Part 5: Yosef and Chanuka

okay good morning it's good to continue our study of topics and issues of amuna again after our short break if your name is not on did you get an email if you didn't get an email from me yesterday reminding you about the class then make sure to give me your email address so I can add it to the uh so I can add it to the list okay we are yeah I don't have that piece of paper so just uh leave me on a piece of paper or note or send me an email okay today for our weekly dose of we're going to study a piece by the by the on this week's para and though he doesn't address it we'll try to also get in some ideas about khaka in preparation anticipation of khaka which is rapidly and um it's coming upon us okay so on the bottom of the side that has 252 and we're going to study a piece based on this week's paraa that deals with Yosef yosef's character yose's personality what distinguishes yose so he writes the following it's a funny terminology God was Y which we translate as God was with Y but it doesn't necessarily sound like that in the Hebrew so God was with Y and it sounds like there's a causal effect here because God was with y y was successful he was and his master his employer saw that God was with him and everything that y touch turned to gold everything that he was involved with in his master's home Hashem allowed him to be successful also again interesting terminology everything he did God caused his hand to be successful this is in the home of potifa exactly so yose is removed from his family we spoke yesterday in the para class if you want you can listen online about this callous and calculated uh dismissal of the brothers of Yosef they strip him literally naked and throw him in a pit and ultimately he sold to yes he finds his way through the trade route down to MIT and there in Egypt he's lucky enough to be I shouldn't say I guess he's unlucky in a certain sense but he finds himself in the home of a of a wealthy powerful man potifar we know that Po's wife seduces him over and over and over again ysf is in a position that he had no reason to resist right you would think that many people with a lot more to lose have resisted less Yosef had little to lose he's alienated from his family he has no name he has no reputation he has nothing he's been thrown away by his family and yet he shows incredible courage and self-discipline self-control and and and really um Supernatural um courage we we talk about that in another context we say in every day the sea saw and it split when the Jewish people were trapped between the Sea and the Egyptians the sea saw end it split what did the sea saw what did the sea see what did the sea see s a e e what was it that the sea saw that caused it to split so the med tells us you know what it saw it saw arono y the coffin of ysf the Jewish people had made a problem a promise to ysf that when they left Egypt they promised they would take his remains with them to be buried in Egypt Kev Yosef today is in no matter what UNESCO says it belongs to the Jewish people and despite their lighting it on fire it is forever hours so what did the sea what what the sea saw that made it split was Aron and how does it know that because the p says in our para this week that um that ysf overcame the temptation of the wife of potifar and V and he ran outside so v v that same word is used when it describes yosef's superhuman discipline to overcome the seduction of the wife of potifar vas he ran outside and V vas and the the um see also vas it it fled it split so is it just semantics is a cute play on words vas fanas I don't remember what I saw it I think it might have been the gives a phenomenal explanation he says no you know yose the natural thing for Yosef to have done was to give into that Temptation the the human nature the nature of man the nature of a young man in that situation it would have been natural for Yosef to give into the Temptation what Yosef did was nothing short of Supernatural he showed Supernatural strength to overcome the Temptation so the C looks at ysep and says if ysep could overcome his nature then I can overcome M the sea naturally should be one body of water for the sea to split is Supernatural so the sea says if yoseph has the capacity to suspend his nature and to overcome it then I can suspend my nature to be one and overcome it and split so what ysf exhibits in that in those moments because they weren't it wasn't one moment it was relentless pursuit in fact in where they had that final episode where yose runs out you know that day it was yesterday D that day um the wife of potifar had arranged it was a it was a idolatrous holiday and everyone in the household everyone in the estate cuz the gamar asks is it possible the house was really empty there's got to be some workers around landscapers were there somebody was there so the gamar says no it was a secular holiday idolatrous holiday and everybody was at church and the wife of poar said I'm not feeling so well I'm going to stay home today and it was all a ruse because she said this was her day that she got rid of abs everybody this was the day she was going to finally get Yosef and ysf it says that he came to the house lassos Malako which the rabbi in yesterday's D debate Mal to do his work does it mean to do his work you know he was balancing the checkbooks and uh and cleaning the curtains he was doing his work orass Malak meant that was it he was ready that day he was going to jump in bed with the wife of potifar Malako to do his work because he did not have any willpower left and yet despite her orchestrating things that they were all alone and despite his being at the end of the threshold of his willpower he nevertheless shows superhuman courage and strength to to run and that's why he's y that's where we learned that from that has absolutely nothing to do with what we're studying let's get back to what we're studying so because you yes yes this is in the house of potifar that's how we got to that what does it mean that potifar sees everything yfe touches turns to Gold every investment he makes when he fertilizes the grass the grass is growing beautifully everything ysf touches is wonderful what does it mean what is it that potifar sees in Ys that he knows that God is with ysf so he answers rash Y is the first R pal of M is here he's giving a Shear here tonight if anyone's interested so it's perfect Y is the first M girl y everything out of his mouth right everything he says is Hashem Hashem Hashem Hashem and here he is alienated from his family far away in Egypt where there is a pagan culture and he again has every reason in the world to keep Hashem to himself not you know not where yamaka at work so to say literally and figuratively Yosef has every reason to hide his religion his tradition from his father and his grandfather yak and his great-grandfather AB he has every reason but he doesn't what characterizes yose that in every conversation and everywhere he go he takes the opportunity to talk about Hashem in fact in next week's para mes you see that he transforms parro through that parro summons him from jail and yoseph still talking about Hashem B it's not me God is going to answer parro when he begins his conversation with parro parro is a pagan by the time he's done with par parro says to his advisers look at this kid who Rim you know God is is is with this kid God's going to answer my god's got a plan for me par says so yose is the first M girl he's first still also the first Outreach Rabbi he's doing unbelievable Outreach but he he's also a very powerful lesson of Outreach Yosef does outreach not in a frontal way he doesn't try to indoctrinate he doesn't try to make people feel guilty he doesn't preach he doesn't come at them he very subtly says things like you know someone asked how you doing oh thank God I'm doing well listen to this crazy story that happened and look what God did for for me how it worked out it's unbelievable thank God or with God's help or if if if God Wills just by using God in your casual conversation you don't know the impact you can have on others so what does potifar see in Yosef that he knows that God is with him and ATT tributes the success in his house to Ys that Yos is dropping God's name all the time thank god with God's help the brings the med was always muttering he was always Whispering he was always talking about hasem and what was his philosophy what characterizes Y what can we learn from him as it says in the beginning of means I will place God before me always it means that there is an awareness and a mindfulness and a cognizance that in everywhere I go and everything I do and everything I say in every decision I make God is next to me God is next to me not next to me like the policeman not next to me like the IRS agent not next to me like he's next to me like my loving friend like my loving father he is escorting me through life with love and with affection but obviously I'm going to speak a certain way or I'm going to um make certain decisions if I realize that God is escorting he's with me in everything I do versus if I think that I left him in sh right if my attitude is I spoke to God God's in my life I I left him in SCH I saw him this morning when I DAV I'll see him again at M or say a woman who doesn't go to sh yeah I see God when I light the candles Friday night or I saw God when I took a few minutes to D in the morning you know but in between I'm kind of on my own I'll report back to him later you're going it's going to have a very different day a different mindfulness different decisions different way of speaking different everything then if you feel not I left God and I'll see him later but he's my companion through life he's with me his guiding hand is on my shoulder in everything that I do and that was I see before me always I don't remember if I told the story here but I've told it many times but the example of I was at a bris many years ago and you know the way a bris is as the hours as the time goes by people go to work and the table's empty and empty and empty and then you're at a table which just you and one other person and now you have to go to work so you feel it's rude you're going to leave that person sitting there by themselves so I was with RAB finman and said a bris and I had to go to work and I said I'm so sorry I feel terrible leaving you alone I don't want to be rude it's just that I have to go so he looked at me if you not with him and he's like it's okay brother I'm never alone Hashem is still there with me and he wasn't like lip service he actually felt like I'm at this table I'm not alone I got company it's okay don't worry you can leave I'm not alone right that wherever you are you're driving somewhere in your car you don't need the radio on talk to Hashem fill him in tell them what you're happy about tell them what you're protesting what you're upset about you're disappointed about but in every again decision action behavior is with us so what happened said to him I need you to pour boiling water and the water behold was boiling I want you to pour cold water and behold the water was chilled so came to the conclusion I hired some kind of magician I hired some kind of witch this guy's unbelievable I don't know how he po out of a hat everything I ask him to do it's exactly right and he does it in an instant what's going on here so so first suspect suspected that that Yosef was bringing Witchcraft and sorcery down to Egypt and he said okay Egypt is the capital of Witchcraft and sorcery right part of the whole experience of God taking us out of Egypt was that we leave that behind always points out that the Jews were taken out of Egypt we were supposed to leave the Superstition in Egypt that's their philosophy we we leave Superstition and sorcery and Magic behind and we are supposed to live a life where us it's all about hasem and what happened we did leave Egypt and successfully but the Jews have taken some of Egypt with them in the form of a red Bendle around their wrist and in this mishas and this Nar and this Superstition and this scha and this says you've taken you're supposed to leave Egypt you've taken Egypt with you we're supposed to sh hasem all we turn to is Hashem we rely on we turn to we depend on we put our trust in we put our faith in not a red string and not a funny uh you know schoola superstitious Behavior that's not who we are it's not what we believe in so at first potifar thought okay Y is going to fit right in here this is the capital of superstition and sorcery and craft and magic and this guy is some kind of magician everything he does is successful everything he does he's able to transform until he saw and realized that the was Ys had this Aura cuz when you walk around and you say thank God and please God and barem isn't God good thank you Hashem this is a delicious apple I'm about to bite into if you walk around that way the people we know who actually walk around that way there's a glow there's an aura there's something magnetic there's a Charisma there's a there's something about that person the actually dwells on that person and po saw that and says the ran that's when PO says to Ys or to his other advisers or employees wow Hashem God is with this young man this isn't witchcraft or sorcery this is a spiritual guy this man is spiritual the ran explains that it was to bring honor to yose that potifar was able to see this glow of the in whether saw it in a vision in a dream or he saw it while he was awake like there was a cloud around and therefore he was able to attribute where did yose's great success come from because God was with him says this is the level this is the character of ysep he was constantly stuck to God right we spoke about in the past says that orus is God says stick with me whatever you're going through in life stick with me stick with me and I'll take care of you yoseph stuck with God he stripped naked and thrown in a pit he sticks with God he's sold in a caravan down to Egypt he sticks with God he's working in this household breaking his back he sticking with God he's falsely accused by the wife of toar and thrown into prison he sticks with God what's the result of all of his sticking with God that God had a master plan and the master plan left Yosef the second most powerful man not only in Egypt but in the world and he's in this incredible position of power and he brings his family down to Egypt and they are reunited and so on and so so forth he stuck with God in all of these moments where many others would have walked away would have abandoned he remained confident that there is a master plan there is a purpose there is a puppeteer there's an orchestrator of the world and life has meaning and purpose the universe is organized not randomly and the universe is not chance but there is a greater plan to the world and if I just stick with God STI I don't have to understand it I'm sticking with it right we say to our children sometimes you're too young you don't understand it just stick with me just stick with me I have a plan trust me it's going to work out trust me you're going to be happy trust me I know what I'm doing so God says to us trust me I have a plan trust me I know what I'm doing trust me it's in your best interest but just trust me stick with me if you stick with me there'll be a plan yeah did he when he was young or did all these things that he went through mold him that's a great question right in other words was he predisposed towards this amuna or was the amuna the result of having endured these challenges I don't know probably some kind of combination of the two look he definitely was favored by his father he grew up in yakov's lap so to say and Yakov is EMS Yakov is this great great one of our AOS this great man of amuna so he certainly inherits a tradition and a legacy Yakov y Abraham I mean he's living with the greatest these are the people who discovered God who are promoting God they are God's marketing agency um so certainly he's living in an environment that is saturated with emuna but he takes it to another level he takes it to another level Because He Lives it in the hardest of circumstances he lives it through feelings of Abandonment isolation and being alone and he takes it to another level because he sees Hashem with him in everything he does you know it seems like Yakov and Y they talked about Hashem but when they were giving lectures about Hashem Yosef takes it a step further he doesn't just talk about Hashem when he's on the Soap Box preaching about Hashem he's talking about Hashem when he's having C of coffee and he tells the Barista you this coffee isn't God amazing this coffee is delicious thank God for just inserting God into everything so that there is an an aura of spirituality and of godliness yes would you say that people that go through a lot of challenges in life have more of an opportunity to get closer to hasem because of what they've been through I have a smooth going situation yeah there's no doubt about it that um the challenges lend themselves to exploring looking for relying on leaning on and feeling closer to God away correct well it's a risk reward in other words it can it can you know it's and it's not only true in in the relationship with God you know I see all the time that when from the period of Engagement if a couple is having a difficult engagement through life if they if they're having fertility challenges if God for did they lose a child if they're having Financial struggles those things can bring them closer or those things can drive a wedge and put them apart and the same is true in our relationship with God it can be used to bring us closer or it can become a wedge that drives us apart says that's the punishment of the snake the snake after the episode in the Garden of Eden I hate to blame all the women and they Shear to women but it's your fault the snake in the Garden of Eden so right the snake seduces seduces Adam and so on so each of them have their punishment women struggle through child birth men have to break their back to work in order to bring in in a livelyhood and what was the snake's punishment it will Slither on its belly all the days of its life and eat from the dust of the Earth the says eating from the dust of the earth is a punishment you know for us to eat we have to work you have to plant and you have to you have to PL plant water Harvest grind knad bake right to do a lot of work if you eat the dust of the Earth the dust of the earth is endless you always have your meal so what kind of punishment is that that's a blessing the says you know what the punishment is the will have no relationship with God because he will never the snake will have no relationship with God because he will never need anything never need anything you send your kid away to college and you say here is a credit card with endless credit God bless ZM how often are you going to hear from your kid get your kid a debit card and then need to to right one of my daughters every time I see her number on the call or ID I answer by saying you need the card or you need money the car or money what do you need my car keys or more money put on the card which one do you need right and and it's usually right but right but but if not for my car and my transferring money to the debit card I'm not sure how often I would hear from her so being in a hard that's part of why there's a tradition that the imaho suffered with infertility why is it that they had to suffer because because when we're put in a circumstance of our back against the wall and we're looking for help everywhere we can so sometimes it causes or forces us to dig deep and to find trust and faith and amuna beyond so absolutely so maybe y's being in these hard circumstances contributed to his ability to live with this because he was with him everything he did he was successful we're on the column I think that's what that's referring to in the name of the whoever clings to God if you stick with God you are not treated with harsh judgment and if you stick with God by definition everything you do will be successful because if you define success as feeling hashem's presence in everything you do so if you welcome hasm and everything you do by definition you will have success you may not have success in in getting that job or in in conceiving that child or in achieving that desired result in that moment but going through that experience with God will create the success of a relationship with Hashem which is much more eternally pleasurable lasting and fulfilling than even that which you seek in this world so not to suggest you should give up on it the person who wants the job or wants the child or wants the sh or wants the Shalom or needs the parasa obviously need that result but the the success is is guaranteed if you go through it with God the success of feeling closer to God is guaranteed if you go through it with God only when you stop in clinging to right the r he's quoting here from the r the ran believes that Divine Providence is reciprocal and it makes sense the more you TR TR God the more God is going to be directly involved in orchestrating your life and the more you say to God I'm good don't need you in my life I got it covered God says you're good okay God bless you're good right your child who reaches out to you for help you go above and beyond and you're protective and you want to do whatever it is and the child who pushes you away a little bit then you say okay you're going to have to learn the lessons the hard way that life treats you if if if you're not involving me in your life then you're going to have to navigate life and kind of learn at the hard white so the raah says that's how God's Providence works with us the more he's in our life the more we talk about him trust in him place our faith in him stick stick to him cling to him the more he's intervening on our behalf in our lives and the less we're relying and depending on him the more he says okay you got it covered God bless you you're you're on your own yes is that just on a personal level or could that be like with Israel isra that's a good question is it on a collective National level as well that we say we got it covered um I think it probably is on a collective level as well that's why we have to as a as a people also put our faith I find nothing more heartening nothing more moving than when you see videos of of Israeli soldiers dancing up and down to and you know or that wedding or and so on and so forth so you're right and and I think that the harder it gets in Israel the more not the less collectively the Israeli people are putting their faith in Hashem like y spoke about you know that song we like to think that it's written by some with long it's written by an Israeli rockar with no that's right so if a secular Israeli with no yamaka is writing the words Whoever has faith in Hashem is not worried doesn't fear right so so I think we're doing okay please God we're doing okay you know in that area so when you stop that's when we're vulnerable if you see yourself as separated from Hashem so Hashem is separated from you and that's simply reciprocal that's not his choice that's yours you are now exposed and you are now vulnerable to every to all the elements that are out there you know if you welcome Hashem in your life hasem is watching over you he's protecting you if you say to hasm I'm good I've got it covered Hashem withdraws and bym withdrawing now you are exposed and vulnerable to everything that's out there [Music] our most righteous fulfilled this concept of seeing hasem in everything they did they tried to have a consistent constant mindfulness about God the whole day get into the car oh God thank God I got a car oh thank God I stepped on the gas pedal it goes thank God please God talking to God just talking to God all day long and this was the level of Y and it was it was um built upon his level of being holy and pure and now he's going to develop that there is a high degree of Association there's a great correlation between seeing Hashem being mindful of hem in your life throughout your day and living a life of kar living a life of Holiness and Purity and then that makes sense based on this model why clinging to hem is highly connected and correlated with living a holy life they turn the page since y was always practicing Holiness he was not looking at that which didn't belong to him be it potifar material possessions and be it Po's wife he was able to show great self-restraint in the pursuit of living a holy [Music] life why does that make sense why does that make sense because if you're tempted to use foul language vulgar language well if you feel like God's right next to you he's your companion through life you know you're not going to talk that way you know there are people I talk to sometimes and they let a vulgarity slip and they go I'm so sorry I forgot I was talking to the rabbi you know it's like okay so they have no problem talking like that elsewhere and they think oh when you're talking to the rabbi you're not supposed to let the vulgarity slip so I'm not suggesting imagine you're living with a rabbi constantly he's your companion but imagine Hashem if Hashem is your companion through life you may not watch exactly what you're watching on TV at that moment if he's sitting on the couch next to you and you may not say that Lush andara while you're having coffee with your friend if Hashem is sitting in the third chair and you may not speak with that vulgarity or that Lang language and you may not forward that email and you may not do that thing if you felt that hasem is in your life next to you right so if one can cultivate and refine themselves to carry themselves through life with this feeling of that God's with me every moment of the day I am mindful of God's presence in my life every moment of the day that's going to overflow onto the other areas of our life it's going to create greater mindfulness in how we speak and what we do and what we look at and what we listen to and where we go and so on and so forth yes what are some of the tools you have found over the years to help you create that vessel of mindfulness to create what the vessel of mindfulness you're probably a much better person to answer that question than yeah you meditation yoga acupuncture massage no um no but you've evolved I I have evolved and I'm still definitely evolving um it takes tremendous tremendous tremendous tremendous effort it's mindfulness I mean it is it is the it is choosing to be mindful it is remembering to constantly come back and to be mindful I think that it is the essence of Judaism I have a a book that I'm writing when I say that I'm writing it's in my head that I'm writing it not in reality at all but I I really I I I think I think I have an idea for a book which would be a great great contribution to me because I would learn from while writing it and maybe to others you know in in Psychology in self-help that is the key word today that everyone's talking about mindfulness mindfulness mindfulness mindfulness and I believe that Judaism is designed to be a platform of mindfulness from telling us how to tie our shoes when we wake up in the morning to being mindful when you came out of the bathroom about what a miracle it was that your plumbing was working to being careful about what you put in your mouth and what comes out of your mouth to how you conduct yourself in business to every single aspect from the moment you wake up with Mod to wake up with gratitude with mindfulness of gratitude to the way you go to sleep to be mindful of forgiving anyone that hurt you that day that Judaism is a framework which is entirely all about mindfulness so I have a book written in my head where the first few chapters are defining mindfulness and quoting all the secular literature about what mindfulness is and then going through how Judaism is the prescription for a mindful life from kasas to lanara to prayer gratitude to dress to every aspect of chapter and it could be geared towards a secular Jewish or even non-jewish audience because I think it provides wisdom for everyone but I would have extensive scholarly footnotes that show that this is all based in you like how much I've thought this this is all steeped in it's all steeped in Torah other words this is not some like new fangled new age idea I'm making up but if you go through kazal and MIM you will see that this is exactly what the rabbis saw in Hal halak is not some dry punitive law to have some restrictive life H is a platform for a life of mindfulness so what I've tried to work on and what I think is true is that is to be mindful you know if you come out if you make a pledge that when you come out of the bathroom you're going to say ashat that's contributing to a life of mindfulness you know when you start saying ashat God forbid when the plumbing breaks down a person who lives on a catheter for a period of time a person who has to take certain medicines person who has GI illnesses or diseases a person who has emergency you know a person who struggles in that area boy do you say as Yater so why can't we say as Yater before why can't we say ashat before it's just an example you know and you don't have to be the most religious person a fak and see yourself as being one of them to say Ash yatar you could just decide that I want to remember with gratitude the miracle of my Plumbing working the wonder that you could put food in on this end and that the body is designed to absorb what it needs from the food and to eliminate what it doesn't that's unbelievable that is an incredible insane Miracle every time it works it's a miracle it really shouldn't work there's a tremendous amount that could break down and if you're ashkanazi you know all about it there's a tremendous amount that could that could not work in the GI system and the urinary system there's a tremendous amount that could break down and not work and so there's an amazing article by Dr Prager that was published in a medical journal about the braa of ASAT and he tells the story about a young man who was was in a car accident and it left him with nerve damage I know I've told this before I use all my material over and over again so I encourage you to read that but you know ASAT as an example um making a shahak before you drink your coffee to realize that God BL coffee is the greatest thing ever taste of it the caffeine part of it you know there are no shortage of opportunities throughout our entire day to do things that will promote mindfulness to decide that I'm going to wake up you know when I've been involved in Outreach one of the first things I do often is I translate and transliterate mod an and I give it to people to put on their bathroom mirror right I mean you should say it when you open your eyes but at least by the time you get to the bathroom mirror when you're brushing your teeth imagine the mindfulness about the way you start your day with an attitude of gratitude with appreciation that wow I woke up God renewed my contract I have a reason to yet exist I have a purpose to fulfill here so throughout the entire day there's opportunities for mindfulness are I think also you could in theory if you are a mindful person I mean I think it's a great idea to write the book um you should be able to create if anyone wants the ghost writer for me feel free to you should be able to create a nation of mindful people because your kids will pick up on that so if you if you get to that point at the end of your life it might be too late but if you have a parent that was mindful I mean I just think of my father for example certain things the way he was and even to Eli with his mom like I'm washing your hands in the morning some people are stricter or they about certain things cuz they saw their parents do but if you're always sort of um presenting that mindful way of life with like saying the everything we do really makes so much sense and your kids will grow up that way it sounds like really easy no no I I couldn't I couldn't agree with you more the people who talk about who who like Hashem is dripping from their lips and everything you do so if you say to your kids not did you make a you grab the candy because until you make a but you say did you thank Hashem for that candy you can't take the candy without thanking Hashem and stealing aren't you this candy is delicious did you hasm for it you know I give credit I was in Israel when this happened but but you see it if you talk I've said this before also forgive me of heaven but I used to think about when our older oldest kids were young I thought it's so silly the people who talk about Hashem kids don't understand Hashem we don't understand hasem Aristotle didn't understand Hashem talking about Hashem to a 2-year-old and a three-year-old and a four-year-old but then we changed a little bit and try to work on that with the younger kids and you see its impact so my tamima went to the doctor last week to take her big cast off and put her small cast on two weeks ago and sent me a video not while driving of of her in the car she was doing to hm and asking Hashem please don't let this hurt and in the in the office you can tell the story in the office taking the she has please don't let hurt me thect that's unbelievable the doctor's like who's in the back you talking her this morning but now I have to thank Hashem for not making a me oh my so that's that's a that's a special Nish and hopefully that now the question is in life how can you make sure that life doesn't get in the way to undo that in a sense of a of a six-year-old but but that's the payoff that's the payday that if you talk about Hashem then a kid feels I have to ask Hashem for help before I get to the doctor while he's doing it I'm screaming at Hashem don't let it hurt she's not going to forget that I hope not she's not kids so she's screaming and then on her own she's saying to thank you afterwards that is that's so that's that is that is seeing hem in everything you do and that leads to this life of of I want to bring it to khaka for 2 minutes because khaka is starting Sunday night because I think this mindfulness of seeing Hashem and everything is is part of what khah is about as well what is the holiday of Kan about you know the famous question the B asks why do we light the candles for eight days we should light it for seven days they had enough oil to last that first night so the first night's not a miracle so the the holiday should be seven days not eight days the miracle was that the oil that could have lasted one day lasted 8 days so the one day is not a miracle just the seven days so why is the Holiday 8 days the famous question there a book 100 answers to this question this is a famous question but I find one of the most compelling answers is that are you suggesting that the first night wasn't also a miracle who said that when you put a spark to oil it should light it should burn it should provide Fuel and warmth and energy even the mundane even the ordinary is extraordinary that's what the holiday of Kaneka is about it's about seeing the miracle in the ordinary in nature so the first night also is a miracle who said that oil has the light even that and that's what that's what um that's what the holiday of KH is about you know we sing in MO that these are these are days of eight it doesn't say eight days it says these are days remember Sesame Street brought to you by the number so these are these are days brought to you by the number eight what is the number eight it's the one above nature the natural order are seven seven days of creation seven days of the week eight is one above these are days of eight kanaka are 8 days where you know the candles the Kaneka candles are supposed to illuminate the world where you see in the ordinary extraordinary you see in the natural the Miracles that are all around us and that's why we say Allah for the Miracles God performed by in those days and today there are miracles happen every single day in our lives if we open our eyes so khaka is lighting the candles that illuminate the world that open our eyes to see the Miracles that are happening around us every day that even the first night is a miracle not just the seven nights it wasn't supposed to last but even the first night that it lasted to see the ordinary as extraordinary to see the natural as miraculous to see God in the mundane that is the essence these are y these are days of eight you know there's a special schoola you're supposed to not too many people like the candles they get that out of the way and now the presents they go do that in another room and they go fry the lkas and they go to the Kaneka party and the candles are neglected poor candles are by themselves burning somewhere they were lit for one second but you should do everything you're doing around the candles and while the is you're not allowed to benefit from the candles right you can't G's example is count money next to the candles you shouldn't you know make your list next to the candles but you should be in the presence of the candles cuz it's the candles that the imagery of their Illuminating our lives mostly you light one the first night you keep going till you have a full candleabra of eight burning candles of a big light opening up our eyes to the world around us and to the conversation we should have with our children grandchildren with ourselves isn't it a miracle that we have potatoes to be able to cut into lkas aren't they delicious isn't a miracle we have this roof overhead isn't a miracle we have the wherewithal to buy you presents isn't a miracle with they in a loving home isn't it a miracle you just went to the bathroom isn't it a miracle you know I know har on that isn't it a miracle but aren't these things Miracles that's the how of Kana is it's 8 days for us to be like y it's eight days to emulate Y and see hasem in absolutely everything and drops drop hashem's name in everything that's going on and when we do when we do then our kadara it's going to elevate our whole level it's going to change the way we think that we talk that we eat what we say how we dress where we go what we do if you feel Hashem is my companion as I'm as I'm picking out the closet hasem is my companion as I'm choosing what to watch on TV hasem is my companion as I'm sitting down with my friend shmooing about life Hashem is my companion if I feel his presence in my life it will Elevate absolutely everything that I do we're going to end here but we didn't finish the piece the last thing he says is this is an unbelievably high level to get to the level of is with you always that's unbelievably high so he says what's the medary step how do you get to that a step closer he quotes from Kaz from our rabbis that you surround yourself with people who are mindful of hasem if you are part of a community of people and that's I think what we're doing here on Wednesday mornings if every week we get an injection of amuna we're part of a community of people right we we talked about maybe creating a amuna WhatsApp group where people can share you know amuna things that happen in their life that day or here's a great article or here's something to think about just people who are committed to being mindful of amuna in their lives but if if you're struggling to get and we all struggle to live that high level sustained of then the path towards it is to surround ourselves with other people who are committed to that level as well so have a wonderful day a great chabas and an early happy Kana