Part 95: Finding Hashem in the Aisles of the Supermarket

okay good morning we thank dor and aan for sponsoring again in memory of their beloved daughtery Master B are learning and increase and growth inun should be should Elevate her beautiful soul okay we're starting a new Li today starting something new it's also from RI from the second volume of alore of his U Monumental work of personal growth of muser the great Mash of and this it's the 18th chapter and the chapter title is and we're going to study a little bit about bras making bras who make we're supposed to make a hundred of them a day we might as well understand a little bit more what we're doing why we're doing and derive the benefit of what making all those bras every day is supposed to bring or yield to our lives okay everyone got it cover see where we are page sh says in the name of Mayor that a person is obligated to recite a 100 bras every day we've said this before and where do we learn this from that we're supposed to recite 100 bras every day because the Torah says now Jewish people what does God want from you after all what does he want from you what's the big deal and what's the answer what does Hashem want from us he wants us to have all not fear but as we've translated several times he wants us to live with a sense of awe a sense of mindfulness of his presence in our life a sense of appreciation of the gifts and the goodness that he bestows upon us that's all he wants from us that's all he wants from us this is an amazing P the gar in fact entertains is that really such a small thing is such a small matter say yeah foros it's a very small matter living with a sense of living with a sense of mindfulness or Consciousness that hm is always in our lives for Moshe is in fact a very small matter and that's why mosha is able to so casually and comfortably say that's all he wants from us that's all he wants from us there another Med says that later says to hem what do I want from you there's only one thing I want from you what do I want and then he lists three things I thought what happened I only want one thing so God calls him out and says you said you only want one thing and then you proceed to list three things so David says Hashem with all due respect I learn from the best I learn from you you said M what does God want from you and we only quote the beginning of the he wants to fear and so on and to walk humbly with Hashem and then God you went on to list a whole list so I learned the same move you say one thing and then you go on to list the whole list anyway the deres from this don't read it but read it may what does Hashem want from you Maya 100 times a day he wants you to remember him by the way re interprets also this even before we're beginning R is piece here interprets you know what wants from you what he wants is VI did I say this before no V the usual way to read the p is and now Jewish people what does God want from you says don't read it that way read it what does God want from you he wants you to not procrastinate to not be lazy to not push off he wants you V now to be present to be mindful he wants you to do now what you're meant to be doing now don't wait don't delay don't push off he wants you to live with a very very intense sense of V be doing now what you're meant to be doing now live with a sense of V so what is it that God wants from you he wants you to live a life of Vata he wants you to never procrastinate don't be lazy don't push off don't delay don't say when I get to it when I have time don't wait do it now anyway now to so from this P where he says what does God want from us where do we derive this obligation to say 100 bras a day we derive it from the P that says all God wants from you is to live with a sense of a fear so if that's all God wants from us it tells us that the Tas of our creation the purpose of our existence the mission and the goal of every day is y to live with a sense of awe and in fact that is the essence of all the mitzvos together at the core of all the mitzvos I'm going to speak about probably on chabas it's very unusual on a Wednesday I know what I'm going to speak about in chabas but I happen to see this also from RI I saw this yesterday he quotes from sadon who says that all 613 mitzvos are contained in the the the Ten Commandments of our are really a headline for all mitos and then all the Ten Commandments are really included in the first commandment and all the first commandment is really included in the opening word so says you can summarize the entire totality of Torah all of and obligations are all contained in the word an how is that I I am the Lord your God I an how is all of Torah captured in an well if you understand it means to live with a sense of awe and acknowledgement of hm's presence all of mitz so here also is writing that the purpose the essence of all MIT everything I do I'm trying to feel his presence in my life I'm trying to see him and I'm trying to pursue and carry out his mission I'm trying trying to accomplish his mission and there's a lot of work for us to do to repair the world and bring light in his vision and to do his mission it's a terrible article today's New York Times it talks about Michael con is that his name the president so he's in jail in Otisville and a lot of Jews Like The Joker Otisville there several dfis and there man and there kosher food and the whole article is an enormous that talks about those dfis and kosher andus and and and the bar mitzvas and the Simas and all this this from jail that has so many criminals and it's just a terrible terrible I'm not talking about any of the particular individuals for which we should have sympathy and love and try to support them and so on and so forth I'm not talking about the people it references who are there but the whole phenomenon that a newspaper that's all the news it's fit to print but this international newspaper has that it makes headlines that there's a whole story how observant Torah Jews are in this uh are are incarcerated in prison it's such a it just it just reminds us of our mission to have to do the opposite to create a kesem to bring greater light into this world so the purpose of all mitzvos is to reveal in this world how do we do it so how do we do it certainly there are mitzah I begin my day with daving I end my day with daving but what about in between how am I sure to remember that there's a God in between I'm at work I'm on the gym I just came back from the supermarket I'm taking care of my tasks my to-do list I'm pursuing my professional career I'm raising my children whatever I'm doing during my day is filled with distractions it's filled with interruptions so yeah I began my day with doming and then I end my day with doing but what about in between how do I remember that I answer to a higher power how do I remember that I have a greater responsibility how do I remember my mission to bring light and to repair this world how do I remember the tus of my existence the essence and purpose and goal of why I'm here is to establish a relationship with Hashem how do I remember he's there to overcome my anxiety my worry my fear my Envy my jealousy my anger so the answer K said is very simple 100 times a day interrupt your day and make Bros you know how you remember because other people like to eat on the Run other people snack as they go other people food eating is Mindless for a Jew every time you eat you're going to make a braa before you're going to make it braa after for others you find time you steal time to go to the bathroom you run to the bath you run out of the bathroom bathroom for a you come out of the bathroom you're Mak an AA a 100 times a day you're going to interrupt your day when other people would be totally remiss would be distracted a 100 times a day we interrupt our day to say oh I'm going to enjoy this apple I just got out of the bathroom and everything worked right oh I'm going to acknowledge and thank and work on and reveal Hashem the question is how says how do Bros promote how are they a platform for growing our sense of awe of Hashem every we recite this is a comment every we recite has to include hashem's name every BR includes both God's name and references God's monarchy that God is the king he's malus says if you say but you omit the word so you said and you forgot the word says you got to go back and repeat it because you called God a king but if you left out the world then what's he the king of a king who has no world is nishen King he's not a king you have to have a world you have to have servants you have to have subjects to be a king So if you say God is the king but you don't mention he has subjects if you say he has object you didn't mention he's the king if you omit any part of that first template of a you have to go back and repeat the why the answer is because every begins with the acknowledgement there is a king and I am his subject I don't run the world I'm not responsible I don't shape reality I do my best I take initiative I participate I do what's meant for me to do I have to work on what I have to work on but in the end of the day I concede and I submit he's the king and I am his subject he is in charge and I accept whatever he determines so that's the beginning of every single braa this apple I bought it at Publix or wendixi or wherever I bought it but really it's from Hashem he's the king and he willed this apple into existence and without God's consent his support his permission there wouldn't be this delicious apple the tree would have taken root or it would have been overcome with wordss worms or the Apple would have spoiled and become rot or it'd be sour instead of sweet or there's a million thoughts I can have about the Apple now thinking those thoughts is not debilitating before I eat the apple it's actual it's actually the greatest act of mindfulness if you've ever read about or tried to engage mindful eating it's all about being fully present and and savoring and extracting everything so instead of mindlessly eating an apple on the go while you're talking to somebody and answering an email and responding to a text and listening to the radio and doing 17 other things and then you don't even re and driving all at the same time and you don't even realize you ate the apple so you left holding a core not sure what to do with it you don't even realize you ate the apple mindful eating says note the texture and note whether it's hard or soft whether it's ripe or whether it's unripened is it sweet is it sour how does it taste on the tongues the different parts of the tongue and on your pallet and did you fully chew it so when you swallow it are you chewing something which is chewed and did your nose take in the aroma of the Apple at the same time that you were tasting it on your tongue all of that changes the experience of eating the Apple how do you get your mind to a place of all that a because you want to say Hashem wow thank you for the texture and The Taste and the aroma the ability to chew and to swallow and to digest and to eliminate wow this Apple has now just gone from eating an apple it's now gone from a moment of eating a snack to a moment of an exercise of deep Faith to a miraculous experience of the gift of an incredible Apple so if you skip the words M if you skip the beginning the template of all bros then you've undermined the purpose of AA because the purpose of AA is to connect what you're about to do with the fact that God is the king of the universe so whether it's before you're doing something like eating or after you've eaten or after you've gone to the bathroom or before you're smelling a pleasant fragrance or Aroma you know before you spell smell spices the BR is not just a for Saturday night many people mistakenly think that's a that's part of it happens to be we smell those things during abdalah which necessitates or demands making that bra but if on a Sunday through Friday you also smell you also make a it's part of the it's a you're making on something that you enjoy so whatever we reciting begins with I'm going to wash my hands or put on my tits or light the candles or whatever Mitzvah I'm about to do that incorporates a to it I'm hanging Aza whatever Mitzvah I'm about to do blessed are you God the king of the universe what I'm about to do is connecting to me to you king of the universe I'm putting a mza up so that when I walk through the threshold of this home this room I remember there's a king of the universe is's aware of everything that goes in on that the values of this home will be dictated by the fact that you are the king of the universe whatever Mitzvah whatever whatever whatever I'm doing is connected to those words now speaking about in particular which is R topic I'm making a on something I'm about to enjoy so I'm making a Bor I'm going to enjoy a g Apple God comes from the word flow God all blessing flows from you the word bar is not God I'm giving a br can't give God a Braha sometimes my little children my little son I give him a Braha Friday night he says okay ABA now I give you a Braha he puts his hands on my head blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah it gives you a Braha right it's cute it's adorable I give you a braa I'm I'm the ABA now you give me a Braha it's cute it's adorable sweet so is that what we're doing we sayem ohm you give us such now I'm Gonna Give You AEM so sweet now I put my hands on your Cy I give you a braa of course not it's ridiculous the thought of our giving Hashem a Braha so what ises mean means means God I'm acknowledging that you are the M you are the source of all blessing God you are blessed means not God I'm giving you a for good I'm not giving as Hashem you are blessed means you are the source of all blessing whatever blessing is in my life whatever I'm enjoying the roof over my head the car I drive my family my clothing success in business a good workout a delicious meal whatever I've just taken in my vacation week my family time whatever blessing is in my life M you are the source of that that's what the word bar means not I'm blessing God but I'm seeing God as the source of blessing so then when I conclude that's the template that's the opening of every BR it's the formula then each braa has a distinct ending so when I eat an apple it's bore P at right one of my daughters has uh the nine-year-old had a br it's not a br br test thick it's not a br B it's a thick packet BR test it's all day long you just mentioning Foods all the trick Foods The Peanut the banana the crispix the they going through all the trick Foods right so brasas bras each one has a different ending which is annoying why can't there just be one generic BR on everything but each one has this distinct ending so why is each thing a distinct ending because I'm giving God a distinct acknowledgement that he made the apples and he made the vegetables in the ground and he made the drink and he made the meat and the chicken he's made everythings were making us a promise and prediction Kaz were telling us the following somebody who does not ziv ziv means casually throw out of their mouth meaning somebody who doesn't just offer lip service to a Braha but is actually present when they say the braa bonus somebody's Mindful and present and concentrates and thinks about the BR they're saying and if you do that 100 times a day guess what you'll be a at the end of the day if you a 100 times a day make the effort to be mindful and present when you make a K's promise is you will be mindful you will be a at the end of the day it's like saying if you do 100 push-ups 100 sit-ups a day you're going to be healthy go to the gym 100 times a day think 100 times a day about what you're eating or drinking here's my promise you're going to be healthy so what's true physically is also true spiritually if a 100 times a day physically I remain Mindful and present of what I'm eating and did I do my sit-ups and push-ups and did I hit my 10,000 steps for the day I'm going to be physically healthy well of 100 times a day I interrupt my day to say oh comes from you m you're the king I am your subject and this apple or that going to the bathroom or the MU I just hung or that's filling I just put on it's all connecting me to you the king then at the result of doing that 100 times a day I'm going to be a but what's the key to it working says the first step to success is that you have to do it for real you could do real push-ups or you could do fake push-ups you could be doing working the the weights hard or you could be you know cheating a little bit here and there not going up all the way or down all the way or putting all the weight on so is it better to say a without thinking about it than not say it at all absolutely but it's best and it fulfills it accomplishes most its goal when it's person has to be mindful you have to be present you have to think about time yourself you know what the difference is between zor dismissing casually a lip service versus concentrating we're talking a second or two you're talking a couple seconds you're not talking about the difference of should I spend an hour on the braa or a millisecond it's not an enormous sacrifice or adjustment in your life we're talking about a few seconds but here's the thing the accumulation of those few seconds leads to at the end of the day you're so if you aspire to or if you Aspire for your children or grandchild have do they hear us ever make a if they hear us make a do they hear us make it in a manner thator it's lip service or do they see us say hold on one second I have to make a okay take a bite of the Apple okay I'm sorry what were you saying your kid's going to look you and go whoa wow what was that well I was thinking about wow that's unbelievable what do they see us do you know we have a principle if you take on too much you won't take on anything but if you do it little by little you'll accomplish then Islam so this is this whole sa Al RBA didn't get up in front of a packed audience and give these a and RBA didn't write this to disseminate these as articles or essays these are notes from v r had a group of people met with and they were working together on things aad is a group who can feel vulnerable to one another who are who confide in one another and who together are pledging to be working and growing on on certain efforts together so this was the first V the whole first VOD was that this gar this gar don't read it 100 times a day that the if you leave out one of the words in the beginning of the you have to repeat it again because this formula is the template to that you shouldn't be and there then he gave a homework assignment I'm not going to end the share here although we could if we were following rola's timetable but he ended his vad and he gave homework to all the participants the members of the VOD and he said here's the deal choose a braa and be present and mindful in that Braha work on it for a few weeks and then we'll add to it and then we'll grow from there then we'll grow from there so decide shahak Hamot Al Bening a good one is ASAT ASAT we've mentioned this before but know a group of guys who are working on not walking around when they say ashat standing still to say Asher sheer smile somebody who's the one who said is not you don't say while you're walking away stand still it is a world of difference if you stand still to say Asar versus if you say it while you're walking and going to where you were going so whatever you want to take on benching don't take on hanging a Maza because you don't do that often enough but whatever you're taking on decide here my bra I'm going to acquire I'm going to master this bra I'm not I'm not going to say you know what for the rest of my life every BR I say I'm going to say with f you're never going to do it and so what happens is when you fail to do it you're just going to give up and abandon the whole aspiration to begin with so instead say this is my whatever the whatever the bra is that's my BR and that that BR alone to begin with I'm pledging I'm making a commitment I'm going to remind my myself I'm going to tell the people around me to hold me accountable to that say is the source of you wow I have a casual relationship I could talk to God in the first person you Hashem elu you're my God you're not just the abstract God elu you're my God you have a relationship with me you care about me you're invested in me me you're the king of the whole universe I am your subject if you're the king then it matters it means something that I'm your subject B you are the Creator not in the past but in the present you continue to will creation pre the delicious fruit look at the texture look at the taste look at the appearance smell the aroma and so on and so forth take on a you're adding milliseconds nothing nothing if you do it the right way versus the wrong way if you stand still versus saying it while walking you're adding milliseconds in terms of the loss of time but what qualitatively you're adding to your life in terms of your presence and your relationship with Hashem it's a GameChanger at the end of the day it's transformative you will be a different person it is a GameChanger and therefore it's something to work on and here's the thing it's not just a game Cher for you the whole environment the whole culture the whole climate this is what R is going to get to here about don't just impact the person saying it changes it has Cosmic implications and effects it changes the universe the whole world feels the reverberations of when we make a br when I bring Hashem down to the this world when I give him a when I give him a presence here in the lower world through the apple of the orange through the steak or the potatoes through the sandwich or through whatever it is the milkshake the coffee the water the scotch whatever I'm enjoying when I give Hashem presence de when I bring him down to this world I'm not just impacting myself it's not just my or my relationship with hem but I have the reverberations the impact of what I'm doing can be felt all around me that's practical my children or grandchildren hear me say Aba and hear me not just casually lip service BR but really say a they're going to be different too my whole home is going to be different my environment is going to be different now it's not always easy to do this there are people who are at work all day how do you make a br you come out of the bathroom at work and you're standing in the hallway and people are walking by you're going to say as there not so simple not so easy so first of all you don't have to say the right outside the bathroom find a private spot find a cubicle or a corner close the door of your office and say it with cavana take those few steps till you find the place don't forget that you have to say the as don't start looking at your phone or answering your text or walking into a into a colleague but the point is it's not always easy and I don't mean to minimize that when you're at work and you're having lunch with colleagues or you're at lunch that you can just easily make a br but I will say this as somebody who has the luxury of working in an environment where it's no problem to make bras but I will say this we are living in a world today where I think maybe it's easier than ever to unapologetically make that BR and what would the world look like if you at lunch as a normal person not a fanatic radical trying to prosze but say to the person excuse me for one second I say a blessing over food and say the blessing do you think the person will look down at you or up at you do the person will think less or more of you I think we're living in a world where at worst they'll be like okay that's weird I don't know what this person's all about at worst but at best they're going to say wow that's amazing tell me more about that well just like I don't steal food I pay for it I believe that God created the food in this world and I want to take a moment to thank him and to to see his presence you think you you think even your atheist colleague is going to think less of you so I think that we should have the courage to be Unapologetic because if you look around the cafeteria at work the Muslim and the Christian and the Hindu and the Buddhist and the Indian everyone else is making their blessing lying down saying their prayer wearing their religious paraphernalia doing what they need to do unapologetically with no defensiveness and no worry and good for them they should and so should we so we shouldn't hesitate to make that okay you want to find a discret place find a discreet location but the BR and so on and so forth that we're doing I think the world will look more at us and not less let's begin the second paragraph the notion again why are we making 100as a day don't read it what's the what's the purpose what's the reason that we're making these 100 so at the end of the day we have improved we transformed ourselves as we're living in the sense of awe of God we're Cal calibrating our awe of God compass and why are we doing that it's not just about my relationship with God it's about an entirely different world view says r now let's delve into the depth of the idea of making in the sixth chapter says the following God owns the whole world and everything in it and if you benefit from God's world because he owns it if you take something that belongs to me without permission you are a you're a thief you're a ghav well just like everything in my home belongs to me and you're not entitled to just walk in and to use it I was at a wedding on Sunday and at the somebody had an iPhone charger plugged into the wall with no phone on the end of it and my battery was almost dead so I was debating in my mind am I allowed to plug my phone into the charger without permission it's an interesting Al question maybe it falls into the area of Zen I'll benefit doesn't cost that other person I'm not consuming a product of theirs that will be at a loss there's no wear and tear on that cord from the fact that I plugged it into my iPhone so am I allowed to use someone's property without their permission if somebody has a pen lying around can I use their pen if somebody's tiles and filling I don't have toes if someone has a sitter can I use their sitter so differentiates between a religious article and a non-religious article because the Assumption of a religious article is that people would be okay with your using their religious article CU they want to promote religious observance whereas if it's their personal device or object they would be less okay so you can't work off the assumption that they have no problem with your you're using their object so I was debating at what was the status of this chord what's my point you can't use someone's stuff without asking permission everything in your home is presumed to belong to you and even if I'm a guest in your home just because I'm a guest in your home doesn't mean I can start taking your things unless you give me permission well guess what we're all guests in God's home this world this whole world is God's home and we are guests here pay rent but we're guests here and as guests we're not entitled to just take what we want we need to ask permission and what is the formula for which we ask permission ab ab so the P mosha one of the commentaries ons so what does it mean that if you benefit from this world you are Ma you are how do you translate you're you're desecrating you're you're stealing you're a thief but m is a very particular connotation m is when you have consecrated property in the temple and a person uses it for personal benefit they violated Ma so if you have a bench which is dedicated it's consecrated for the temple and you sit on it for your own personal benefit you eat consecrated Foods you wear consecrated clothing if you use items stuff that has been consecrated that is sacred to the temple and you use it for personal benefit you violate M so it's not it's not um coincidental that our rabbis use that language that if you use the objects of this world casually without asking permission you should view them as consecrated property that you used personally and you violated M and what grants permission to use them what makes it okay what gives us license until the mitzvos make it permissible so the P mosha says what do you mean the mitzvos it should say till you recite a so says which mitvah is it in particular that makes it permissible to use making a the whole world is like a Vineyard and how do we redeem The Vineyard through a braa so what's the difference between the two models the Yami here is quoting two different sort of metaphors for what the experience of making AA before we eat the first metaphor is it's like M consecrated property that if you don't redeem it you're violated Mila and the second example is it's like a that you have to redeem you have to do p in the first Paradigm according to the first model making a is a m what gives us permission what makes it accessible to us is making the is the m that the core purpose of the world is to make a on it so really until you make the it doesn't belong to you it's kudim it's consecrated it's otherworldly what makes it part of this world what makes it accessible to you what makes it permissible for your use personal use a until the BR which is the it's like according to the other Paradigm which says it's more similar to to a so it means that it's still holy even after I make the bra it's now just something which is holy which is permissible to benefit from I'm sorry it's only permissible this this is all within the first one say it's a m if you say that making a is a m really it's K it's consecrated and dedicated to a higher order to God and what makes it permissible for personal use is making a the according to the second metaphor that compares it to a Vineyard what grows in the fourth year on the on the vine is wholly consecrated property until you redeem it when you redeem something what are you doing you're transferring you are replacing so when you make a what you're saying is the is payment for the the benefit I'm about to get so it's not that the two paradigms are is the it's a little bit of Lum this here is the the m is the what makes something which is consecrated makes it now it makes it now something which is permissible attainable accessible or is the BR like PID am I redeeming it where it's still holy but now I'm allowed to have it according to the both opinions the is established that the world is a holy place and everything in it is truly otherworldly belongs to God the only way we can access access it and make it ours is through a br so I pay in the supermarket but I also have to pay in order to transfer its spiritual status I transfer its legal ownership to Publix to me by paying at the cashier and I transfer its spiritual ownership to being otherworldly and part of the Holy realm to being mundane and accessible to me through a br br is the currency through which I pay and transfer the spiritual status so if that's the case says R saying 100 bras a day what does that accomplish the hund bras a day help bring us to a place of recognition and acknowledgement that we're living in a very holy world if all the food in this world is Holy until I make a br to make it mine it means I should view the whole the world as a very holy place I can't touch this world because it's so holy without first having permission from hasem so making is the mitzvas are kind of the general rule Mitzvah are how do I make how am I raising my spiritual antenna to feel God's presence how do I see the spirituality in an otherwise physical world through mitzvos that's in a broad sense but how do I in a more even specific sense see the spirituality in the most mundane what is the most base thing we do like animals we eat we have to nourish ourselves in order to sustain ourselves to stay alive we have to eat it's a very base thing to do to eat it's a very Bas thing in fact sometimes people who want to achieve a level of Holiness they take on a fast because by abstaining from eating they think they're really achieving a Holiness see this has a different view the real Holiness is by elevating the act of eating not by abstaining or refraining from it so I'm living basically what what R is saying is by instituting 100 bras a day it's instituting that 100 times a day I look at this world and I see not just an animal based mundane material physical place but I look at this world I look up and down the aisles at the supermarket and I say wow look at this kadus look at this Rus look at the spirituality here the fruit section the vegetable section look at the meat section look at the beverages look how many salad dressing options look how many wow look at all the kadosa here other people see material physical I got to go shopping it's the most mundane activity I have my checklist I have my shopping this is the most mundane thing I do all day says r no walk up and down those aisles and say this is the holiest thing I'm going to do all day almost like being in sh when I walk up and down these aisles and I see in every product on every shelf in every aisle of the whole Supermarket I see the Y hasem I see the kadha I see the Holiness and the BR that I would recite on every one of those objects is reminding me that 100 times a day I'm seeing the Holiness in what otherwise appears to be the mundane so BR has then become the vehicle the conduit to see the spirituality within the material of this world it's a whole different world view on Bros and when you live life in HD in high definition where I don't see just mundane and physical and material but I see the Yem I see hashem's holy hand in everything I'm doing now you can imagine that if I do that a 100 times a day by the end of that day I'm going to have if I see the spirituality in the mundane I see hashem's gu hand 100 times during the day at the end of the day I'm going to be different it's not just my relationship with Hashem will be different my entire world view I as a result will be entirely different andem will pick up from here next time