Why do Jews pray a lot?

[Music] gentlemen welcome to practical spirituality here in Asia tour the old city of jerusalem overlooked in the western wall well we are going into Rosh Hashanah and Russian is gonna be a week from today plus a day and and it is filled with prayers and that causes a lot of trepidation for people because there's just so many prayers but if you think about it there's so many prayers all the time you know Jewish people there we never stop with prayers we've got lots of prayers for so we have our regular prayers three times a day but then we have blessings on everything I already made a blessing on my water but there will be an after blessing on the water as well and we just kind of make blessing after blessing after blessing this blessings on rainbows there's blessing on thunder this blessing on lightning there's lesson on if you haven't seen the ocean in a month there's blessing on particularly strange people you know we never get good luck getting them to hold still till you open up the book to what prayer to say on them you know it's like oh there's a strange looking person please hold still yeah let me look up the blessing yeah so I get to make it once in a while I know it by heart but it's worth knowing that one by heart because sometimes they move quickly so so it's the word our mission Ahab real or mission they have really if you're Ashkenazi everyone practice that one mission a a brios try that miss Channing embryos like for example I saw a on I think you're allowed to say it on a anyway but I but this was a on full-size legs I mean II the legs were as long as mine legs were as long as mine and then the real on the legs and you ever seen that I have only seen that once and that was like a full-on blessing I mean I could have said Jackie ah no on that one as well and and what it means is misciagna brios means that god makes many different creations were not all the same and when you see someone really not the same so then it brings a blessing there's a blessing if you haven't seen a person a long time haven't seen someone over a year you make a blessing yeah it has to be a friend like a dear friend family member anyway so what's this all about well that we can trace it all the way back to our roots and our name also answers the question because the name of the Jewish people is today at least is you who deem you who deemed means Jew you know you who deem becomes is from the name you who da or Judah and uh and that's when the Jew comes from in Yiddish it's yet and in English we call it a Jew but the word Jew actually comes from the word you who deep and and you know like like English they often turn the you it into a J you know examples of that the Rastafarians call God JA right we we don't say hallelujah right and but that's a that's a Jane that as many Judah yahudah you know all those different names Jonathan is really what your oniton Yochanan is John with an H so so that you understand those journey were you saying Yosef is Joseph right so so the word you who D means to give things because it's from the word toda and in fact when Leia named her fourth son she says because the other three were complaints she had complained sons maybe the first son was Reuven which she was telling Jacob because she was the unloved wife he wanted Rachel he wound up with Leia and she was the unloved wife and so he said he said you know Reuben means C brittle then son I gave you a son like love me Leia's barren ah sorry Rachel's barren look what I'm doing I gave you a kid see I gave you a son second son Shem own Simon Simon Jimenez Shema what I mean you see ones eyes now here's here and what's word on with anion like on e poor yeah poverty here my poverty I'm gonna unloved wife love me I'm a like have mercy on your unloved wife I've given you two sons third son doesn't get better third son is lady you know what the word literally means Malave what's a mean anyone no means an escort escort me escort me I mean I've given you three sons escort me don't escort lad to the ball games yeah escort me sorry don't escape Rachel to the ball game escort me Leia and the meddra says that Shu anyway had her hands full with Ruben and Shimon so she doesn't he has to escort her because who's gonna take lady if not Yaakov was gonna bring lady so you understand how sad this is anyone getting house and this is a few hundred being named for such thing you know my first daughter was born she was born after an unsuccessful pregnancy and and the the went hard so when she was born we're thinking of a name and and we it was interesting the Boston already called us or I called him I don't remember but the we were speaking of the Boston or Rebbe from Boston Massachusetts and and we said that we're thinking of the name nekoma because it would be a comfort for us having you know had an unsuccessful pregnancy which for newlyweds is heartbreaking and and I think it's heartbreaking for anyone but it was particularly heartbreaking with you you know because you would like mourning this dream you know yeah it's so exciting and and by the way I just want to say something on that is that that as pretty as the pregnancies are always nerve-wracking you know in general and and if God forbid that pregnancy doesn't go so the couple feels like they're the only ones in the world that this ever happened to because like you see kids everywhere and you know you're seeing all these kids and his successful pregnancies except for you and who knows if there's something really really wrong in and etc etc etc and I'm like it's it's seriously that resolve it pregnancies are scary as they are but but losing one you feel like you're the only ones in the world but I remember my wife getting visitors who were the visitors the visitors were the were women who had the same thing had happened to them they came to comfort her women who had had unsuccessful pregnancies happened then and guess who those people were yes who they were how are you supposed to know who they were the only hint I gave you was they had unsuccessful pregnancy you know but they were everyone we knew everyone we knew because we didn't know something and that is that that the statistical probability of that happening when you don't use birth control is high not every pregnancy takes and and people are planning that their only family planning is to have a big family we're going for pregnancy after brings have to bring those renze there's a chance of that high chance and so all the big families that you see if you ever interview the mother of those families or where the father you will find out that many of them like you you see they got 10 12 kids you're thinking like they must have only succeeded I know families with 10 12 kids who have had five or six miscarriages and they still have 12 kids now do you think that's any you think their console no there's still the still ins there's a deep pain there but it almost doesn't exist anyone who's going for multiple kids is going to you know there are exceptions please God you I bless all the women listening to this that you should have successful pregnancies from beginning to end and further and you should all sell main and they all outlast your children's lives may Iran may your chill now so may your all your children outlast your life I mean yeah may all your children outlast you yes yeah you know the Mitzvah of having kids being fruitful and multiplying you can't fulfill it unless your kids out live you yeah which is a good reason to have a lot of kids meaning the minimum amount is the minimum amount is a boy and a girl that's the minimum though and you have to have one boy and one girl and they in the butt but it's for insurance it might be worth having lots of kids you know just just to make sure that your kids and your kids outlast you grandkids count by the way grandkids go so if something god forbid went wrong let's say someone had one child who passed away but that child had kids and there's a boy and a girl there that does the trick okay back to our topic there's lots and lots just want to give you some native being serious so there's there's there's lots and lots of prayers because the name of the Jewish people is you who duh you who done means to give things so what does it mean to give things what are you doing when you give things let's let's dissect the word what does it mean to be grateful to have gratitude so it's actually quite simple so let's give an example of do you mind handing me this pin please what's your name now okay of all names so yeah I bless you you don't have laya syndrome you know it do you know what Laius syndrome is why you have to think that your to think that you know you that your husband loves it could be even his career but you understand like like the second fiddle thing it happens to a lot of a lot of people didn't under with your name it's just that you understand that you can spend your life kind of feeling like maybe our husbands more interested in other things you know now okay here we go you ready Leia you're gonna hand me that pen as a gift even though it's not yours okay and what's your name Dan okay here we go thank you Dan yeah I know that was weird but it's just to illustrate the definition of thanks what was why was that a strange thing for me to get a pen from land think Dan because who was the source of this pen layered in there was a source of the pen TN was not the source of it and so for me to to give thanks proper thanks would be to laugh Thank You Lynn so the proper thanks is to give thanks to the source of that which I received and so so the what is Thanksgiving a recognition of the source that's it recognition the source or whatever you got that's Thanksgiving to recognize a source of one say that recognize the source let's try that together recognize the source what is that Thanksgiving when you get thanks you're recognizing the source of that which you received and and that's really important and it's also very humbling because it means you're not the source people have a lot of gratitude will tend towards humility they're more humble there's a lot of people don't want to recognize the source they a lot of people want to feel they're like self-made and not recognize everything they got and who built them you know they want to feel like you know it's all them I love when in the old days I used to watch a program called the Academy Awards and that's when the most egotistical people in the world received their reward for an award for having made a film or acted in a film or whatever but these people are like you know I mean you can't imagine what they did to get to where they are you know how many people they had to step on and sleep with and God knows what else and and they you know to get there and it's all you go like it's only three go anyway so they get their award and they're like holding their award you know it looks something like a bike helmet and they're holding their word in there they stand them from the microphone and they're like meaning the first time this is if they get their first to work they don't know what to do I'd like to thank myself for being so great you know so what do they do they wind up like thinking and thinking and thinking they have a whole list of people they think and and it's it's really amazing but they realize like you got to say something and you know you didn't get there on your own and so they just start thinking away I'd like to think you're cutting me but I think this one might think that way and you're like they finally like you know they have nothing to say so they're gonna have to start looking at how they got there and this is why our thank you to our parents it's so important to thank your parents they're your source they are your source they're not only this there's no sort of your body but there's a source of everything that has come out of you really and anything you'll ever produce it's all because of them might be also despite them because some people are some people's parents are great teachers because everything they taught is what you do some people are some parents are great teaching is everything they taught is you know do the opposite they tell you exactly what you should not do and that's still a teacher and you got to thank your parents they're the source and it's really important to do that and by the way I suggest all of you call your parents today or tomorrow thank them especially before Rosh Hashana creation of the world and we're coming up to the creation of the world literally it's the 25th of ello anyone know we're at now we're at the 22nd now so in three days that'll be the first day of creation the reason we celebrate the first day of creation really on the onrush Hashanah is because that was when man was created and that's when time is counted by human beings there's no time in the in the Torah before Adam on the sixth day there's no count of time I mean God counts time but it's his perspective as opposed to the sixth day where it's no man's perspective that's why you'll notice that a day a lot could happen in a day like like the whole world can be created on one day and also you'll notice that the Sun doesn't show up till which day fourth day Sun comes in on the fourth day which is very interesting because then what's a what's a day without the Sun is there a day without a Sun for human beings is there a day with Edison no what is the day days the amount of time the Earth spins around and it's 24 hour spin feasibly the Sun so what's a day this is why literalists who want to say like they want a hold of the six days creation the earth could spin I mean it would be an interesting concept of earth spinning without a Sun but but the the time has Stood times only relative really yeah time to the matter on earth spinning is gotta be spinning relative to something for it to have relevance yeah nothing's right nothing in time exists without a relative remote view you know there has to be that's why time was never created that's why you'll notice in your own life you've never had one experience of time not since you were born and if you ask me what time it was and I answered would it really be that time it would not be that time it would be you know a half a second later then you've never experienced time ever I never not once it's really interesting that we're also convinced that time exists like normally we're only convinced something exists when when it's demonstrate demonstrable in straight able I think it's demonstratable demonstrable anyway you you only we only believe in stuff that like you can demonstrate and but for some reason everyone's really hooked on this whole time thing even though you've never experienced it you can't demonstrate it you know you can demonstrate a visa be something else but other than that like in itself you can't it doesn't because it doesn't exist it was never created it doesn't exist in itself and you've never experienced it and the reason I'm telling all this just so you have less anxiety because can you have anxiety if there's no time let me possibly I'm saying well maybe for you I have no time no that means that would mean sorry that would mean you'd only have time because there's all that exists it doesn't exist time don't worry about it but the main thing is that anxiety and there's no anxiety without you have to have time to have anxiety you understand but meanwhile time doesn't exist so in other words you have to get out of reality project your mind and know all your future responsibilities and then you can have anxiety you have to somehow project your imagination to some unknown future and then now you can have anxiety sounds like fun should we try that what do you think should we get good at that some people are excellent they're really good at projecting themselves into the future and then having anxiety over it it's another reason to like just stick with like simple stay simple stick with the way God did did it God did it God created the world without time so so just go with that and you know be into the way God makes creation and then you can relax he's doing it and he's good at it too anyone here missed a meal like that not bite I don't mean mr. meal met anyone here like everyone hungry never went hungry not time out like cuz it was Yom Kippur talking about like you went hungry no oh you went hungry once I'm sorry pretty rare to find someone you know there's only one person's class who went hungry you went hungry monster oh gosh what was it like to go hungry how long did lands till I not the answer I was looking for it how what was it like going hunger how long did yours last don't say til a couple days I don't think you guys understood my question of forever went hungry I'm done we like disliked Ethiopian you know like distended belly swollen skull that never happened anyone here okay great so raise your hand if you have ever worried about your own survival and if you ever worried about your own survival its everyone should be raising their hand because that's what nature of the beasts like you're gonna worry about that which is good because you got to take care of yourself and yes if you're not somewhat concerned do so but you realize how crazy or thank your your that makes you nuts because you'd have to have an experience of going hungry like the real deal going hungry to be worried about which will be worried about that you have no experience of that excellent thank you Mazel Tov I think we better switch subjects quickly now anyway but this is all when we're on a small subject here of us being worried about stuff that never happened are you not gonna answer anyway let's go back to our original topic which was lots of prayers so to give thanks means I'm giving you quite a job to it to give thanks means it's my first take bag I'm a little scatterbrained yeah like yeah you know I don't know where I am right now yeah what time zone is this so the to give thanks means to what excellent excellent together not recognize the source it's a recognized it's to recognize the source that you're not the source it's a recognition that you are not the source and I am now recognizing the source the word appreciation is the word things so it's putting the you can't put the word in the definition understand we're defining the word appreciation yo oh I'm sorry I didn't park my bike good thank you so much they go off in ten minutes thank you so I I just want to teach you a little a little uh um I'm gonna teach you a little what do you call it what does it call when you attack them without them knowing it passive aggressive yeah there's a there's a passive aggressive thing you can do with your parents if your parents are like overbearing and they're you know too much unsolicited advice and and they're like controlling you but specifically on the control issue because otherwise you really have to honor them you can't do passive aggressive moves but if they're in the control mode which is not their Mitzvah meaning then parent over controlling parents are ruining their kids just ruining and they'll have their kids will have no courage they'll have no instincts like they really mess them up so control if your parents are controlling so you can thank them remember before we're talking thanking your parents so there's a really great way of thanking them watch this so you can get it fans are you talking your parents or the controlling one music thank you so much for raising me and thank you for everything you've done for me thank you for helping me become a full adult thank you for raising me to adulthood such that I could make decisions with confidence thank you for raising me I'm raised now you're done you did it Mazel Tov it's over did you recognize anything a little passive-aggressive in that conversation there but it's it's something worth doing seriously it's something worth think no I would I really kept going like but but but really giving them a solid gratulations like you did it and my wife and I do this when we marry off kids at Bart also Bar Mitzvahs you know I was all nervous my first kids Bartman my kids first book my first kids Bar Mitzvah and I meant my first kids Bar Mitzvah and I was kind of nervous though you ever been saying bah bah like what does that even mean and what's the right he's everyone saying mother died like that this little bum grew up in my house like like what is my Mazel Tov all about and someone came up to me and said I noticed you're like you're not receiving the Mazel Tov the way you should I'm like what do you mean and obviously he must do this at every bar mitzvah so he comes up to the father so he explained to me something amazing and I've been going with it ever since and that was that you took this little ball of clay he was once a little green ball of clay Gumby and you took this little green ball of clay and created a committed you that's not like to be taken for granted well I went into that a lot goes into these kids and the fact that you took that little green ball of clay and turned him into a committed Jew is congratulatory on the highest but it gets even better if you can actually marry off of a child who's now really going independent I mean you're out of the picture if you can get out of the picture such that you're like able to just go to sleep that night and wouldn't that's our favorite night to go to sleep my wife and I you know we just look at each other and just guy she's out yeah she's out of a house and like starting or starting her life and we did it we did it we created a Jewish home a committed Jewish home and married off to a man who stopped fully committed Jewish leave fully committed to her daughter and taking care of her and you did it and so when people said Mazel Tov to me at my wedding and my daughter's wedding I I just drank it just drink it yeah yeah that's not to be taken for granted especially in 2019 you go try to raise tor committee choose and 2019 is like wow you know not easy and ease you have to have a serious approach to internet raise committed Jews you know your house has to have like have its internet usage very much figured out and solid and you know committed because that's your biggest challenge in our generation anyway and by the way my her one of her prerequisites and getting married was he has to be someone without a smartphone and is not planning on getting one someone without a smartphone and not playing again that's for my daughter and doesn't have a smartphone not planning getting one then then if that's covered then we can start looking into the person the person so like they see it and these holy and kids see what's going on you know they don't want that going into their homes yeah huh why that prerequisite I think she probably watched how jealous my wife was you know trying to get a word in while I'm dealing with like you know the hemorrhaging globe everywhere you know like thank you my I think when you're a kid watching that you're not thinking so much about how my father's saving the world you're more watching your mother and seeing her like you know kind of competing with the world and that world has since smartphones has entered our our homes no it's not as a dinner table but for many people it's at the dinner table is it's there you know which is the only thing that saved these people is chaves chaves and boy people you know the modern orthodox kids that start texting on Shabbos like they should really think twice about that cuz that's like that's the last shop is the last thing you got that you might actually have some normalcy in your relationships that's all you got it's last chance to have a relationship that looks somewhat like the other relationships of the less you know 6,000 years is that you at least have the thing off on Shabbos now they might say well I'm a teenager like what's the big deal you know but you don't want it you don't want to cross that line not only cuz its Shabbos but you don't across that line cuz it's gonna mess you up mad you're gonna is gonna bite you so badly to not at least have Shabbos off the off the grid and this was a crazy class I apologize I'm sure all my live feed people are happy I'm back but please God tomorrow I'll have my act together hello