Part 52: Prayer as Part of Hurricane Preparations

okay good morning Boer 12 ladies very happy to resume our weekly amuna Shear our weekly amuna Shir support group and uh arguably there could be no better time than as we uh face the possibly category four or five or maybe the first ever six hurricane headed our way Irma our unwelcome guest Irma and Harvey I said the W the wicked couple Irma and Harvey I never for about it I don't know how they give these names Irma and Harvey exactly it's Irma and Harvey they did and we ended up with our so um it's a perfect time to remind ourselves and renew our sense of amuna and work on ourselves I just uh finished the sh the Cup of Jo at and spoke all about Pinkus in sh talks all about um among the initiative that we show we can't forget to include prayer and I mentioned there and I I repeat here that we have these checklists the National Weather Center websites every news organization every government agency every Sho every school sends out the checklists don't forget the batteries don't forget the flashlight don't forget the water don't forget to fill the car with gas don't forget to bring in the outside furniture and nobody includes what should be at the top of the checklist is don't forget to pray don't forget to pray because in the end of the day while we can manipulate and control so much of the world one of the few things left that we can't control and it was predicted by kazal our rabbis and the tell us is the weather we can manipulate the whole world science technology we're Conquering the world FaceTime with people around the world using GPS we can tell if there's traffic or where the police are hiding and how long it will take us to drive you know from here to New York we can predict if you're running away to Atlanta how long it'll take you to get there and yet we can't even predict where this enormous 50 m wide storm is going to go so who can predict it and who does control it and who thank God thank God the last several scares has huffed and puffed and blown the thing out to see is the almighty and so the top thing on our checklist needs to be not at the expense or in lie of all the other things but in addition and really the first thing on our checklist needs to be turning to Hashem from the bottom of our hearts praying it's a great opportunity I think it's how I ended the the last short sheer is that we don't welcome Irma She's a Very unwelcomed Yes we have not interested in we don't want to host her um but but but this pressing moment is something that we should welcome as an opportunity to sincerely pray we're in the month of el in anticipation of the high holidays we struggle to get going we struggle to connect and it seems like every year this time of year God says you're struggling to connect let me give you a little boost let me give you a little help let me give you a little something to pray for so it's nice if after the fact it misses us and we can say oh it was great we that one so hard it was wonderful um we hope that will be the outcome but while we don't welcome Irma we should welcome the opportunity the the the teachable moment for our children for ourselves to say you're scrambling you're running you're doing you're off school let's all sit let's stop for a minute and let's St let's ask Hashem to make this go elsewhere so as we uh gather to learn about amuna again this is a perfect opportunity a perfect opportunity that hasm has given us to to remember who's in charge okay we're on page T this this is a new safer I picked up in Israel this summer it's called and it's written by I don't know who he is it's a thick wonderful safe for all about amuna and smack in the middle of the safe where he deals with amuna in connection to this time of the year so we're on page T if you uh right right in the middle I'm going to start I'm going to start kind of in the middle and work our way backwards and here he's addressing a custom that we have ashaz have I should say say this misore all the time so ashaz have a custom of reciting Psalm uh to we say it in the morning after shakas we say it in the evening after Mar every single day we blow chauffeur in the morning and that inspires the recitation of this and here he writes and quotes the following there's already an ancient custom that was enacted that in this month of page page it starts it's in the middle on the inside I'm going to translate everything have no worries have no if I don't then stop me then stop me so says uh the early there's an ancient custom in the month of el right again ashaz begins with and we go all the way through the end of suus the custom is to say the mid King David who wrote Psalms that hem ism is my light Hashem is my savior his quotes the greatness of this Psalm why was this Psalm chosen King David has lots of Psalms 140 Psalms he could have chosen from why did he choose this so it's a great the greatness of this and he writes the following whoever says this Psalm from until after in the morning and in the even the evening in the morning every single day though so that person is guaranteed that his ears will come out good and sweet and you can even eliminate you can nullify a a a bad enactment and you can remove for yourself you can relieve from yourself any negative Force energy any negative decree so one of the ways to Merit to Merit a positive outcome rashash is all about God is evaluating this time of year there more copies God is evaluating this time of year in a very uh quick summary rashash we coronate the almighty rashash corresponds with the sixth day of creation rashash corresponds with when God created man why because we are the Reason God created the whole world it's a little egotistical and self-centered and it's supposed to be we are why the world was created we have a mission we have a purpose and the world is here for us and every year on the annivers AR of our Collective birthday the sixth day of creation the first day of Tish we recognize God as the creator of the universe and we coronate God The King The King of Kings we elect God we appoint God we carnate God again the King of Kings so what does God do God says I'm the king you've coronated you've appointed you've re-embraced me as a being in charge great thank you I appreciate that now let me evaluate and see if I am the king are you fulfilling a meaningful purpose in My Kingdom why are you here I created you for a reason are you fulfilling your reason and your purpose and if not then maybe your contract is up I always give this example that whoever works on a campaign and then the election day comes and their candidate wins whether president whatever the whatever the position and they're and they're candidate wins they come to the inaugural ball and they're celebrating and they're joyous and they're happy and they're tooting their horn and the streamers and they're drinking champagne and all of a sudden it Dawns on them towards the end of the bowl towards the end of the party what question now do I have a job tomorrow not the word it starts how critical was I to the campaign do I fulfill a role which is indispensable which is irreplaceable do I have a job tomorrow and that's exactly what we go through each year we carnate God and that's why rashash Shana there's no concept on rashash you don't see in the prayers of rash and he mention of of sin we don't say v We Don't Clap we don't talk about Sin rash doesn't mention any of that rashash is all about carting God the king the V the says you can't be said when the chauffer is being blown unlike the tradition that says the chauffer is is the Cry of sadness the moan the groan the call the alarm says the villain the go no the chauffeur is the trumpet Trum chauffeur is the horn that you're blowing at the inaugural ball you're carna in god king and you blow chauffeur the trumpet who announcing the king po pointing him over us and that's rashash but rash launches the period of the 10 days of repentance rashash culminates with yipper why because now that we've completed coronating God the King of Kings now God evaluates and says H should they be in my cabinet do I need them are they fulfilling their mission their role their unique purpose in life so we spend the next after it's eight days but we spend that period of 10 days trying to prove to God renew my contract renew my contract I have what to offer I understand my purpose and I'm pursuing it I'm fulfilling it renew my contract absolutely so that is the uh that is the essence of what we're of what we're trying to do on rash what it launches into with the 10 days of repentance and culminates on onum Kipper so one of the ways that we can means judgment God is evaluating he's deciding whether toew our contract so one of the ways that we can make a positive impression one the arguments we advance on our own behalf is to say this misore that's the tradition that he's quoting that there's a there's a number of things that we can do give a Shear about it when there's not a hurricane facing us but our rabbis have numerous Traditions about what is the key you're coming before the judge imagine you have a great lawyer great team of lawyers and they each whisper in your ear no no this is what you have to do this judge likes this this judge likes that here's they have to position yourself here's what you have to say here's the best argument here's the most compelling evidence this is what you have to do so we come before the judge he's going to to evaluate whether we are fulfilling our unique individual purpose in life why are we here are we self-centered is it only about us or do we try to improve and and repair and care about his world and those around us and and we have a number of traditions about what we need to do in order to Triumph to succeed in judgment and this is one of those Traditions say this paragraph say it with intent say it with kavana say it with concentration why what is so special so I'm sorry I haven't finished the paragraph this chapter has 13 references to God's name corresponding with 13 attributes of compassion and through invoking these 13 attributes of God's compassion in other words you come into the courtroom and you say to the judge judge before I tell you about why I'm worthy before I make the argument for me let me just say you're merciful you're kind you're sensitive you're good you're forbearing you're forgiving your let me say all these wonderful qualities and attributes about you and let me invoke that side of you so that you're now predisposed as I make the argument for me because I've just said you're all those things what are you going to do now you're going to now bang the gavl you're going to now lay down the law you're going to now sentence me to the worst I've just said you're the kind of we all know this our children do it every day but have I told you how handsome you are what a great dad you are and how you're whatever what do you need what you want what did you do to the car what are you right so that that's what we do to a judge and that's what we do with Theon God these are your attributes this is how you described yourself to us the 13 principles 13 attributes of compassion that we say as part of the service God's the one who taught it to us God's the one who said if you invoke it and if you emulate it I can't help but be kind to you so we begin by laying it out we pre predispose God to be in our favor and one of the ways that we lay it out is by saying this paragraph chapter 27 of Psalms M of since it has 13 times it says God's name corresponds with the 13 that is his insight and the author of The I thought of another reason normally in a period of judgment you would think which attribute of the judge comes out when someone is sitting in judgment which attribute or character trait do you think would be most pronounced the attribute of of D of Justice if you're invoking you're wearing the you're wearing the robe you're holding the gavel you're sitting on the bench all that should create an atmosphere of justice but not with our God from the beginning of el for the 40 days El through this period of the Year God is the opposite he says I'm sitting in judgment you know what that means I'm going to be kind and compassionate and loving and caring and sensitive I tell you why the difference between our judge and the typical judge is who is our judge he happens to be our father he happens to be our father when your father's the judge you got a pretty good end you can argue what kind of justice is it right he should recuse himself if he's your father how could he be the judge should recuse himself that's not Justice that's a distorted Justice we're okay with that we live with that and he's okay with that we'll take it and he's okay with it so this period these 40 days while yes it's leading up to our having to prove our our worth but still it's in an atmosphere of and this is a time period which we're all supposed to be self-evaluating introspecting thinking growing aspiring everyone according to their level we're not coasting you don't walk into sh rashash you got your new outfit you got your new suit you got a new fruit you made your grandmother's famous uh roast and and that's it those are all lovely preparations they're all superficial external they're nice preparations they create a nice atmosphere of rash particularly the good roast but but that's not the key the core of getting ready for Rashana is spending these 40 days is really taking things upon ourselves how do I want to be more modest more modest in my dress in my speech in my thought how do I want to have more faith in my davening in my patience in my attitude to the world and how I react to the things around me how can I be a better spouse how can I be a better parent how can I be a more loyal friend how can I be more honest how can I be more dignified how can I grow in my level of observance how can I honor shabas there's no end to the ways every single one of us can try to grow and this is that time of the year that we're all evaluating our lives and trying to chart a path towards personal growth so why are we growing in this time of year these 40 days are predisposed to us these they auspicious time for us to say how do I want to grow what do I want to do how do I want to improve I don't want to embarrass her I was just talking to someone a moment ago who I think it's so beautiful I notice her husband and son cing every afternoon and so magnificent I'm so impressed by it I'm so personally inspired by it and uh and the response was yeah you know we got some bad news in the community somebody we love was suffering we looked at ourselves and said what can we do to be Merit for him I took on my things and my husband and son decided they're going to go to mamar every night there's no reason not to that's incredible and that's exactly what we're all supposed to do this time of year what are we taking on to be more careful with the blessings we say before and after we eat to be more careful about this's no end to the things that we can be taking on so says the author of the tiuna The safer why do you think think you might be taking it on well you're about to come before the judge nobody who comes before the judge decides they're going to drink and drive the day before their hearing nobody who comes before the judge thinks they're going to party all night thinks they're going to be guilty of petty theft nobody who come what do you do before you come before the judge you're on your bestor your best behavior so one might misunderstand that these 40 days why are we doing all this we're on our best behavior I'll tell you uh a law that's not so well known but the quotes a practice that in the 10 days of repentance even those who are not normally strict to only eat what's called P bread or grains that are baked by a Jew should be strict during that time right to give you just very quickly the background of it one of the prohibitions it's a rabic Prohibition we have in order to try to stem the tide of assimilation prevent intermarriage where do people meet socially where do they draw that connection you literally break bread you have a meal together so the rabbi said even if all the ingredients are Kosher if a non-jew were to bake the bread you one shouldn't eat it not because we have a bias towards non-jews we we love all of humanity and we integrate into society and we draw the best and see the best in everyone it's not a bias it's not a superiority thing it's a self-preservation thing and we see what happens the community who are not careful with this law we have 60 70% intermarriage rate among young people today so now we have an exception to the law and the AR it says an exception to the law we call P palter if the bread is being baked in a bakery where you don't know the baker you don't know his daughter you're not going to break bread you're not going to in Mar him so you buy the box of timens or the box of Cheerios or the Arnold's Bread or whatever the baked product you have no idea who the baker is so you have no issue of potential interm marriage so that's a heter that is one of the leniencies that in that situation it's okay it meant your local Baker who you know it meant your next to neighbor who makes you uh cake but industrial baking so that's not a problem so says the 10 days of repent don't lean on the leniency don't take the leniency even those who are not strict to only e for those 10 days they they should and all the commentaries Wonder on the who are we fooling what are you going to trick God really I use the lency all year and the moment y Kipper is over I'm going to sink my teeth into a delicious Tim's donut but for these 10 days I'm going to pretend that I'm at a higher level than everybody else what kind of a joke is that kind of a joke you trying to fool God what's that all about there are many answers which are given to that question one of which is a great answer kind of similar to what I spoke about this past shambas but when you have a guest when you're hosting someone you ask any any allergies any specific needs any special things and even if your standard is over here but your guest has the standard over here while you're hosting you raise your standard because you want your guest to feel the most comfortable well who's our guest the 10 days of repentance and in cor of many of these 40 days the verse says inov call out to God when he is found when is God found our rabbis understand that the king leaves the palace so one tradition is the 10 days of repentance but another tradition is the whole month of el that normally you're trying to break in normally last week I was in Washington DC for some meetings I happened to meet with somebody I know at the White House I was hoping he was going to say come into the White House meet he met me for coffee in the coffee shop across the street anyway but you're across from the White House there's a big gate there's guards their fingers are on the trigger of their gun there's protesters there's people taking pictures there's all kinds of things going on you think you could just I'm not saying you'd want to but if you wanted to could you just knock on the door and enter the Oval Office and meet with the president no the king is in the Oval Office there's no access there's no access so with us too God is Ascend on high and it's challenging to feel we have access but this time of the year when we're on our best behavior when we're the most spiritual when the classes when the doing when the life is the most urging us when we feel it so it says be when is where is the king found the King has left the palace the king is taking tour of our city and we have access to him talk to him thank him protest him ask him request of him we have access to the king so if the king is our guest normally your standards over here but his stand standards over here you raise your standard not cuz you're trying to fool him you raise your standard out of respect for him so what happens this time of year we're on the best behavior and one might think why are we on our best behavior well you're coming before the king the judge so you want to be on your best behavior before you come before the judge so listen to what he says this is a beautiful insight and I wanted to share it because it reference I think it's very appropriate as we're facing hurricane Irma many people who were not on their best behavior were not feeling L are feeling it now it's hard to watch an advisory and not feel El not feel the Fright the might the awe the sense of uncertainty you know it occurred to me maybe I'm going to write my article about it this week not that anyone will see it or read it it's very hard to get yourself going to write a sermon for an empty Sho every person I see is booking out of here and it's going to be a tropical storm minimally tropical winds on chabas but anyway will you listen I will you listen to the draw anyway so so uh you're on the yeah what what only people in South Florida I guess Houston only people who have been in Hurricane zones understand almost everywhere on the East Coast these days understand what what it means the cone if you say the word cone right now nobody's thinking ice cream nobody you say the word Cone first thing that comes to mind for nobody is ice cream what comes to mind the cone of Terror cone of uncertainty the cone of Terror right and you watch that cone it shifts and it Narrows and it widens and I'm very heartened you should do all the preparations do all the pr I'm not disc absolutely do all the preparations I'm very heartened that they say it's coming right to us because in my 18 years inoka twice when they say it's not coming anywhere near us it whacked us over the head and every time they said it's coming right to us it's a beautiful day outside so keep telling us it's coming right to us I love it I love it that's the good news but do all your preparations get ready do everything you have to do so what is it called The Cone the cone is the cone of are you in the cone of uncertainty and you know what occurred to me this morning as I was ding is anyone ever outside the cone of uncertainty that's ever this is right in our face cuz we have an image this is in our face because we have a forecast but you know as as we continue to dve in and do things in the Merit of our dear friends who need among them there's no one you we think we're outside the cone then life smacks you like a like a like a um hurricane Category 5 hurricane you're lucky if it's category one sometimes it's Category 5 it's unpredictable so right now it's most intense and it's most profound and it's most potent but nobody's ever outside the cone of uncertainty and so we should always be ding at this level we should always be feeling the sense of of Faith the sense of dependence this this sense of of vulnerability in in a healthy way way that that that inspires us so just like the is saying maybe you're on your best behavior for these 40 days why cuz you scheduled to come before the judge who's not on their best behavior when they're afraid because they're coming before the judge who's not on their best behavior when they're in the cone of uncertainty when a category five can Wallop you on the head and the category five I don't want to scare you but all the shutters in the world category five Category 5 is a category five find the closet get inside and close the door and lie on the ground that's a category five so sorry am I scaring that's a category five so you might say you know what I'm not talking till till the 2 a.m. on Saturday night or whenever it's supposed to hit I'm not saying any lanara wow okay we'll deal with that later but till 2 a.m. on on uh I'm not speaking any lashara I'm ding with kavana I'm doing everything I got to do because I'm GNA be on my best behavior is that why we should be doing it let's keep going so here he says you know why we say this chapter 27 PSM because it contains the following what does that verse mean if a camp an enemy camp camps out against me if I find out hasas on my border if I find out Irma is threatening my home excuse me I'm not going to be afraid I have no fear if someone stands up to wage war against me what's the BOS for another time but in this which really means in you King David is com kind of ambiguous here what is bizos in this I trust what's the in this and the a lot of commentaries beautiful commentaries what's the z but let's for now take the simple understanding which is what's the z in whom do I have faith in you so God know there could be enemies camping on my border there could be a hurricane threatening my home there could be a biopsy and a diagnosis I'm waiting to get there can be a stock market waiting to crash there can be I don't want to you know make everyone neurotic and Afraid right now but there's no end no end to the things I could be facing but you should know lo you be I don't have any fears in life why because so does that mean that I don't put up my shutters I don't buy water I don't get gas of course I have to do all those things I have to do myal I have to take my initiative got to go to the doctor you got to get ready for the hurricane you got to get your military prepared for war but when you've taken your initiative when I'm ready I've done all that I can lo you be I have no fear because because there's a reason it's meaning and Order and purpose to the universe you're in in control everything happens for a reason and that's what I trust in that's a verse in this Psalms 27 and this verse is the great affirmation that I'm not afraid of anything you know one of the worst the anticipation of the hurricane is much worse than the hurricane it's the the well it depends but it's hopefully hopefully much worse than hurrian but you know not only do correctly so the government and the make us crazy which correctly that's their job we make each other crazy if you look at social media you'll see constantly one person panicking and all a sudden the comments everyone's like I wasn't panicking but now I'm scared out of my mind and it's just contagious so we just set one another off we call one another we make one another crazy scared out of our minds it's so unhealthy how much energy is being wasted how much of our own health is being compromised how much of our own relationships cuz our homes are filled right now with being on edge impatient anger stress escalated DEC levels so all for what all for what is any of that going to help Irma doesn't respond to your nervousness Irma's not shifting course because you yelled at your kids or because you yelled at your husband who didn't put up the shuts yet Orma is not changing course because you're going crazy on on Facebook that's not helping all it's doing is hurting yourself you're doing more damage please God we will wake up Sunday morning a bright sunny day Irma will be out at six and you know where the damage and Devastation and repair work will we need to be done is because of everything that happened the week before the relationships our health the stress what good is that so L you be let go and let God do everything that we have to do and the rest is up the and if you're listening to the she online and you're not in Hurricane's path none of this is relevant to you so if it's not the hurricane it's something else it's the beginning of school stressing you out it's economy stressing you out it's North Korea stressing you out it's I heard somebody wrote online the former mayor of boeh wrote that South Florida is the only place that's outside of North Korea's missile Zone and the only place that's in Irma's whatever so anyway so if if uh okay so we we're in Irma's path and someone else is in North Korea's path like again there's no there's no shortage of things to be able to to be able to lose your cool over but the common denominator of all of it is this PK we're saying every morning and every night lo you be I'm not going my heart's not going to be afraid what am I worried about I'm doing everything I can do I'm taking all the initiative I can take and after that I'm not going to lose my serenity my happiness now I know it's easier said than done we talk about this almost every week in the amuna but how worry is the antithesis of amuna how worry is an act of heresy because it means you don't really have faith that everything God does is for a reason but most of all don't worry because it doesn't help the worry has never changed any reality never worry never made the biopsy from malignant to benign worry never made the traffic clear up never made worry never made the flight take off on time worry never made worry never made your child come home safely that night worry doesn't do anything except hurt you and hurt your relationship with Hashem you know it's better Channel all that worry into Faith every time you start to feel The Angst you're tightening up your blood pressure your sweat glands are pumping stop take some deep breaths right you deep breaths meditation deep breaths grab a to grab a to hel or talk to hm from your own words and Channel all of that Channel all of that so that's why we say this verse every morning and every night because what we're saying to God is whatever is going on in my life I don't care if the enemy is on my border I don't care if the hurricane I'm in the cone of uncertainty which we're all in at all times but lo you be I'm not afraid I've got you I've got you God so what we're saying to God is you know what God no I was never afraid so when you see me now on my best behavior don't think it's because I was worried I need to be on my best behavior cuz I was so afraid I was never afraid you know why I'm on my best be Behavior because I want to be close to you it's with pure intent it's because right now the King has left the palace because right now the king is in my town he's on my streets he's in my Shool he's at my dining room table and I'm not going to miss the opportunity to talk to the king to connect with the King to be with the King I'm not just repairing my ways I'm not just improving who I am because of fear because I'm about to come before the king in judgment so why am I having this burst right now this growth spurt right now my growth spur right now is not the result of fear it's not the result of judgment my growth spur right now is simply and purely why because I want to be close to you because you've left the palace I have greater access to you than ever I'm going to take that as seriously as I can I'm going to think about every word I'm going to say I'm going to take advantage of every moment I can be close to you and it's all with the right reason and it's all with the right intent so that's the reason we're saying He suggests because of this this very if there's a camp if there's things that threaten me I have no fear why because God I can always go back to my faith there's no one but you I was actually working ons me have to finish it I was working on a bookmark to give out to put put their about on the one sideous paragraph where he promises us that if in a time of fear you just say this mantra there is no one but God there is no one but God then positive things happen and the other side I was going to put a list of all the benefits of living a life of amuna slow to anger no desire for Revenge calm Serenity good for your health and anyway I got to finish that but a so every time you start to get anxious about the hurricane or about North Korea or about anything in life that's the Mantra meditate with that Mantra a there is no one there is nothing but him nothing but him all your worry in the world and all the forecasters in the world no one no one can move Irma only one being the almighty himself tud says I referenced this in the earlier sh this morning that though God handed over the keychain to us he said here's my world go conquer the world I think it's orus that go conquer my world here's the keys go Master the world and we have what we can do technologically scientifically medically is is mindboggling but God held the keys to three things fertility no matter what we do my next door neighbor right over there Dr mski Who runs a fertility lab will tell you he mixes the ingredients in the lab but whether in the petri dish and whether that planted embryo ever emerges to be a human being is not up to him it's up to God God held those keys God held the keys to the weather and the third key is to the resurrection of the Dead really all three keys are the same which is the key to life life god holds the keys God says you can conquer my world but life itself that's me I hold that key and to me it's amazing 2017 we control and manipulate the whole world scientifically we can do outrageous things we cannot predict with any near degree of accuracy where this thing's going cuz you know what maybe God hasn't decided yet he's going to blow it this way he's going to blow it that way and you know what he's waiting for your doing my doing he's waiting for our an mil he's waiting for our merits he's waiting for our us to ask him he's got the key so what are we going to do all the other preparations and neglect the the one with the key so my heart doesn't fear whatever is going on in my life I do what I have to do but after that I let go and I live with amuna and all the sh we've done for the last years has gotten us ready for this weekend don't don't get nervous don't get neurotic don't live with fear do what you have to do and the rest is upem and and the Merit of our amuna the Merit of our heartfelt prayers all of our prayers should be answered regarding Irma and the victims of Harvey and those who need a recovery and those who want to have a child and those who are looking for their and everything that our heart wants should be answered only for the good