Rabbi Meir Gavriel Elbaz: Hoshana Rabbah 2020 Marathon

unfortunately um due to the kasot that are manifesting themselves in the world right now we cannot you know pursue this annual custom of ours live the way we usually do bit of ahmed but we'll have to suffice with this broadcast this recording hope this finds all of you well in the best of health and the best of spirits in the spirit of hagasukot today we celebrate quotes the aria kadosh who says 51. today is the 51st day since rashod is the 21st of tishrei which is 51 days since the holy month of elune has begun and this is really the culmination of all of the amiibo we know that serves as the final seal for the mahadeen for all of the days of judgment for the yamianuraim everything is sealed for the final time on hoshan and then given over all of the verdicts are given over to the malachim and they are delivered on shamini it says but why is it that hoshanah rabbah is considered the final seal this is a question this is really an essay that's discussed by the great gond the admon mislonim in his sephinativochalom and he brings the famous messiah the famous parable that once there was a very powerful king whose son strayed from the path of royalty and he started hanging out with you know not the best individuals very uncouth people a while passed and the king started feeling longing for a son he missed him and he said he called over his closest advisor and he said my dear advisor do me a favor go see what the story is with my son track him down and speak to him see if he needs anything see if maybe he wants to come back home try to speak to him fine after some you know search the this advisor tracked down this uh the prince who as we said was hanging out made friends with uh not the most uh refined people to say the least and the the prince recognized the advisor he was friendly with him and he said oh hi how are you how's it going say says you know your father really misses you your father the king really misses you and he sent me to see if there's anything that you need so he stopped for a moment and he says you know what there really is the minister's eyes lit up he says this is it this is what the king's been waiting for and the son told the minister he says listen i've been wearing this old pair of boots for a long time and i got a lot of mileage out them out of them but they are now all torn and worn if you can ask my father just to send me a pair of new boots that's all i need when he heard that his face fell the advisor started crying started crying to himself and he says this was an itra tong this was a time of mercy the king the father wanted to take his son back and he could have asked for anything and all he did was limit himself to asking for a pair of new boots says shalom sometimes we act like that we are the king's children we are princes of of academy baruch in this world and sometimes unfortunately we stray from the path when the etra zone comes when the auspicious time to ask for what we need comes that's as we'll speak about soon from the mara when that time comes we have a chance to ask for whatever we want but the only problem is on rosh hashanah and yomaki purim our te filot are dedicated to one and only theme and that is the kingship the sovereignty of god almighty that's all we speak about uh we speak about that's the recurring theme throughout the days of all throughout the high holidays all of the prayers everything revolves around one thing the one and only god that sits on a throne of justice we don't even ask for any of our things this is exactly in tikkun tikunzain although on our lips we have prayers of or we make mention of akadospero who's unification and his sovereignty but everybody deep down knows what we really want we want children we want long life we want uh to earn a respectable livelihood and this says that on rosh hashanah before akados baruch and pray to him like like dogs dogs when they bark have halves he says sometimes that's how people pray takados the admoni kobrin explains that there's nothing innately wrong with these requests for bene for children long life and parnassa it's the way we ask for it give me give me have have that's the issue but at the end of the day deep down everybody knows that that's what we want so if that's the case we limit ourselves based on the tefilotov how is it that we can pray for the things that we really want deep down we are saying words that have to do with god's sovereignty but really deep down we're focused on our personal needs so he says another beautiful mashaan to understand what happens in his commentary on the hoshannat on the text that we say throughout sukkot especially on the days of throughout the days of sukkot we say anot every day we say shorter as the name would indicate we say lengthier hoshanut we don't circle the sephir torah once we circle it seven times and the another much longer and we pray for all sorts of things and water with regards to rain and water anything that has to do with water the judgment on the you know on the earth is passed on water on the holiday of sukkot so on we say a little bit of you know the text becomes a little bit different on on this first we say please save us then we say god please god save us please and then afterwards finally the third time around we say god please save us you are our father explains that he says there is once a prince a son of a king that something would ever happened he became poor poor simpleton and he became a beggar and there was a minhag that once a year during a certain time all of the anime all of the impoverished people in the kingdom would come to the palace and get handouts from the king so this prince obviously didn't look like one he was a prince in disguise he came to the you know outer courtyard of the king's palace and there were guards over there they were giving out the packages the handouts to the poor people and he came and they gave him something so first he says listen you know that's not enough for me do you think you can do a little bit better so they had they felt bad for him they pitied him and they gave him a little bit more and then he says you know something that's still not going to cut it for me i need a little bit more you know i'm related to the king maybe you can do a little bit better he said okay they still felt bad for him they gave him a little bit more then he said you know it's still not enough for me i don't know if you know but i'm closely related to the king you know what they said we'll give you a little bit more finally he couldn't handle it anymore he saw the king passing by and he shouted out he says your highness it's me your son it's me please no matter what you give me won't be enough because you're my father and you could be mashpia you can shower me with so much good and um benevolence and whatever you give me will never be enough because you are my father and you can do it rabbit this is how we approach akados throughout the 10 days of repentance we've been calling out we've been saying that hashem is the king is the king hashem is the king but deep down we know exactly what we want but we haven't had really that chance to verbalize it yet to ask for it from the depths of our souls says and this is the day that's going to have the final seal hashem puts the final seal on all of the judgments all the verdicts that he's meted out throughout the 10 days of repentance and hashem gives hand me out on hoshan who gives out you know shaykh gives us a little bit then we say that's not enough we tell the you know we talked please god save us we're related give us a little bit more and they do so and finally all of our feelings our deepest feelings of closeness and love to bubble over when we say the final hoshanah and we say anna illna give us everything don't limit us give us everything we need you're the king but not only are you the king you are our father you are the mekora shaifa no matter what you give us will never be enough children in longevity and health and wealth and everything else that we need in order to serve you it's not for us yes says that sometimes people ask for these things it like barking like a dog when it's meant in a selfish manner but if we turn to academy hashem you're our father and we need all of these things not for our selfish purposes but for us to be able to serve you comfortably and with yeshua dot with clarity and peace of mind shower us with all of this benevolence avinu atta you are our father this is the culmination of all of the amino and that's why it's called hashem says if that's the way you're speaking that's the way you dress me you deserve it and you'll get it that's why there is a hint this can be hinted from a pasuk in shira shirim the pasukken shiroshima says put me like a seal on your heart like a seal on your arm the the aryaka dosh explains that this pasuk is referring to the two seals the first seal that is given that is implemented on yomaki purim and the second one the second seal the second one that's given okay and what's the continuation of the pasuk because the love that we have for you is as harsh as death death is a very harsh thing it's powerful as harsh as that is we tell a qadosh that's how much love we have for you on that day that the second seal is implemented we say this is the day that our love for you bubbles over we cannot contain it any longer please fulfill all of our hearts desire for the good and who says if that's the case i'm going to give it to you i want to end off with a vart with a shot that i heard that is so apropos for hoshanah in particular but also in general for the matzah for the situation that israel and the world as a whole finds itself in i heard this shot from my rebbi again of ashikamanovic shalita the reserve of the mere shiva and he said this he was very ill with the coronavirus several months ago he made a miraculous recovery as a result of manitfilot and he said this vertura upon recovering makes a harsh decree against am israel that it can be torn up to us any time we call out to him vacative call out to hashem when he is near seek him out when he is close and what does that mean says the mana that's only when when a person is praying individually when a person is praying betsy burr he has the that has a power even when a kadas who is not necessarily close and the uh continues and explains what's the difference when is hashem close and when is he not says these are the 10 days when do we say that even the prayer of the individual without atibur has power to tear up harsh decrees that's the 10 days between throughout the rest of the year though you need the power of the tsiburu says the gemara to tear up such harsh decrees we find ourselves in a situation where unfortunately and now it is there's an uptick hashem in many different places we find many people quarantined isolated ill hashem and they can't get out to pray with cebu there's a lot of people who are not feeling well old and fragile or you know unfortunately this virus doesn't discriminate um there's many people who can't get out to prohibit cebu does that mean that based on the if it's not asserted that the prayer of the individual is not powerful enough to overturn harsh decrees could it be that a qadhafi puts us in a situation whereby many people will have to pray individually be hidut and their prayers will not be powerful enough to overturn the decree that we put ourselves into we know that al qaeda's says that there is a positive torah commandment when amissain find themselves in a time of suffering and calamity there is a mitzvah to scream out to yell to cry out for him to save us how could it be that academic who puts us in a situation where we don't even have the power of the tzibur many people don't have a mignon many people have to be isolated and quarantined and we have a mitzvah called but seemingly from the mara a person's individual prayers don't have enough power to bear fruit in overturning this gazette how does that work and may rebuild shiva shalita pointed out that kadospur who certainly will not put amis in such an imposition and it must be that if puts us in the situation where many of us so many jews find themselves unable currently to join at sibur that must mean that the power of the tfila of the at this time at this juncture is that of a filabot and how can that be the mana says that's only during it must be says the receiver that these days the days where many people have to be quarantined and suffering and not feeling well akadosporu considers these days as if it's a continuum of the assertive the 10 days of repentance the days of all the high holidays continue especially during which we said is the culmination of these days but even after know that if you are at home if you cannot get out pray to god almighty from the depths of your soul because a kadosh baruch it is your prayer now as if it is and you're in the middle of the tzibur and hashem will accept it as such that is the power of these days has been through many many trials and tribulations throughout our history and this is no different who doesn't want us to give up the test now is whether those people are going to feel lonely and be metia ish and give up hope or not rabota we have to make sure those those of us who are lonely and quarantined what can you do that's the painful as it is hashem says don't give up cry out to me it is a time of suffering for yaakov but he shall be saved from it and for those of us who can get out if there's one thing that we can kind of adopt as the holiday season of the yamaheem and sukkot and sinha comes to a close and we still have this virus to contend with it is the theme and the words of again kaminsky shlita dershoshiva one of the dulhadur who told us that a person something that we have to adopt at this time is being more friendly to one another being more amicable to one another being panim being called being friendly to people smiling at people the mara says is one who whitens his teeth to his friend that's a reference to a smile is even greater than one who gives them milk to drink a smile goes a long way if a person if every one of us can you know take this opportunity maybe once a week twice a week whatever it is we have all sorts of friends and acquaintances that maybe we can be a little bit closer to people who you know we've drifted a little bit further apart from if we can call them shoot them a text call them up and say you know how are you how you feeling is everything okay how's the family maybe we can exchange the torah once a week even for a few minutes i'd love to hear your voice maybe there's something maybe we can converse in that would go such a long way it would take away all of these feelings of isolation and loneliness that so many people are suffering from and you better believe that is as debilitating the physical aspect of the coronaviruses the mental psychological emotional spiritual aspect of this disease is no less debilitating and if we can make that effort to reach out to a friend to an acquaintance to somebody that you know maybe we haven't kept such close contact especially if they're elderly especially if they're lonely drop them a line say shalom how are you feeling according to many post game if you can't visit a person physically a person would be able to be mekaim even over the phone and that's really the goes on and on can really be can bring back and infuse life into those who are ill and to those who are lonely and isolated let's take this opportunity to you know resolve for this year refers to he doesn't refer to the year necessarily but to the gmatria of 5781 has been a year when i'm israel and the rest of the world for that matter has been in the dumps no doubt about it the urbanization who lifts us from the dumps picks us up raises us to give us bizarre year of health and happiness and nahat and spiritual growth and physical growth everything that people have lost in any aspect there is a kadhiswara who should bring it back hopefully by next year we should be able to engage in our annual custom of all night learning live in person together sitting next to one another enjoying each other's company but in the meantime let's remember this is a very powerful day don't limit yourself to what you can ask for makado cry out from the depths of your soul with or without a minion remember these days this situation gives us the power of assertive reach out to a friend be friendly to people as a guide of schmuler shiva says reach out to people be friendly inquire about their welfare share the torah show another person that you care about them thank you for listening a