our priorities are in a world in which it's so easily to get swept up and to forget so the med says it's like a person who's on board a boat you're on a cruise and you fall overboard and now you're in the water and you're paddling like a mad man a mad woman you're trying to survive you're trying to struggle to stay alive and you're sinking you're falling and the captain throws a rope and says grab the rope and you'll live if you let go of the Rope you'll be swept away and you'll be swept under and you'll have no future grab the rope and you can live and that's the tius grab the Rope grab the grab onto he is our life preserver are we not living in stormy waters are there not Category 5 hurricanes happening metaphorically all around us each and every day pandemic pandemonium every day we wake up we don't know which World we're going to find couple weeks ago on a Friday we had tornado type uh weather 55 mph winds trees and tree limbs down everywhere how much warning did we have how much preparation could we do zero bubus came out of nowhere every day you have no idea what's going to be grab onto that rope there stormy winds they are around us they're trying to knock us down and they're trying to drag us under and they're trying to bring us to our end to our knees grab onto the rope and climb up grab onto the rope and it gives us balance and stability to stand firm and that rope is Hashem each and every day talk to him and turn to him and thank him and protest him tell him what you wish he were doing differently and where you think he's gone wrong and why you want him to change the edict or the verdict or the way he's treating the people you love or you to cuz that too is an expression of faith faith is not just being a yes person faith is not just going along with whatever God sends our way did aam go along with whatever God sent sto he stood up and he said I protest how could you do this what if there are 50 righteous 45 40 and so on did mosha look the other way when he thought there was evil he said God show me your way why do bad things happen to good people I want to understand I protest bad things happening to good people help me understand we have a rich tradition of not only saying God I'll go with your plan whatever it is but also sometimes saying God I'd like you to rethink your plan here's why I think it's wrong or unfair here's where I'd like you to reconsider I'm protesting I'm objecting and you know why that's an incredible expression of Faith because you don't protest or object to people you don't think exist you don't protest or object to figments of imagination the fact that you're protesting or objecting or giving your displeasure with what he is doing or what he's done means you believe he's there and how happy is he to hear from you even if you're not happy with what he's going to say in the end and if he doesn't say what we end if our protest doesn't turn him around it's not an excuse to be able to walk away it's part of the relationship to stick with him nonetheless but he is the constant in a world of variables we are living a world of variables 6 months if I would describe to anyone on Earth what we're living through now not one of you would believe me no one would believe me nobody we are living a life of variables every day that we wake up there are an endless list of variables about our health our stability our well-being our relationships about the world about the economy about politics about natural disasters about the weather about do we not get phone calls or turn on the news and we say is there a normal day a neighbor's house burns down by fire a tornado like uh storm comes in out of nowhere a pandemic strikes and debilitates and how can you plan for the yam this coming year so our life is filled with variables there's nothing that we can predict it's a moving Target our life now it's it to the extreme we're living that under a magnifying glass but is it ever really different any other time is it not really like this every day that we wake up and don't know what that day will bring last week on behind the beima our Wednesday night podcast which everyone is invited to tonight 9 p.m. we have a great guest the father of Jewish radio n seagull very excited to have him on and last week we were talking about this and RAB mascots you know gave a great example it's it's his to share not mine but he shared it last week that five years ago he woke up one day with a pain and it changed his life forever because he learned that day that he had cancer and thank God he's recovered and he's healthy and he's well and all is good thank God and it should just continue for him and for all those who are struggling should have speedy and complete Rua but he described you know the night before he went to sleep did he know he'd wake up the next day and it would change his life forever our life is filled with variables and differences and changes there's nothing that's predictable or reliable there's nothing that we can see coming there's only one constant in our whole life and that is God there's only one constant in a world of variables and that is God the people in our lives tragically can come and go and the financial stability can come and go and so much of what we've come to rely on or look forward to can come and go easily the one con constant in a life of variables is the almighty is hasem is the Reon Shalom is the master of the universe so like the rope that the captain throws overboard grab on he's the captain and we sometimes feel we' Fallen overboard in Stormy Waters and he's throwing us a rope and his rope is called Torah and Mitzvah his rope is called his rope is called vas he says stick with me I've got your back stick with me and you'll be able to climb out stick with me and you'll be able to survive the stormy waters stick with me KES throws us that rope the question is do we grab on and do we hold on because that will determine and predict our very future our very future why do we make the mistake we make the mistake of thinking we're in control we make the mistake of thinking we can be confident we make the mistake of thinking that we are in a good position because we have overconfidence we have overconfidence not only in ourselves we have overconfidence in the people and things around us and that we have access to let go let go of that false belief that counterfeit view of life and grab onto the Rope the only real truth the only constant with it which is him continue with the next section the soul of everybody is a mixture is the balance of this external and the internal it's a balance of the external sense of self which is battling and struggling and tension and fighting and the internal sense of self which is clinging and holding on to the rope and the two voices the struggle that goes on this is not unique to amuna and this is true for every time we were tempted to eat the wrong thing and say the wrong thing and go the wrong place we are made up of an animal and we're made up of a Godly spirit and they're both true they're both part of who we are neither is false or fake they're both Ms and true our body the material part the physical part of who we are has every parallel to an animal we eat and we eliminate what we ate and we we eat we eliminate what we ate and we reproduce the gamar says these three things gives us everything in common with an animal anatomically we have commonalities with animals there's an animal impulse and an animal Instinct and an animal drive and an animal desire in our lives let's just say the Trader Joe's corn chips made their way back into my house this week the Kryptonite came back it came back there's that animal impulse that animal desire that animal draw and the animal says what do you want you want it when you want it how you want it where you want it whatever you want it whether it's yours or not whether it's good for you or not there is that voice that just says go indulge go enjoy it's the impulse to act like an animal and live like a pig and eat like a pig and that's the animal in us and we need to name it and we need to call it out the the animal in us we are animals some people are much more animalistic than others others have conquered their animal impulse and their animal Instinct but every one of us have that animal Instinct impulse that undisciplined side of ourselves but we also have a Godly soul and a Godly Spirit he breathed into our nostrils he put it in our being he put it in our being and we have the ability to recognize and realize The Godly soul and The Godly soul is the epitome of discipline of self-control of self- sovereignty it's the ability to say that I'm not relinquishing and I'm not walking away and I'm not blaming the people around me and I'm not blaming my conditions and I'm not blaming my DNA and I'm not blaming my back ground but I'm going to take and I'm going to conquer and I'm going to mold and I'm going to shape who I am and who I'm going to become I was talking to someone last night and they're talking about the anxiety and the worry throughout this time and the lack of sleep and the thoughts come to his head and he can't there's nothing he can do when he has negative thoughts or scary thoughts or anxiety ridden thoughts there's nothing he can do but they take him over can't fall back to sleep can't stop thinking about them can't move on and I'm not talking about somebody who's been diagnosed with anxiety clinical anxiety which needs legitimate treatment and so on I'm not talking about that I'm talking about our Collective every day now really on steroids sense of anxiety of what is what will be what's happening who who can't feel anxiety by the lack of certainty we can have in anything today and I said to him I said you realize every sentence you say to me begins with I can't I can't I won't I don't I said I know one thing if you don't believe that you can control the thoughts then you won't control the thoughts that's all I know how to start controlling them how to overcome them how to be able to honor the anxiety and then move on from it what are the strategies we could talk about it the rest of the night but it's not worth even beginning that conversation if you feel that you can't control them that every thought that comes you have to allow in because if that's your if that's your assumption if that's how the conversation begins then you've already lost I said why are you giving up control why are you giving that control to someone else to these thoughts to the Panic to the worst part of who you are it begins with I can and I will and I am that's what it starts with why should you concede why should you give in why should you forfeit the control that you're capable of having and that you in fact have you can you do you will stop saying I can't and I won't we can we can realize The Godly part of who we are that's the entire Jewish life all of Judaism and all Torah and mitzvas are a platform for advancing our Godly Spirit over our animal impulse that's what it all is what are the laws of kasas if not saying don't eat whatever you want whenever you want only eat what's kosher and make a beforehand the laws of sh what you look at how you speak honesty in business awareness of time don't be lazy and sleeping you've got to get up you have to dve shakas by a certain time every aspect of T mitos are a platform for helping our Godly Soul advance and win triumph over our animal impulse and animal Instinct every aspect of Torah and mitv so if you start as a Jew by saying I can't I'm an animal it's who I am it's what I do I can't overcome it so then you're right that's who you will be but if you start by saying I roar like a lion the very the begins and opens up with I roar like a lion that's how it starts I roar like a lion to wake up like a lion I roar like a lion I wake up like a lion like a lion by the way I'll tell you an amazing V see this I didn't get to this I didn't get to this in the paral class yesterday because I ran out of time but thank God we got the am class today so I'll tell you something from the para at the end of para's B we read two paros this week we're going to catch up and get back in sync with our brothers and sisters in Israel please God so we read twoos and bak and Bak of course has the story of uh ban being recruited to curse the Jewish people and in his curses his attempted curses which are transformed into blessings he says we're gonna get up like a lion so the begins the words wake up like a lion to greet the day to serve God and on these words theama writes when you go to sleep know before whom you're sleeping and wake up and roar like a lion and the P here essentially describes that you're waking up and roaring like a lion but you're also sleeping like a lion that's how the understands it so why if the PK describes that we're going to wake up and roar like a lion do we offer reference the notion of sleeping like a lion soad pran explains he says you know what the schoa is to sleep through the night how can you wake up like a lion if you sleep like a lion and you know how to sleep like a lion by realizing to realize there's Aon sh and there's Almighty sleep like a baby because you know that a KES is in charge don't wake up every 5 minutes if you're waking up to go to the bathroom I can't help you there but if you're waking up every 5 minutes because you're anxious and you're worried and you're fearful and what will be and then you can't fall back to sleep let go and let God the answer to your sleep problems is Amun and and the answer to your sleep problems is to say I can control what I think about I can control those thoughts I can control those fears I'm in control I can do it I can do it and just because they knock doesn't mean I have to let them in let them knock all they want they're not welcome here they can't come in so a person is the blend and the balance between the external sense of self the animal part of ourselves the animal Instinct the animal impulse the animal desire the animal impetuousness but there's also a Godly soul and a Godly spirit and it says you're in control and you're in charge and you can conquer and you can do it you can do it and the question is which one we're going to live with which one we're going to listen to which one we're going to promote which one and which part of ourselves we're going to believe in which one is calling the shots are we the passenger are we the pilot every other one of the metaphors I've given I'll tell you one of the one of the last thing in the paraa and then I'll let you go because again I didn't get to this either in the par yesterday double para it's going to overflow into living with amuna what can I tell you you have to forgive me at the end of at the end of Paras Bak we have the reference to the most bizarre thing you've ever heard in your life the idolatry that they woried in that time was called Bal the Jewish people the Jewish people clung to a form of idolatry called Balor Balor what's Balor so we don't really understand idolatry in general we understand people who worship celebrities and athletes they worship the Mighty Dollar they worship social media that form of an idolatry we see all around us you know what the biggest Idol that people worship is the biggest form of idolatry that's going on all around us that people worship almost every one of us it's difficult not to we all struggle with it the number one Idol that we all worship is ourselves ourselves we worship ourselves that overconfidence that over belief that overtaking credit that's idolatry what is idolatry it's ascribing power to something other than God it's believing in something other than God it's giving into to our desire our Instinct our want our need instead of prioritizing his so anyway the Torah tells us there there's a form of idolatry that's called Balor the Jewish people clung to Balor the worship of Balor though is very baffling cuz rashan AR parha and I hope you already ate breakfast or you're not eating it right now but rashan AR paraa tells us do you know what the worship of Balor is again you'll excuse me but it's Torah I'm just teaching you what it tells us this is what was happening the times of the of The KES Jewish people are wandering through the desert and this is what's going on in the Antiquity Rashi says that Bor is that the people would come before an idol a stone figure and they would expose themselves and defecate before the idol and then they would pull their pants up and walk away I have a lot of Temptations in my life I struggle with a lot of yat aaras I can tell you that ain't one of them never in my 45 years of life have I been tempted to say you know there's a lot of things going on with statues right now statues are in the news I haven't seen anyone say go to the Statue pull down your pants and at and that's a form of worshiping the idol and there's a million questions where does that Temptation come from what is that all about how is that worshiping the idol I could see somebody who wants to defecate on an idol that they think shouldn't exist they want to take down that Idol so they're defecating that's the worship of an idol is to defecate on it how does that make sense what was this desire this drive of Balor so rautner the great rashash Shiva Berlin the the great explains that this ideology of Balor is a manifestation it's an expression of a philosophy of pessimism it was the worshippers way of declaring that actions have no real purpose that at the end of the day everything is worthless that whether one eats a succulent steak or a gorgeous Red Apple the end result is it all turns into excrement that's the statement that was being made the worship of Balor was there's no meaning there's no purpose there's no order there's no sense to the universe whatever you're enjoying on the way in it all comes out and it's all a pile of excrement that's this world and there are people with that philosophy and ideology they too are not tempted to thank God demonstrate this but there are people who may not demonstrate this on the idol but they demonstrate it in their lives and in their lifestyle there's nothing meaningful there's no purpose there's no order to the world it's all just random and fake and at the end of the day whatever comes in it all comes out as a big pile of excrement and such an Outlook is exactly the the Opposites diametrically opposed to the philosophy and the approach of Torah the Torah teaches us that every action has the ability to build and nothing goes to waste that even excrement is fertilizer it has essential life-giving nutrients that can develop that which will nourish you tomorrow even the excrement is not garbage it is the fertilizer to grow what you will eat and what will nourish you tomorrow that everything in this world has a purpose and nothing is wasted and nothing is lost and everything has meaning and can be transformed and elevated and enriched I love this Insight because it takes the most bizarre the most peculiar practice and it helps us understand that a little bit more and apply it within our own lives and so there's that there's that piece of ourselves that defecates on life and says nothing is Meaningful nothing has order it's all a waste what's the point where is he and then there's a piece of oursel who says know everything has meaning if I grab onto the rope and I hold on to him I can sleep through the night and then I can rise like a lion you can't wake up like a lion if you slept like a you know what they say I slept like a baby up every hour right if you sleep like a baby up every hour you're not going to wake up and roar like a lion but if you wake up you know how you wake up and roar like a lion because you sleep through the night because when you fell asleep you controlled your thoughts you let go and you let him in you knew it's up to him and he had control grab onto the rope and you'll sleep like a baby wishing everyone a happy healthy and a holy day see everyone 9 o' tonight if you're watching on YouTube please subscribe to our YouTube channel even if you're not feel free to go there 9:00 tonight behind the beima have a fantastic and a healthy day everyone