Rabbi Yosef Fried speaking at Mishmar Parshas Bereishis at Scheiner's Shul

Okay, there's so much to talk about in Paris's braces, but uh the question is how paras what insights we take in paras can add perspective for aod in the entire year and um I think a very big insight that we we learn is from the kazal the dy the shas and the swarm term they talk about the of the is very difficult to understand. What was the gayen? We described it as a orchard and there was the two trees and there were fruits and a to eat the the fruit. What exactly was this tree? What was the fruit? So writes really just on a very high level just to to understand basically that we're talking about a physical place. This was a physical place. But the nature of this physicality that Marishon encountered in the Ghanen was different than the physical nature that we're familiar with today. And that's because we are all living in a post world where the world has completely changed in its connection between the spiritual nature and the physical nature. Our job during the shishn during the 6,000 years before is to be massing to fix up everything that was destroyed everything that was messed up in his and then to take it one level up to do what Marisha would have accomplished if he would have been successful in being. So just everyone have very clear the idea of our is to be the and then eventually to go one more to be able to achieve what was supposed to have achieved by being >> everybody their own way. So we'll get we'll we'll hopefully expand upon this when it came that he he had if you just imagine in real time if we could imagine whatever time whatever it was like that the Arab shabas he was created and he was alive for a few hours. What was supposed to happen if he would have achieved his goal and he would not have sinned with the >> Shabas would have been >> he would have entered into the time of Shabas and Chavez wouldn't just be it would be the everything that would exist in the most messiah that we talk about now in the etc would have all happened right then and there that means entirety of creation all the beautiful bria and everything that we learned about this week's para would have came to a climax all within a few hours of the day would have been succeeded and that would have been so long that would have been the success of the entire bria and you may say wow that's kind of boring isn't it few a few hours of of of the world and then the world's over and that's it so the truth is if we realize the whole idea of time doesn't exist right created Bria calls man. In fact, we use the words man because it has a a similar shish to zeon. Whatever your masmin, whatever you prepare, whatever you put into that time, whatever you could prepare in that to fill the time with is what you have. But time is a is a bria that allows us to utilize the bria in a way that we could accomplish. And there's this idea that there's a and that there's a and there's aid. That whole concept is that had to create to will into being for the purpose of our avod. But ultimately could have achieved with no time with with moments. It wouldn't make a difference and the entirety of all of creation could have all happened within these few hours and that would have been everything. that would have been an entirety of of of our writes that now that was so now we have to be m through all of these years these 6,000 years and freedander in his notes say that he says literally all of theos from till today until he says all of those are necessary to accomplish what Harish would have accomplished in those moments. Okay. So that is that is what the reality of being could have accomplished and what we're doing now is accomplishing the same thing that would have happened within hours. We're now accomplishing over 6,000 years which thousands of millions in the shamos throughout all the doras. Okay. But again, we understand that Khales Baru's, you know, his das is way beyond ours. And the concept of time that we're used to is something that Kajbu is not limited to. So it's not something that's so difficult for us to to accept. It's difficult maybe to wrap our minds around, but it's not difficult for us to accept this concept. What lisa does that mean? Does that mean for us? See the mission in Abuz says there's something interesting that kaju decided to create the world with one person. Now really could have done it with one person with two people could have done it with a thousand people decided originally the plan of the world so to speak was that there would be an adarish and he would be able to bring out the entire fulfillment of the world of of all creation. says why is a person created? >> Because a person is say wanted to picture our aod in this world as when we wake up in the morning that of wakes up and now he has the world in front of him. the cosmos, the planets, everything, the sun, the moon. And akadeshu asks him do this job. What's this job? Don't eat from the eightas. What was his avod to do one thing and one thing only? Okay, it's a little bit of a question whether there was also an shamro he has to be guard to guard all the okay the shamro you had to guard it but the idea is this was it there was one person okay one two people however you understand the ms of and there was one job and that was to do this in that sense and with this you will accomplish a tikun of the entire world the entire purpose of creation everything will happen right here and What are we supposed to do when we learn this para? We're supposed to imagine ourselves as had only one job to do and he was one person and the significance of this mission was the entirety of all of Bria. I think what really gets to us in our avoda on a daily basis is two things. Number one is we don't appreciate ourselves enough. And I don't mean to give a psychology, you know, smoo here about self-esteem. It's really not my purpose here. But we don't appreciate ourselves. What it means we don't understand, we don't appreciate the significance of what we're doing on any given moment. We're not mindful of what the significance of that moment is. That's number one. Number two is we're also not mindful necessarily of the significance of our individuality in the scopic picture of the entire world. After all, we walk into a shul walking to shiners and you roll into a a minion and there's tons of people and there are tons of people passing by and going to another minion and another minion and here I am. I'm the guy who walk in who walked in late and here a bunch of people are shuckling away you know under the tisim and you know they're in they're there nice and early and here I walking way late okay what am I I'm just like the you know background noise here of this big you know scene what do kazal want us to know when we think about the story of Adam they want us to think about right now at this moment when I walk wake up and I walk into shul There are tons of thousands of people, hundreds of people walking in and out. There's only one person. It's me. Now, very often we let ourselves get swallowed up in the masses. Not because we don't promote ourselves. We just don't think for the moment that we're here. We have a job. We're significant. Not that we're significant. I'm just think I'm so great. We're significant. Meaning it's it's relevant what I'm doing. When I walk into shul and I'm ready to sit down to din says right now what I'm doing is the avod that only I can do with only this moment and this is the only thing that I have to do. There's nothing else didn't have a whole laundry list of things you have to accomplish. We wake up in the morning and we have a whole long list. It doesn't even fit onto one page. It has to go already onto the other side of the page. You have to flip the page. And then there's the to-do list of last week that gets bumped up to this week. And then the the the the the items in the list that you you feel you you won't get up to. So you'll you'll add extra things to the list and you'll you'll just for the purpose that you'll be able to cross them off even though you already did them. So you'll feel like you you at least accomplish something during the day because there's so many things to do. You have to feel like there's something that you got you you know you got done. But the truth is the that if we lived a life where we only had one job, we only had one thing to think about, we would be so much more present, we would so much more there in the experience, enjoying, participating and really investing in that moment. This is the of the few hours of the day that would have meant the eternity is that we have every day a compilation of a few sets of minutes. It's 5 minutes here and then the next five minutes, the next five minutes, next five minutes. Problem is that there are thousands and thousands of thoughts that race through our brain constant day in a constant mo moment throughout the day constantly. We're like like literally a train. You're like like you're crossroads of a some busy bus station where literally the thoughts are just like buses like zooming by and just one thing after another and we're never really present. I mean that comes to not only when it comes to doing mitzvah comes to with relationships. You're talking to someone and at the same time you have to answer five different texts. You're behind in a few emails and and the messages you were supposed to return are still in the back of your mind. So at the same time I remember seeing you know when I was a kid I remember seeing someone listening to music while doing homework on you know on the computer at the same time as watching a TV show on the on the screen. Nowadays no one watches TV on the screen so it wouldn't happen in the same computer unless you had two computers you know you accomplish something by having the TV on the computer so that way it's not >> it's not um you it's harder to watch TV while while doing work on the computer. But the the the point is it it we live in a life that we just can't be in the moment. And and and and and the the trick the secret of all of our aoda is to be there, be ourselves and be in the moment. You know, it comes to um sukus. It's very interesting that there's maybe one of the only three mitzvah that the Bach writes that is that is the mitzvah of we're supposed to remember that took us out by >> and according to the you're not the you didn't have in mind that says at least you're something but it's not either way whether you're not at all but you're supposed to have this kavana say every other item you don't have to be think about every other mitzvah you don't have to think about all the great tikunim that are going on what's the purpose what's the reason why here by suka is this something that asks from us is to to to think the mitzvah of suka is the mitzvah of being present of of creating for ourselves an environment that we're ready to build for the rest of the year. We have the suka. The suka provides us a housing an environment where we build the makum of kadusha. We have a place that we're surrounded by and in order to be plugged in to be there we have to have in mind we have to realize we're here with the that's what we're doing here in the suka. And when we take the dalam the balmto of the to take the to take it inside the suk is to realize that you know what we have lips we have we have the we have the eyes our spine we could do complish we have hearts each one of those items that we have our capacities to accomplish are intrinsically connected to the bum And when you do the nanuim, what do you do? You're grabbing hold of all of your all of your capabilities and you're directing them in each and every direction and pulling in the kaduca so to speak to yourself and saying yes my heart is sh to kadusha my mind my my my my eyes is to each of me is intrinsically and with that I build a new self from the sh I'm building a new bria a new self to go into the year with new eyes, a new heart, a new spine, a new perspective on life and I do that all within the confines of this new environment because we all know that in order to really accomplish and grind actually spoke about this beautifully very nicely in the in the yes is yeshiva the manim he says we all know that in order to accomplish you have to have a good it's helpful to have good friends around good community a structure support system >> goodby whatever you need that to to be able to to provide for for your nurturing the nurturing exper you know environment that you need but then you have to make it personal and making it personal is the of that each person has to take by themselves by we say comes each person has their own because each person has to take that whatever is out there and bring into themselves and say this is you know here I am it's I'm coming to to to to accomplish something and it's it's only me who's capable of doing that. The Gmoran Sanhedrin writes the following says that created if anyone wants to look it up says the says someone takes one uh stamp and stamps a bunch of different coins, it'll come out with the same exact image. [Music] He took that stamp and he made a lot of different people. No one person is similar to someone else. And but the the the point of of the garra says is explains why is it the seems to say something very uh mundane. He says, "What's the reason why a person every person looks different?" He says, "Because if everyone look the same." So a person would and you know would walk into to to a room and see a lady and it looks exactly like his wife and say, "Hey, that's my wife." He says, "You have to have to person look different." So we realize no that's not my wife that looks person looks different. Seems to say something like a very simplistic type of idea that kbaku created different people so that people wouldn't get confused. the world would be you know would be simple. I was thinking I don't know if it's you know I'm not coming to say this is thehatra but maybe there's there's an omic here that when we realize that each person looks different they have different opinions you try to put down a few 10 Jews in a room and see how many opinions you'll get you not less than 22 but the the idea is that the the the reality of people being so starkly different is is helps us it helps us understand that each of us have a unique place >> you know ka which was the we have in this para as well in he says kina comes from what >> we show him right what is kam means >> that that like like that what that I I think that somehow someone else's item is somehow to me it's something that's accessible to me why don't I have it I I it should be something I should have it is in so to speak and and and and when a kaju answers korak for his jealousy what do we see that we compare it to the the to the to I'm sorry to day and night rashi rashi shame that you can't be mat the the reality that that there's a day and there's a night and those two things are separate they don't work together they're separate you also can't be mat the the the allocation of kahuna levia that allocation is something that was trying to tell it's not your it's someone else's it belongs to someone else. The fact that we each have a different personality automatically tells us I'm not supposed to accomplish what he is supposed to accomplish. I'm supposed to accomplish what I'm supposed to accomplish. I'm supposed to have what he's supposed to have because everything that au gives us is because those are the items those are the kaim that are necessary for us to accomplish our accomplishment. I I just ask you okay simple idea but I I really I really want to want to ask you a a question that's been bothering me you know on rash sham is the whole world is has a den whole world has a den and the question is of all the days of the year why choose rash okay many different approaches to this but the med says that there's something very special that happened in rashana was what happened he was and he did chuva and since left the process of this and this chuva ya soimos so we also want to do the same thing we also have a we realize we're throughout the year and we want to do chuva and we also want like marisha so basically patterned the holidays of the year after the shish of the whole creation of the world which was Marish and his experience on that day of Shana that's also our experience the question that bothers me terribly I mean is are we really so excited about the solution that arrived at forish did what happened of Adam right the the the ground was going to sprout thorns he's going to everyone's going to die out of Ganen have to work hard the whole world is turned over and like we're saying now it now requires all of these with 6,000 years to accomplish what would have happened in a few hours. He says how are we supposed to understand this? So in he says something magnificent. you know, when you have a there's there's a certain type of, you know, school that's like a kind of like a cookie cutter school, you know, you either fit the mold or you're out and you have a kid that is not performing well. So, he makes some mistakes and the reb sends him, you know, says, "I'm sorry, you're not you're not measuring up, you know, I'm sorry, you have to leave. That's it." And um and never see him again. Okay, that's it. That's the end. different type of rebi sometimes you have a boy it's not working for him the way that the the school is set up you know is doesn't exactly work for him he can't I can't sit through a shear for 2 hours doesn't work for me so the rebby sits down with the boy and says you know for you what we need is a different plan for you to be successful now a silly kid may say what are you doing treating me like a secondass you know citizen I'm I'm you're going to teach give me a different curriculum than everyone says, "Everyone else is sitting through a shear for two hours." For me, you're telling me sit through a shear for half an hour and then go review, you know, like a little bit and then go take a break and do what >> it's not fair. A smart kid, someone who who really understands, you know, how his mind works and how he works, we realize >> for my own good >> that I want to accomplish. I don't want to fail through this all. I I don't want to do what everyone else is doing just because that's what everyone's doing. I want to do something that will work for me. So what does a kaju do? He had this world. He had a system. He had a he had a very simple system. It sounded like don't eat from. And in this world which we describe the adas there were fruits but it was a whole different reality of physicality. And this is the writes a lot about this about how the spiritual and physical were united in a way that even the physical was more spiritual. Okay. And that loss of love is going to happen that there'll be more of a union between the and be the person will become a different the physical person will become more spiritual >> different being but that is that idea of the experience that other Mishna had in the ganed was perfectly tailored for what he had to accomplish on that day during those few hours. He had to accomplish this tacless and that would have been perfect and led to a yum shakul shamas and would have led to Mashiach and everything would have been perfect. Now it didn't work out. So could have simply said okay abandon ship. This didn't work. In fact there's a med says he gave created worlds and he destroyed them. I believe his he created worlds and destroyed them again and again destroyed whatever that means very mysterious or Schwab has talks about this >> so there's different people take different approaches to that medish but the the they could have just forget it didn't work out so said instead you know what I'm going to reroute your entire everything that you need to accomplish you as humanity remember is humanity ity and and and to such an extent that you're going to go through a completely different to the accomplishment that you now need based on the matz you're in. So what does that mean who says I'm not giving up on you. I don't care that this didn't work out the way I wanted it so to speak. I'm going to make it work by hook or by crook. Doesn't make a difference. It's going to happen. I'm going to bring you to the somehow. What is how's that going to work? The only way work says 6,000 years all these different and through the process of of of the whole reality had to shift to reflect what our job is right now. What's we ask from? say, "Give us a year that we could accomplish. I don't want to be thrown out." He says, "I still want a place in your master plan." What that place is in the master plan? He says, "I have no idea. I don't know exactly what you're going to send my way this year, but I'm the den of a kadesh because I'm a cabin because I want to play the role that I can play in your aod and that's why the yaris dvash writes and something amazing. Yaris dvash says the moment of the den on roshash shana is was the moment that we blew the chauffeur. So what did the crazy people blow the chauffeur on Roshashana? He says you could right it sounds like you could skip the whole the whole day in court just don't blow the chauffeur and the day and and and the dinner okay obviously the kasha is not really the way I'm asking it is not really a legitimate way of asking the question but just to bring out the point but what do we do when we blow the chauffeur we call upon the of the is the is that we say judge us now of course we want the judgment to be interwoven with and sayim That whole process you know is complex but the point is we want the we celebrate we celebrate the din of it's a good day we are happy because is the melik but he also is judging us and we want him because when he judges us he finds a way for us to achieve what we need to achieve. So when we approach a day in the morning, we wake up and we try to think, "Wow, I don't I wish that this day would look different. The next few hours of my day, don't I wish that they looked more like someone else's day or a day that I experienced at a different time?" He says instead of thinking of what should be, what could be, what I wished, what I realize gave me this moment because this is the only thing that I could do right now to be and to accomplish what I need to accomplish. If Marishan only had that mitzvah at that moment, not to eat from theas. So we constantly are giving our only mitzvah for our only moment and we're the only person that's able to achieve this. That is the reality of our avoda. And at the risk of sounding maybe a little new age, it all comes down to really being mindful. To being in the moment, but mindful not in the way that realizing that my existence itself is valuable and therefore I should just exist. No, there is ramifications for what I'm doing and therefore living in the moment means realizing whatever I was there to accomplish I'm realizing and I'm taking advantage of you know that concept that bro was Schwab says that the bri had to be created in a way that there was constantly this movement of worlds created and destroyed whatever that means again we have no idea what this means can't beer on what was because no we never none of us were there. But what Schwab says is such an important thing that he says we have to realize when a kaj created us he created us with the capacity of creating worlds creating worlds destroying worlds and he says that is the fabric of creation that is the fabric that we live in created right is the ability brings us from the he says the ability to create worlds. We just read that. He says, so to speak, rides the heavens with your help. What does that mean? It means through every mitzvah is running the world. All the events of the world of this world of Allos, whatever that means. But any of the world events that are happening are happening because in this moment, this is what Reven is doing, what Shibon is doing. each and every person and somehow this is accomplishing worlds that is the avod. We have to keep in mind to have a fulfilling year a fulfilling winter of aod of an aliyah never judging ourselves based on our previous day or previous moment in a way that should affect how we perform for the next moment. taking advantage and utilizing the moment that we're in fully what that would do for our for our relationships with our conversations how present we are will be in our conversations with the fulfillment that we'll have in the that we spend so long on every day we spend whatever it doesn't matter which meeting you go to a very significant portion of the day portion of the day is spent on it he says imagine living in The words I'm saying I'm actually living. That's that that is what that's what this para is all about. Marish with those few hours. What is he going what is he going to do? The vendor there. Excellent.