Part 53: Inviting Hashem into our Homes

okay good morning everyone it is fantastic to resume and try to get back to some sense of normaly as really said last Wednesday we gathered here with the cone of uncertainty and the category four or five hurricane coming our way and an hour case it turned out the bigger hurricane happened inside the house being cooped up with all the kids then outside the house but em with great gratitude to Hashem We Gather again for our amuna here okay this is the other piece I wanted to do with you from this new saer I um recently picked up called tiauna written by rabich Rapaport from ER it looks like and beautiful big Saun last week we talked about we have the custom the really ancient custom of saying chapter 27 we've added it to the daving every morning and every evening and different traditions of why specifically that par was chosen and last week we talked about his suggestion because it includes the sentence says no matter what obstacle I face no matter what challenge I confront in you I can put my faith and my trust and therefore we say this Capital we say this chapter because what we're saying is God we're not drawing close to you out of fear it's not like we're hedging our bet oo hurricane 5 we better do everything we can to be best behavior so that we can endure no we want to be close to you because we want to be close to you so even if there's an encampment against me my enemies are camping you be I'm not afraid I'm going into a war I trust in you I have no fear whatsoever and uh and therefore I know I can stand UPR right I just um submitted an article they asked for an article in Mish magazine it's going to be printed this week about the hurricane so in it was significantly cut down so that's very painful but anyway budy so but but in there right so in there at the end I say that you know I was watching the whole hurricane we got my parents a couple blocks away they have hurricane proof hurricane impact windows and they were not here so it was easy to stay there so I was watching the whole hurricane Through the Windows cuz there was no shutters there hurricane impact and I was watching this one particular tree that was swaying back and forth rocking back and forth and with my kids we're watching this tree we're waiting for this tree to fall right it's swaying it's rocking at some point it looked like it was bent to a 90° angle and nothing happened Meanwhile we're sitting there all of a sudden you hear a huge crack and you see and and I turned expecting to see my tree falling but my tree was stubbornly still standing and it was the tree next to it that cracked in half and fell down so why did one tree fall and another tree stay up you walk outside it's like a war zone out there thank God this was nothing we got a few category one gusts and this is what it looks like can only imagine don't imagine shom category four or five or three those of us who went through Wilma remember what that's like I think it was a category two Direct Hit Wilma but you look outside it's still not cleaned up it's still uh it's a war zone after so why did some trees fall and some trees stand why did some make it and some not make it so the says tell us you should always be soft like a reed and not rigid like a cedar what were telling us be flexible go with the flow and if you're flexible and you can go with the flow you can withstand the wind and if you're rigid and you're stiff then it's going to knock you over and I said you know if if you were flexible and you said look I trust in Hashem I've done all my preparations I took care of everything I need to do so then when the wind comes your way you're flexible you can blow you can adjust you can you can move you'll withstand but if you tense up and you're rigid and you're nervous and you're stressed and you have no faith in Hashem if you get too anxious and too stiff it'll knock you right over you run into the Winds of Life the challenges of life they'll knock your one over so that's number one is that there's a big lesson for life you know the palm trees which are indous to Florida the palm trees made it I saw one Palm that was down but for the most part the palm trees made it because they're designed in Florida this region this climate these hurricanes they're flexible they blow at the wind but then you go for a walk right after the hurricane cuz that's the Min hug as soon as you get the all clear everyone who been cooped up all these days you got to go for the mandatory walk and you see these trees that are knocked over and you can't help but notice the second difference what's the second difference The Ficus trees the trees that got knocked over have very shallow roots they get knocked over and it pulls up all the roots of the whole circumference around the tree whereas the trees that withstood have Deep Roots the deeper your roots go the sturdier your base your foundation the more the tree can withstand the wind and the shallower your roots are the more easily you're knocked over what is that that's recording our class you have anything you want to say yeah you thank Hashem yeah thank Hashem that we made it in the hurricane yeah yeah so so the tree is a metaphor for life and for amuna and that's the B that doesn't matter what I'm facing in life whatever winds are coming my way category 1 2 3 four or five because I have youm I do myus I take my initiative I do my preparations I I I use my judgment my common sense I do it's right and after and beyond that you be I'm Not Afraid let the winds come I'm flexible I can blow with it because I know you sent it my way Hashem okay so the other piece I want to do from the Saun is also still on this Capital it's on the page that starts you see it this page the staple is on the left you're on the right page in the middle of this chapter that we say for the month of all the way through to T every morning and every evening another beautiful really Central p in this paragraph that we say which has been composed into many beautiful Tunes none of which I will sing for you right now God one quest one thing I want from you I have one thing I want from you and what is it I want to sit in the house of hem all the days of my life now the med tells us by the way it's not really one request what do we say one thing I ask of you God we got a whole list of things it's not just the one not just the one so Hashem says how could you ask all these things the tells us the says back to excuse me what do you mean you in par it says Jewish people what does God ask from you asks us he says I have one thing I ask of you and he gives us a whole list of things says I'm just reciprocating I want one thing of you and a whole list of things thank you so much and here is a whole list of things so what is the one thing says at least that this safer is emphasizing I want to sit in the house of first question by the way is the the continuation of the I want to sit in the house of hem all the days of my life and I want to visit his house so which is it shift is what does that mean I want to dwell in your house what does it mean what is to visit excuse me is to visit the sick is I want to visit your home so what's asking is he asking Shifty does he want to dwell there or is he asking lak here or does he want to visit there which is it there a famous question numerous answers have been given the most famous among them is the answer of the who says says you know I don't know I lived in bokeh 17 18 years I go to the beach to go to the sunrise minion I don't know if I've ever been to the beach other than that right how many people who live in New York have never been to Ellis Island the Statue of Liberty have never been to the Empire State Building when you live in a place and you feel like a resident you're so casual you're so comfortable you take for granted the sites and the and the special places and you didn't necessarily even go there what happens when you're a visitor when you're going on a on a um on a vacation you get the tour book and you highlight all the places you're going to go and you find the tour guides and you put together the agenda the itinerary and you make sure to take in all the sites and all the special places says I want to be comfortable in your home I want to live in your home I want to dwell in your home but I never want to take it for granted and have a casual attitude and therefore I want to always have the mentality that I'm a guest I never want to become complacent I never want to become too comfortable I never want to become too casual I want to take advantage of every moment as if this is the only time I'm going to be there but he asks a different question here in the saer continuing on the third line isn't it a little presumptuous isn't it a little bit unrealistic of doid to askem I want to sit in your house all the days of my life this is an impossible request to fulfill has a few responsibilities he happens to be the king he needs to be in the palace he has to govern he has to fight Wars he has a few wives he has children he has responsibilities Hashem I have one request of you I want to live in the B Med all the days of my life says it's nice you got to earn a living you got to pay you got to pay the bills you have responsibility to your family you have obligations so how could this what do you mean don't you have responsibilities how is that realistic So He suggests the following the request good you want to learn with us yeah okay let's learn hashem's Torah what was our place we lost our [Music] place uh for those who are listening online school is still out today school has no power we are ding very hard that power be restored to everyone especially school um yeah where I live my place that's recorder swe it's recording our what DAV was requesting is that that whatever circumstance he would find himself in in life and whatever was occupying or preoccupying him you're right it's a beautiful interpretation doid wasn't saying let me abdicate my responsibility let me ignore my obligations you know what let the kingdom function on its own let my family take care of themselves I just want to sit in the Bas M that's not what was saying what was saying is the opposite Hashem wherever I am help me feel it's as if I'm sitting in your house that when I'm at the gym I'm in your home when I'm at work I'm in your home when I'm in the palace I'm in your home when I'm in the supermarket I'm in your home that everywhere I go and in every circumstance I find myself and with every activity I have to do let me feel that I'm and let me not lose my concentration my intent my connection even for a moment it's not just that Hashem when do I connect with you when I'm in when I go to the hill group when I go to the sheer ah but the rest of my life that's the secular mundane part of my life that's where God is not in the equation no it's the opposite what's request and really what's each and every one of our requests particularly during this month of el is Hashem let me feel your presence let me be mindful and conscious and conscientious of your presence in my life wherever I am I'm at the gym I'm working out I'm doing so to have the energy to serve you I'm the super Market I'm buying food not only am I looking for the kosher symbols but I'm buying the food to sustain myself my family to serve you that the way I greet people and how I function online and how I check out and everything I do is all in your name and for your honor let there not be any interruption or break when David fights gol Goliath is this giant he's this giant and gas is destroying the Jewish people and challenges anyone to a duel and is looking for somebody who can successfully fight golas and he can't find until who steps up and says I can do it little doid and yesi his father says I have all these other Sons no way David the youngest imp passible and David faces goas goas is this giant wearing armor and D takes out his slingshot and hits him between the eyes knocks him out cold and kills him it's a great book came out several years ago by what's his name Malcolm Gladwell thank you okay Malcolm Gladwell what's the book called It's a great book um David and Goliath is that the name of the book any anyway the whole first part of the book which is a brilliant analysis that goas probably had a thyroid problem which is what made him such a giant but it also diminishes your vision soas had the advantage in hand-to-hand combat which is how he defeated everybody and then he goes through actually a bunch of Israeli physicists calculated the speed of a slingshot if you twirl it around and you're an expert you can actually make a travel as fast as a bullet SO gas defeated everybody in hand to hand but he was blind and he couldn't see do from the distance who the way he flung The slingshot was as if he shot a bullet right between goo's eyes it's a brilliant analysis anyway the thesis of the book which is a really great book to read is that is that David I think it's called David and Goliath I think I have in the other room is that um sometimes the one who looks like they're the underdog really has the advantage you just have to know how you have the advantage right he's got in every chapter in the book is a profile of another person or circumstance where the person who look like the Underdog really had the advantage so for example the most successful trial lawyer in America today has a terrible case of Dyslexia and struggled throughout school but talks about why even after persevering and getting into law school the reason they succeeded so much in law school was they couldn't do the he couldn't do the readings because of his dyslexia so he was able to listen or he forced himself to listen more intently in class and his listening skills were extra honed in and his argument skills and each chapter is another profile of a case where somebody who was looked like they were the underdog really had the advantage once you understand what the advantage really is called David and Goliath yeah yeah it's a really good book all his books are excellent so here in alive there's another advantage doid had even though he looked like the terrible Underdog his other Advantage was not just that he could fling a slingshot at the speed of a bullet but it's that he understood that though he trusted a slingshot and he used it as his weapon his real faith and trust were in Hashem he says to gas you come on me you have a sword you're trying to attack me with a sword but I am responding what is my weapon I know that my weapon is [Music] HEM you're coming to face me with weapons and my response to you is my trust inem what I have is much greater than what you have I have the nuclear weapon I have an atom bomb my atom bomb my nuclear weapon is I put my trust I put my faith in and we too whatever we're doing and whatever circumstance we're online there's no gas left there's no water there's no uh we're worried the the forecast is the cone of uncertainty we have shutters but you know what we have not only shutters not only plywood we have we have is always opposite my mind in all the greatest hope of a Jew the greatest advantage of a Jew who looks like an underdog someone blocking the greatest Advantage blocking you Fe the greatest Advantage watch the cup the greatest advantage of a of a Jew in life is when we look like the underdog is that we trust in Hashem wherever we are and whatever the circumstance and whatever we need it's not easy what I'm suggesting is not it's not it's not an easy thing at the gym and in the supermarket at work at home with your children it's not easy but that's the challenge in life I'm going to speak on shabaha which just happens to be next shabas about uh we're speaking about how to live life as Anem that life is not just about my happiness life is not just about my pleasure I'm an em I have responsibilities I have a mission I have a purpose I have a role there are consequences I answer to a higher order and how to live a life which is charged with a sense of that that there's something greater than myself and part of it the starts all M Begins the entire on our Poland trip this summer we went to the sh of the Rama and crack of Begins by saying this I place God opposite me always and the notion of mindfulness of Consciousness that everywhere I go and in all that I do I'm trying to think of Hashem and and to think what would he want of me there's so many things to think about when I think that hasem is always there it's to remember that Hashem always loves me never to think inadequate never to feel rejected never to feel I've strayed too far I can't come back to remember that no matter where I am Hashem always loves me put I plac bhem before my eyes always is to know that I have a father I have a mother I have I have I have a being who loves me who looks after me but it's also to know I have responsibility to him and to and to serve his name and to advance his name and Advance his mission in this world and that's what is I can't go sit in the B Med all day but my hope and prayer is that I can bring the B medish to wherever I go that I bring that attitude in that sense of n that high that connection that davening that singing that I can bring that to my shabas table I can bring that to my workplace I can bring that everywhere we continue this is how the explains the at the beginning of Trum says when God commands us to build the he says and I will dwell in them it does not say build a build me a sanctuary and I'll dwell in it it says I'll dwell in them who's the them we only had one Mish we only had one B who's the them the them is us God wants to dwell in each and every one of our lives so unlike in other religions with the place of spirituality is the religious site and outside the religious site when you leave that that exit you're going to the secular mundane life for us the synagogue the sh is just one religious place the biggest religious place is where the home in fact the gamar tells us identifies the bikash as bov the house of yov to which the Wonders what do you mean why don't we identify with Abraham why don't we identify with why only with yov so thear says because yob had the most apt description of theik described it as AAR Haram who was the mountain he takes y to The Binding of Y on the mountain he describes the B as the mountain describes it as a a field it's a field only describes it as a Yakov describes it as a house and what were our rabbis telling us that the most accurate metaphor for the holiest place is a home the sh feels like a mountain but who could stay on top of the mountain the sh is like a a place of growth but then it after the growth it sit fellow what's the most accurate description is the home and the Bal mus learn that this the the B mikdash should feel like a home but a home should feel like a b mikdash we discussed this two weeks ago in ch when we talked about the Kad the sanctity of the home the serenity of the home the atmosphere of the home the the the home as being a place that re-energizes and recharges rather than drains the home being a place that's safe and that is affectionate rather than a place that's stressful and that's brings us down so when hasem says I want to dwell not he doesn't say build me a sanctuary I want to dwell in it he says build me a sanctuary I want to dwell in them where's the them all of our homes and each and every one of us the shift I want to sit in hashem's home is not realistic D's going to leave the palace and sit in the bdash so what does he really mean I want my Palace to feel like a B mikash I want my home that I'm in all the days of my life to be transformed you have to feel like hem is always your partner in everything that you do he's in on that business deal he's going with you to see that movie you better make sure it's rated properly Hashem is reading the magazine with you on the couch is it an appropriate magazine I mentioned you get up from the dinner table you thank whoever made dinner you got to thank hasem Who provided the food if you feel and you're mindful of the presence of hem my house is a b Hashem is with me he's present he's a member of my household I ask him I thank him I wouldn't watch that with him sitting next to me I shouldn't watch it I wouldn't say that I wouldn't react that way I wouldn't raise my voice that way then you shouldn't cuz hhm is always in the home whatever you're busy with you have to always feel hem is your partner he's with you in it he's at the gym working out with you he's in the business deal with you he's doing the with you he's in the hom making dinner with you says the following that a Jew who's doing the will of the almighty so this is an incredible Insight of the he says in life there's no power in the kitchen there par doesn't have to be mil it doesn't have to be FL but in life there's no par what you're doing is either a Mitzvah or it's an a if you're not in the classic sense of or the positive the negative but it means that if you're acting like a mench and you're making a and how you conduct yourself it's a Mitzvah if you're doing the opposite what you've done is an a your life is either drawing people closer to Hashem or pushing them further away they have the same Insight says don't make and instead make I think it's also which makes sense not in but on the Torah who says what do you mean why can't what I'm doing be neither make why can't I what I'm just doing is I'm on the treadmill at the gym it's neither I'm at the check out l in the supermarket I'm sitting in my office at work I'm at the library with the kid it's neither a nor it just is so he answers no what you're doing by definition is either one or the other there is no neutral there's no Switzerland there's no parv there's no in between what you're doing is either one or the other if the way you are on the treadmill if the way you are in the checkout line if the way you are at the library if the way you are at work your integrity your honesty your credibility the way you interact with others your kindness your sensitivity the way you carry yourself as a Jew morally ethically the observance of Torah and mitz then it's a Kem and if you're rude and noxious if you're judgmental then then it's a it's a it's one or the other there is no neutral so sh is not I want to go to your house it's I want you to be present in my house in all that I do in every aspect of my life there is no middle ground there is no neutral in thought speech and action it's either achieving and accomplishing one or the other there is no nothing in the middle excuse me there's another hint here the the name of God reflects God's attribute of compassion doesn't say shim says the name of God I want to feel your love your compassion your affection all the days of my life this is's theme throughout the T says elsewhere I'm going to find difficulty I'm going to find Hard Times in my relationships financially in health in the weather I'm going to run into I'm G to find hard times but you know what I'm going to do I'm going go to the doctor I'm going to send out my resume I'm going to put up shutters I'm going to go to a therapist but you know what I'm going to do bash Hashem going to call out to the name of hasem not B Elohim isim is the attribute of God which is Judgment but is God you're my father I'm coming to you not as the king I'm coming to you as my tati as my ABA as my father kind of father doesn't respond to a child who calls out to him no matter how neglectful that child's been no matter how disrespectful that child's been you know maybe the father afterwards is going to give a little you know mus a little I see you only remember me when you need me to put money on your debit card you you only call me when you need me to whatever I hope my kids are listening to this but they don't listen to this the right you give afterwards a little mus but even if the child has neglected the parent for a long time or been disrespectful to the parent but if the child screams Dad I need you what father says well I'd like to talk about how you've been neglecting me before child is pinned under a car child is stuck outside in a hurricane the child screaming AB I need you I'd like to talk first about uh the fact that you no a father runs responds so that's our father that no matter what s whatever difficulty whatever hardship we find I call out to you on the other hand I raise the cup of Salvation and what do I do I make a toast to whom do I make the toast B hasem I call out the name of Hashem so a category five is heading your way we found the cone of uncertainty and then it shifts it moves and we continue to DAV for the people who had hit the keys and Naples and the West Coast of Florida and Atlanta we continue to dve in for them but at the same time we here on Montoya Circle and Bon who never even lost power we DED as a community before and we thank Hashem as a community afterwards we make a toast we raise our glass of Salvation and who do we toast B whether it's in challenging times or whether it's in times of Salvation we always see hashem's kindness Hashem we appeal to your kindness during the challenging time and we thank you for your kindness after the challenging time this Mish article that they edited out I'm going to insist that I'm going to ask they put back this one paragraph about how afterwards we we show our thanks to Hashem because you know we we organize tah hilum rallies and we sign people up for tah hilum and we do all kinds of things in the moment of Crisis and then when it's over you know I've told the story a thousand times about the the guy circling I mentioned it last night the guy who has the major interview and he can't find the parking spot and he's circling and circling and he says Hashem give me a great parking spot and I'll do anything I'll become a abouta and I'll I'll DAV and I'll be the perfect Jew just then the parking spot in front of the building opens up and he looks up and he says you knowem never mind I found one so can you imagine afterwards we say at the hurricane Hashem never mind it switched directions hel rally never mind it moved it wobbled what do you mean never who do you think made it wobble yeah who do you think took us out of the cone of uncertainty okay I understand the theological dilemma that others D that they weren't removed from the cone of uncertainty so it's it's not simple but doesn't take away from the fact that we we need to raise a glass we have to show our gratitude after the fact we have to be our children that you don't just say the to before you say that to afterwards and therefore this paragraph was established to recite twice a day throughout El and in the high holidays keep if we want to persevere in judgment a week from tomorrow a week from tomorrow will be the first day R we kick off the this Saturday night we startos soon it'll be if we want a person we want to be written and signed I saw somebody wrote a g they used to ask after yipper at the breakfast no how was your Y and he say I'll tell you next J Kipper I'll tell you next rashash right I don't know you you want to know how it went AC was working my fast was okay the was decent the rabbi gave a beautiful Dr you want to know how it was I'll tell you next R when I can tell you how the year went yeah so if we want to be able to say what a great year that we had we want to be signed sealed and delivered for a great year this is the paragraph shift that we transform all aspects of Our Lives that Hashem is present he's at work he's at home he's in the gym he's at the supermarket and that we reach out to Hashem not that whatever challenge we find ourselves among all of our other initiative and preparation among all the other actions we take we DAV B and afterwards that we make a to who showered his kindness upon us have a great day I think we're off next Wednesday I think we'll be off next Wednesday okay