Rav Ahron Soliveitchiks thought on the 9 days by Dr. David Lunchins

We got her on Thursday. I've been going non-stop. Now, this is a very poignant emotional moment for me. Let me explain why. Not just because I'm talking about his father, my father. Well, 14 months ago in this room, I spoke for the OU and the speak I was the second to last speaker. The last speaker was my mentor, my revered friend, Rabbi Barl Wine. I said, "Sam, do me a favor. Let me introduce Rabbi Wine." I got up there and I said, this is March of last year. I said, 'Rabbi Wine, the last time I introduced you was at a dinner here in Jerusalem honoring my child, my childhood best friend, Rabbi Zave Left, and you got up and you said, "Rabbi Le, the only reason my wife Jackie is here tonight is because you're speaking." I said, "Rabbi Wine, the only reason my wife Vivian is here today is because you're speaking." So when I said to Vivian, "Are you coming today?" She said, "After you told that to Rabbi Wine, how could I come?" Of course, that was the last time I ever saw Roy Wine. He told me it was the best introduction he ever got. I mentioned, you know, he got very emotional. Anyway, it's a an honor to be here and a privilege and I had two great rebellion. I spent four years in this year of Yeshua Salvich. One year before that, this year of his brother Ravarin, I was much closer with Roarin. I am humbled to say that I consider salvation my rebu I discussed many issues with him throughout the years and particularly today's topic because in 1975 we had a dilemma in California I was out there my wife and I were in camp NCSY NCSY's first month-long domestic summer program and for the first the first three years the camp ended before tishab So the first year we were going to have capish above and we called Raviran for guidance and he said what if I came and spoke what if you came and spoke and Ravar Salvich came to California he came it took a two-hour ride through the mountains to the camp and he spoke to the campers on rashes today and he gave us a framework for understanding the nine days and the years that follow now on the side Lee Samson ran a fundraiser for him in LA and I think she Brisk did very well for the trip. But the fact is he volunteered to come to speak for us before Lee Samson offered to do the fundraiser and Bravarin gave us a framework for understanding this time of the year. I just scribbled this. I made three drafts. Look what I wrote the last draft this morning because I took a lot of stuff out and stuff in. Understand neither the RV Rashu or his brother Raarin liked to publish or print things. They were they followed the rule of their grandfather of Kim Brisker who said most things that are said should not be written most things that are written should not be read and they were very cautious about publishing at their death each man left I believe two books there was really two long articles since then there's been an enormous amount of posumous publication of yosha salves on every imaginable topic and there's been none of our salvics but we at NCSY have Msora that we Ryaran gave us and he honed and developed it and I used to call him every year before Tishab and we did NCSY we did keynote first for NCSY then at Camp Tola and then since 1984 here in Jerusalem with the exception of two co years when I was on tape I've done keynote for the Orthodox Union I'll be doing them this year plug just we shouldn't happen should be a yumto but in case there's keynote next Thursday morning thanks to Sam Shore and the Orthodox Union. I will be hosting an NCSY group at the Bible lands museum 8:30 Shakrit keynote to follow based on the msor of salivic. Now the ra mvarin had the same rabbi muvak their father the same asur of their grandfather but they looked at things sometimes through a different prism. My favorite example is Kanuka. Yashabir's famous oneline answer. What was the nace of Kaneka? In a world bent on assimilation, some Jews cared enough to fight back. That was an ace. No, says RV. You know what the nace was? That if they gave one, they gave credit to Kadeshu and not to themselves. Again, anon comes to the three weeks. Tishabove a similar bear sees Tishab as a historic overview as man staring into the abyss and crying out where are you God man staring into the unknown man looking outward salvich says the three weeks dish is man looking inward looking deep into himself and when he spoke in camp that's the s summers ago. Revan Salves told the teenagers tishabove three weeks is about relationships. Relationships with others with the other the one that you demonize and with the other within yourself and we're going to get to that in a couple of minutes. Bravarin said that saw keynote as those who come next week or those who have heard me before as a form of primal scream therapy. If his brother saw keynote as an historic as an sweeping overview of Jewish suffering raising the deep theological questions, Baron Salvatic sought as a form of therapy to deal from denial to res to to angry negotiations to acceptance and healing. The grandfather of Haim Salvich sets this in context. Raayam asked a question about the Passover seder which I heard both the RV and Ravarin quote many times when they discussed the three weeks told us to the campus in California I've heard from him many times since the famous question Salvich poses about the Pes we love to make brahas on mitzvah we grab brahas we grab mitzvah pesak night morose you living in Israel. So once a year mitzvah braha matzah where's the braha on what's probably one of the best kept mitzvah in the entire Jewish calendar they're Jews so far removed from Judaism who sites and somehow they relate they say something they talk they open the maxual house of gutter they talk going out from Egypt so where's And of course the is at the end of the magnificent bra is beautiful. Why is it over usually overatan says brahas precede mitzvah with rare exception. Why does this braha come after the seder saysim salvich? Because secular holidays commemorate the 4th of July. We commemorate Jewish holidays recreate. What's the changes the wording? You must act as though you went out from Egypt. Look at the language of that. We went out from Egypt. I feel it. I sense it. I'm part of it. That's the goal of Pesak night. And that Ravarin uses as an entree to the classic question of the of autous thousand. Hug him. I walk into a barberh shop. We got here last week. Usually we're here for Shiva Sabatas. The tonet was over in a New York area at 9:23 last week. feel sorry for me. Anyway, I said, "Wow, we miss Jerusalem." Anyway, it was like it was crazy. But I came into my regular barber shop here to make them first morning here. My regular barber shop, I'd like a haircut two weeks from today. Looks at me says, "Fully booked. Fully booked. You have to be here before she was satis." So, I go to another very fine barber shop. Happy to recommend it. I've been there before. I go in there and it was a double take for me. I walk in and there are guys who look very very orthodox. They got beards and they're having getting a haircut and a shave during the three weeks. Then I hit me hard for we met there diversity in Israel. But everyone no matter what their is reverses the the a personal ve you lose a loved one says you're plunged into an deep deep dark angry mourning. You don't even can't even make a braha can't even thank God because you're really deep down you're upset and you're hurt. You work way out slowly through the shiva. First three days are darker. The rest of the shiva then you have schlloim for apparent sha. The model here is the exact opposite. No matter what your milk is, it starts light, very light at the shamos very light and then it gets a little harsher and the bishop of night you work backwards. Why says Ravar? Because let's be honest, we don't feel it. We don't understand what it means. We have to need and this is Ravar's magnificent phrase. We need haloically induced avail. We have to build up through gimmicks. It's his words gimmicks. Build up the sense of pain that we should have felt automatically for Madrega. And so we have this reverse form of a veilent a luckily induced a veilent. Give me a second to see what I next. Back to relationships. Saran stressed to the campers that day, this is about relationships. Rar Salvich was once summarized all of Judaism in one run-on sentence. And anyone of his tummy know by heart. A perfect God dared to create an imperfect world and dain to create an imperfect creature, Jew and non-Jew, gave them the daunting challenge of perfecting his imperfect world. Hashimot says the rashiva. God made a warot for us to finish. God purposely finished the briata in an imperfect form. Gave us the challenge Jew and non-Jew to perfect it. There's a classic debate several places in the T with the central theme of Judaism is central. Judaism is there's some great Torah from this on the of a Yakov. Invite me back another time. We'll discuss that. We don't have time for that now. But the first two speakers and benaza's famous has a song. Benazi says no no no no it's what central could you use says Benazai says this is the seder told us keshbar who created humanity how is that more central says reviron you can love your neighbor tough love you don't care if your sho if you're cold you don't care if your neighbor's cold was what my neighbor mean a fellow ortho, a fellow Jew, someone who says how long gold mayor's birthday doesn't mean someone lives down the block from me. You can rationalize and hate the whole world and feel very holy. The central theme of Judism says Ryan is that every human being human is created in one burst of creative energy by the creator. And that's why it says God created humanity but salo but celameloim. Now in the King James, the JPS and the art scroll they have in his image uppercase H. says, "No, no, no. Making his image lowercase H. Every the Torah is not redundant. Every human being is created in the image of a kadeshu. There's a little bit of a kadesharu in every human being." And little green men came from Mars. They see this and they say, "These are four creatures fighting for food and competing with each other. Take away the kleo. We see it's one hand." Said, "We live in a world we see." He when he said it, it was two three billions. Imagine having I think it's close to over seven billion today different people each of them having a little bit of a sparkle in them that's why it says one of the central themes of Judaism which we say we end every what God has three names now what do you mean God's going to be one his name is going to be one it's a different religion our God's one no but our god split into billions of human beings who don't realize they all have in them a little bit similia comes the great gift will be understand we have us a little bit of the divine spark, a little bit of the divine image and our goal in the three weeks. What is our goal? So Ryan was very fond of quoting his great uncle very spooky nitivar points out that every day the voices ruins the beta not far from here a voice rings out and the voice goes around the world and nobody hears it. Sad. What is that voice? No one hears says thearu. If only you would desert me, says the master of the universe, just keep my Torah. That doesn't sound very Jewish, does it? Senate Civ says, you know what that means? It means that he says, stopping my little Kazaks. That's a he, you know, then civ lived. stopping whether the policeman as Rabel Salanter was very fond of quoting Ravi Surel Salanter who said a truly righteous person Jew or non-Jew cares about their own spiritual perfection everybody else's physical well-being a hypocrite Jew or non-Jew worries about their own physical well-being and everyone else's spiritual perfection stop worrying about everybody else's spiritual perfection just keep my Torah don't be my policeman and nothing hurts the kesharaku more says Ryan then we use Torah as a as a club to beat others in his words to demonize delegitimize and destroy other human beings Jew or non-Jew this course and Revron always stressed the non-Jewish part they are part of the world also very very do back so let's not lose my notes entirely I just talk forever about revar my notes this I I'm going to take give aside Now this is not from revance salvichek it's from rabbi Dr. Stoler when the when I showed it to revant he told me to use it in my tish remarks and my preach remarks in NCSY so I feel very comfortable using it here as salvation honor of Dr. Byer points out in last week's ha it's a fascinating midrash which doesn't be disputes perfectly through message that we read in last week's Torah the says two bad things the Jewish people have done to me of zuote they've left me the source of living waters and they out to themselves borish bar broken bot quot I can't hold n one second says reer how are we equating these two things if I told you that one of my contemporaries left his wife for 50 50 years for a 23-year-old graduate student would it be any worse or better if he left his wife for someone our own age who's a socialite of course not how are you equating the two things so quotes an astounding metric Yakov is fleeing from Loving. Loving is blood in his eye. Loving wants to kill Yakov. And Loving God comes in the middle of the night to loving and says, "Don't mess with my Jake." Okay, says Loving. Don't say a word, good or bad. Okay, says Loving. But I want my truffing back. I want my shrunken heads. I want my avot that someone stole from me. Yakos is very fine good. Look for it. Searches everywhere. Ruckle hid it very well. He can't find it. And then look in the Torah says these are not it's not a measures took him in the Torah. Yakov of the toah calls him a worm. Yava explodes in fury at loving two decades of pent up anger. You're a liar and a charlatan a thief. You've changed my wages. When a bot call rings out Yakov Yakov, calm down. In the words you're giving mus to your father give mus to your children. I will stay your children have your my people have done two bad things to me. What does one have to do with the other? Now thank luckily we have Rabbi Groer because I could never understand that it is it tells you everything you need about salvic that he guessed the marshall he guessed the med he had no problem with it but you know I could never figure this outer says what is Yakov saying to what is Yakov saying to love him that God is responding to him so harshly says I lived 21 years in your house you suspected me of stealing gold, silver, platinum, diamonds. Okay, you thought I was like you. He thought as a thief does nothing hate more than your sneaking a vodor. Did you learn nothing from me? You think I want your a voter? That's what Kashbar Husse is. I gave you a Torah at Hari. I gave you a mandate to be the tip of the spear in perfecting my imperfect world to be makin masu kakai. I gave you I wanted you to help create a world that would take care of the poor, the widow, the weak, the orphan. Instead, what did I get? For that you left me. You've learned nothing from me at all, said God. Nothing at all. And that's very much the message of the three weeks and particularly of the nine days in tish. What have we learned? How do we deal with relationships with the others, with the other, the one we demonize, and with ourselves? Just give me a moment here. I did a lot of scribbling this morning. I got see where I'm at. Okay. on tishab says raving the day of our communal suffering and destruction it's not his own kadesh I think it's from his father Mosha now I seen it printed the books that printed from I believe it's from salvic on the day of our communal destruction everything's in the singular A is written in the singular an everything is in the day our keynote are in the singular it is a day of because we abuse relationships of our salvation you were denied them I can't say hello to my friend on I can't say I love you to my spouse on because we've abused interpersonal relations they're denied to us for one day so we can sense what we've lost and what we've abused and what we don't deserve our goal goalish and kipper says I believe is to recreate ourselves into a whole we're atomized we're apart we're separate we're vad as says we're all alone on our goal is what the day of individual forgiveness firstly everything is in the plural gazal au look at the yamipra liturgy it's almost entirely in the plural We have the vid the is said like in the word in the r's words like a thief in the night at the end of the after shalom after we're done you can be mik if you're ding slowly and the seware starts kaduca you can say kadusha in the middle of your vid because it's that is over baby but the it's in the it's in the The seabirds claim a powerful powerful thing. process of our salvation. But but but there's one thing in Yum Kipper that's exclusively in the singular. We say it five times the look carefully and you say it. Everything's in the plural voice says till we get my God I give me the strength. I will not sin anymore and I will not do what I've done before and I am sorry for what I've done because I can stay vigu with you says Ryan but I don't have the right to make a kabala for you. We have to make our individual kabalas. Remember that even as we try to become a seabore have to remember that okay I apologize I just did this this morning as a give me a second I do apologize I don't do the speech this often but this one morning I'll have this down pat. How do we start? Jim Kipper says he start with a very peculiar and after we recite that we make thanking God and it's not it's not it's in what's possible in the context of a very very rare peculiar unusual of doesn't usually happen. Why is it suddenly elevated? Because says Ravar picture, you know the Rul saying it's Jim Kipper. Everyone's forgiven, even you, Charlie the convert. That's outrageous. That's user dear is a stranger living within us. The strange we each have with us an we have in us another an outside voice whispering in our ear and we're that also is forgiven. the within ourselves and as you deal with relationship with others and the other and stop demonizing other people says Ravarin. Ravarin had a particular hang up with the term self-hating Jew. He hated that term. He thought it was a terrible term. So you call someone a self-hating Jew just means you hate them. He also pointed out the term self-hating Jew was always used in a political context not in a religious context. The person who has chocolate milk with Khazer and Yim Kipper, person who entices other people to do that is not a self-hating Jew. Person I disagree with politically is a self-hating Jew. Left of me to the right of me. Rear had a lot of trouble with that term. He said we have to stop demonizing others. We have to start attacking others. We have to start celebrating the aus of Cla. We have to be confident in our own spiritual skin. Then we will not bash other people. When you bash someone else as Revir means you're not fully comfortable with what you're doing. We have to work on and by the way Revan had strong political views and he expressed that with with dignity with respect and with you know I heard from the late prime minister of Israel Zakurbin attended for his assassin. I met with him in Washington with I worked with Senator Moan and he went out of his way to praise Salvation who was critical some things he was doing for the way he did it. He said to me he's such a gentleman that rabbi such a gentleman and he was the idea to make Kashm. We'll get to we're going to end with that in a couple of minutes. Okay. Give me another moment. I apologize. This was finalized at 11:30 this morning after three drafts. Yes. Astro Ravarin a question many people ask. I mean I'm sure his grandfather did. I heard from the it's in the RV's farm now. I'm sure it's a question from most salvation. Maybe it's maybe it's a question for for we know from you know 3,000 years ago it's not in the Gmorra. We know that Shiva Sarataml stars of three weeks commemorates the Aelaz the greatest of in Jewish history and we know Tishov represents Madag. Um the Gomorrah tells us that sh that theel resonates in every generation that we're never fully forgiven for it. The kaparav kipper deals with withgo the can't wear gold on thego resonates through the the era of Jewish history and yet for some reason Thomas is a relatively mild fast even if it goes to 920 New York it's still a relatively mild fast what 923 yeah well it depends what sh you went to there was one sh that advertised 13 for my rift But then they said you couldn't eat till after my rift. Okay, you got the idea. Some people are still holding up with Tom. So why why does Tishabove get such a worse punishment? So at one level the answer is they didn't know they didn't know anything. They had heard God's voice. They' all fainted. They hadn't learned any Torah yet. Moshe goes up on the mountain. They're desperate for some sort of spiritual replacement. And they danced around a golden calf which by the way they didn't create. God created it. It came out of the fire. Remember that. Remember they didn't sit down. There was no butal who designed the eagle. The eagle the eagle. But it was they were spiritually immature. They were not. But Ryan has another answer. It's very powerful which I like very much. He gave three or four answers but the answer I like best is the following. Byron says they were unsure of themselves. They were afraid of themselves. God taken them out of Egypt, had split the sea, had brought the man and the feeasants in, had a well following them like a puppy dog in the desert. And the Morag will come back and say, "The people are too strong for us. We can't defeat them." They were afraid of themselves. They they had lacked faith in themselves, says Ryan. And that's why it's a much darker sadder day because tishabove represents lack of faith in ourselves. Tish represents we don't have enough security and faith in what we can do to carry out God's mission. Now this is a a a bonus story. Ravaran used to qu tell the following story. I realize I'm I thought this was a 40-minute talk. I did it in half an hour. I'm a little bit stunned myself covered a lot of material. Come dish morning there be a lot more dish morning I promise you but let me tell you the following from but I think I think it's I think it's very kadi here besides I'm using my next speech I'm giving you two hours but I think it's it's a powerful ravar piece I think it fits in nicely with that with my message this morning says equate this let us compare the story of two princesses two princesses whose names appear one the Torah and one of the first princess was named Timna now her her name appears several times in Kamash, but she's her story is in detail in Sanin and in Tantum. We would use a Tantum version because it's much better for our purposes. Timna is a princess of the nations of the world. Timna is a you know cutting edge lady. She gets around and she decides to settle down. She wants to marry an Abrahamic male. It's Sanhedrin and says she's rejected from Yak, which a little hard to understand. So we'll do ta by the way my rebim used to always paraphrase the rama when it comes to a gata three approaches to the gata you can reject you can accept it blindly and you have no brain you can reject it out of hand and you have no heart so here goes a medna comes and says I want to marry one of your 12 lovely boys he takes a stick he says you're trash he chases says mom took a stick in his hand he chased her out of the tent. She goes to Ben Ishmael. You are sons of the of the great Abraham. Yes, we are. I'm very proud as our grandpa. We love our grandpa Abraham. I'd like to marry one of your boys. We date girls like you. We don't marry girls like you. You're crazy. You're Timna. She's so distraught. She goes, who she go to? She goes to Asa. I'd like one of your grandsons. One of your sons. The grandsons of Abra. Great. The great Abraham. Great grandsons. Hey, you're here. You're cheap. You can't you can be a pelgish to my one of my boys. Eleif, she's all yours. And the Torah tells us this plegish Timna, this princess had a little baby boy named Al Malik says the measures. Al Malik comes into the world when Yakov picks up a stick and chases Tim out of the tent. Okay. an aside of Yaka Weineberg at an Torah. I told Zar he loved it in the summer of 1985. I spoke at age I just spoke there I speak in there three time three times in this speaking there since 1984 where nober challenges to come to Israel how they word ali no got understand he had two concerns one that I was going to get them government money had put in writing I'm not getting the yeshiva government money course I'm senator mo then did a fund raise a letter to his rich friends that probably raised as much money as the government would give them if not more and then he was very concerned that American Jews were doing something important in America should not move here and he gave me a whole earful and said, "Revy, I promise you I'm just going for a month." So he's nervous. Back to this. So Jakob Weinberg said, "What was Yakovino supposed to do? Make Tim the world's first colo wife when she marries Yakar?" I mean, she's she's a crazy lady. Tim, this is great news. I've gotten you a full scholarship to the base rift of Shane. And two years later, a postcard arrives in the tent of Leenu. She doesn't write to men anymore. I'm doing great here. Please tell your husband, Rabbi Schlita, none of your boys are losing enough for me anymore. Draw people in. As Ryan said, don't push them out. Second princess, destitute, starving, Moabitis princes. >> Root. >> Root. Very good. Root. Grandfather. Eglone. The Jew killer. still had covenant for Hashem. great great great granddaughter of Bolock Bolock of hired bum not our friends but she's destitute and she's hungry and there was a raging mak in those days if a mo by could become a Jew raing mak hadn't been settled yet but shino you know settled it gener generations later and this destitute Moabitis comes with a mother-in-law Naomi and they're starving she says go to the field of boas there's a a nameless faceless man who changes the history of human history. He's overseer in the field as Ryan said he's probably not a postdo in anything, you know, but he knows something. He knows a little he knows he knows that a starving idoltor, even one without is welcome. Now he holds she's not Jewish. She cannot be Jewish. If you look at the words in Gillette, she says when Boa says, "Who is that?" She says here, he calls her a moah. It's assurita to refer to a convert as that's the cath that's Susan the Catholic. You don't do that. It's us. He said, look at the before. I think it's even Rashi. He's saying Boaz, don't look at her. She's a moit. She's a shika. She can never ever be Jewish. But he lets her into the field, doesn't he? An act of kindness. says of Salvation, we all go through life constantly having interactions with other people. Every interaction you have can bring a Malik or can bring Mashiach. Depends how you respond. It's up to us. Thank you very much. >> I'm going to take a few minutes of personal privilege first of all to thank our dear friends Dr. David Vivian Lukans for giving us the opportunity. We're not only to hear from Dr. dedicated to special year in memory in loving memory of Vivian's mother by cla site as as has been the case for many many years decades Dr. is honed us once again within the ability to learn from him. Of course, he is a worldrenowned teacher of Torah as well as politics. But in our context, a teacher of Torah Muak of Salv and of course as Dr. often does, he'll be sharing the Torah of his rebi this morning and speak about the nine days of the thought of Rabbi Aron Rabbi Aron Salvich. I just if there's the personal privilege um as for as long as I can remember going back as a young child growing up in Albany, New York, which is also one of the hometowns of Dr. Lucans. Um sitting directly kitty quarter in front of me in congregation Abraham Jacob was his father Dr. Abraham Lukansa and his parents were incredibly incredible role models for many of us in terms of being able to integrate in a small town to integrate fully in terms of intellectually their achievements as academics but also to live a life of Torah in a small little town of New York. and they were certainly role models for all of us. And over the years as I continued in my own growth the trajectory at NCSY when I graduated high school and was received a genu generous scholarship to learn yeshiva after after my years at NCSY it was Dr. Luc who kind kindly spoke about me and granted that scholarship and spoke about my father's drama. So we go back a very long way. It's a great place for me to introduce Dr. This is our idea of vacation. I have six speeches in two days.