Rav Kook: Tu BiShvat | Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

it's a great pleasure to see everyone this morning nice to be together and uh the sheer the the class this morning I would like to uh like to focus on Tu bishvat the special special learning in honor of tub bishvat this evening is the celebration of tub bishvat and uh I'd like to uh share with you an Insight from rook and to elaborate on uh on a very very beautiful teaching of Ru cook that relates to our cele ation this evening so rev cook is uh well known for PIM he wrote MOS sort of a one line or two lines about every month of the year he did this for I believe it was three consecutive years there was a calendar that was coming out in Israel the early 1900s when he arrived in Israel and they asked R cook if he would write for the calendar they could publish for the calendar like a oneliner about about every month of the year and as I said he did this for a few years so if you turn now to uh to the source sheet to page one at the very top of the page you have an English translation but we're going to begin with the Hebrew of Rook it's really just one sentence of that ruk has about the month of shabat and it's part of a collection called meim so this is what if you see it's Source number two on the page so this is what Ru cook writes about the month of Shabbat the month that we're in right now and we'll see that he is going to highlight in particular the uh the celebration of the desire that we have to plant trees no it stems from or flows from that we have a desire to benefit the coming generations and this is something that is expressed in all of its strength in the carab tree that's what Rook wrote now we we need to break that down and uh it's a bit obscure what is it that RI cook is referring to and let me just read it to you in Translation the translation above just so that we appreciate the words of R the the desire to plant trees flows from theet the yearning to benefit the generations which is most expressed through through the carab tree okay so what is Ru cook referring to Because by the way there's a couple ofarim that just deal with a it's a commentary on these these on liners that RI cook has on all the months what is he referring to so that's what we're going to look at today this morning so as in in this in this statement he talks about planting he talks about a carab tree and what comes to mind when we speak about the carob tree what source do we have in uh in our literature about a carab tree and there is a well-known source and it seems that this is what rip cook is referring to he's referring to a gamar that's found in Tinus giml you have the gamar in front of you this is on page one that's the uh the source that you see the major source on page one you have the source right there but I'm going to share with you the story of Kil without reading it inside you can go back if you'd like at some point and read the the actual text but let me tell you the story of what we have garim I'm sure that you've heard of hilel he's called The Circle Maker so what do we know about him so here is how the story begins in the gamarra a period goes by in the land of Israel it is now the month of Adar says the gamar and we do not have rain in Israel interesting this winter there's been very little rain it just started started raining the last week or so they expect rain as you see the weather's changing outside in the next few hours which is appropriate for for AR to bishvat um so a very long winter has gone by without rain and it's already kesar and the Jewish people they've been praying and it seems that nothing seems to work so they call upon the Circle Maker and they say we need you to pray you're a great sadic you're a righteous person that we need you if you're going to stand before God and pray maybe God will hear your prayers so is invited he comes and what does he do he draws a circle on the ground he stands inside the circle and that's where he gets that name that that's what he does he makes he's the Circle Maker the circle drawer and he stands inside and he turns to God and he says to God I am not leaving this circle until you make it rain and he says that to God and it begins to rain the gamar says it begins to trickle a bit just a little bit of rain and Kel says that's not what I asked for I want I want real rain so then it starts to poor says the gamar and it starts the poor where it's almost dangerous The rain that's coming down Andel says to God that's not the rain that I'm asking for I want regular and I think it's I think the gamar uses the term ragil I want just the regular kind of rain and at that moment it begins to rain in a normal fashion the gamar says the streets begin to fill with rain the Jewish people that are living inim where do they go they run towards the harab they need a higher place because there's so much rain in uh on the streets there's flooding on the streets okay that's the gamarra now I'll ask you the following question is that the kind of the right way the appropriate way to pray to God is this when we talk about hon Hil the uh the circle makers this someone that we that we look up to to is that the right kind of is that the right approach so interesting I always grew up with Hil as a beautiful story of a man who brings rain who's the makes these circles and yet the gamar says that there was a rabbi by the name of sh who was the N who was the gador and he says toil that I would put you in I would put you in nid where not for the fact that you are sad I would excommunicate you for what you did that's not the way that you speak to God that's hpah to speak to God that way to ask God for reign in that way but he says what can I do I can't put you in nid I can't put you in I can't excommunicate you it seems that God loves you that you're like a child sitting at the table of God and uh no matter how you act no matter what you do it seems that Hashem is responsive to you so that is the way that the gamar begins that's the story again the famous story of Kon magil why he's called Kil and then the gamar goes on to say the following it says that Kil and this is if you want to just take a glance at it again we're not going to read inside just want to share it for the sake of time to share it with you outside of the text it says that Kil the entire his entire life that he found a particular verse into hilum to be a verse that he could not understand that he could not grasp and what is that verse it's actually a verse that we're all familiar with it's a two lines three lines down on the in the second column he said I cannot understand what this verse is what this verse is referring to but what is the verse it's a verse that we all know that we all know we say as part of as a capital before we bench in chabas and Yan we say that this is a song when Hashem will bring back those to it will be like a dream so what did not understand he said how is it possible Kika could it be is it possible for anyone to sleep for 70 years with one continuous dream that's how he understood that now why 70 years 70 years because it was a 70 years of galut and that this is a reference to the Jewish people that were exiled from Israel to bavel that there was a 70y year and what does it mean to be sleeping and to be dreaming for 70 years it doesn't really seem to add up that was the question that he asked somehow he was perturbed he never really understood this verse okay the gamarra goes on to say the following that he was now walking outside one afternoon and he saw an individual and I think this you may be familiar with this part of the story as well this is the next line in the gamarra that he saw a person who is planting a k he was planting a carob tree and he turned to that person and he said to that person why are you planting the tree you're not going to be able to enjoy the fruit of this tree you're planting it you're an elderly person you're not going to be able to enjoy the fruits of the of your labor literally the fruits of the tree so he said the following and these are beautiful words that are often quoted from this gar and he said to the following and I'll just read to you it's the end of the uh that that par the paragraph on the right side towards the end of that first paragraph he [Music] said he said that this man found a world containing full grown carab tree trees because my ancestors they planted trees for me knowing that they themselves would never live to see them fully grown therefore shat NAMI so too I am planting for my children and then the gamar goes on and says the following the next the next part of the story is that Kil now becomes a bit tired and he sat down he becomes drowsy and what happens he sleeps for the next 70 years he sleeps for 70 years the famous story of Kon magil sleeping for 70 years again what does that mean what's the meaning of this he wakes up from his dream he sees a man who is now taking fruit from the carob tree he turns that person and he says are you the one that planted this tree and the man said no I'm not the one who planted I am the grandson of the one who planted from this tree and I now am taking the fruit of this tree that's how the story ends now the question is how to interpret this story there's a there's a lot here and I would say there's a lot that's that's somewhat obscure that's somewhat mysterious of what's Happening certainly a man sleeping for 70 years that in itself is is quite surprising in how to interpret that so let me share with you the following the following idea and again when Riv cook speaks about and we're going to come back to this line of RI cook rev cook says that the planting of trees represents a a vision for the future for children that we we pl for the dorim for the generations to come and that's most expressed in the carab tree okay so what what do we know abouton Hil what do we know about him the first story what we do know about Kon Hil is that when he asks for something from God that there is a response from God he enters that Circle he says to God I want to see rain and God responds to him immediately not only that K malel says I don't want that kind of rain and I don't want that kind of rain please change it please change it I want this kind of rain and God responds to it what is Hil what does he represent he represents a person who wants to see immediate results and the truth is he is at sadik on that level that he's able to he's able to uh to pray to God to request things of God and he has that power but what does he now learn what does he now see right he now is walking he's walking on the way and he sees a man who is planting and he says to this person why are you planting when you're not going to see the immediate results of your planting that somehow it's difficult for Kon magil to see that or to to appreciate that again he's a person that sees immediate results of his prayers and of his actions what's the pug that he has difficulty understanding right he has difficulty understanding what does it mean that it's like a dream at shivat 70 years he can hold on to a dream does it really take that long or is it possible to hold on to a vision and to a dream that long like what does he struggle with with that P he seems to struggle with that idea that is it possible for the Jewish people to hold on to that dream even though it's going to take such a long time and by the way he was referring to the 70 years of galut right there's another there's another interpretation of of that this has been our dream for 2,000 years is it possible for the Jewish people to hold on to a dream of return for 2,000 years and it seems that Kil needs to learn that lesson and what does he see that is being planted and this is pointed out RAB raban Shan taragan I'm sure many of you have heard heard her teach and I heard a sheer and she quoted the following um what is being planted a a Carib tree now also has another meaning as well the word means that even within kban even within destruction that you're able to see the possibility that you're able to see the potential they were able to wait even though it's going to be a very very long wait we never give up the Jewish people hold on to that hope K magil is the hero of the story but to some degree he needs to learn a lesson in this story which is really a fascinating way of reading this right that he has to fall fall asleep for 70 years and he has to recognize he sees now that a child or a grandchild is now picking the fruit of that tree that we need to be able to hold on to a vision and hold on to hope and um this seems to be what Ru cook is referring to when he writes his this motto this statement that he has about KES let's just go back to that statement one one more time time so the the desire that we have for planting and by the way that's one of the customs in in Israel that'll be tomorrow morning I don't know what the weather is supposed to be but all the school children will be going out from all the elementary schools and going and planting so where does this desire come from to plant trees what is planting trees all about what does that represent R cook says and again if you want to just see the language that desire for planting trees where does it stem from where does it flow from it's a it's knowing that you're not going to necessarily see the fruits but it's going to be there for the next Generation you know I think about that when we made alah to Israel and I think it's probably something that you thought about as well that it wasn't just for ourselves it was for our children right we're never going to be able to speak the language properly we're never going to be able to read the newspaper we can't understand the news when it goes on the radio right is just never going to happen so what are we doing here if we can't read the signs or we can't read anything and we can't understand the news so we're here because we know this is what our children and what our grandchildren that's the place that we know that this is best for them so the planting that we do that's what it means what chat is all about the planting for the future generations and R says you can see this in the most beautiful way you can see it in a tree that's called the carab tree the carab tree again that's the story he's referring to the story here in Tinus but he's also talking about in a tree where there's where there's destruction where there's desolation and think about am Israel and I think it's something that we all can certainly relate to one of the greatest moments of Destruction and Annihilation for our people the Holocaust right that we were able to grow from that that's somehow that we came out of that with a hope with a faith and literally building the land of Israel coming back to the land of Israel so that is uh interesting that that's thinking about that's the way that ruk speaks about the tree and theu and the meaning of Shabbat I want to point out something which is really fascinating as well if you go now to page two and Moser Renu is about to pass away this is how the book of devaram again we're not there in our in our reading but the book of devaram begins with moshu knowing that he is about to die how many days is the book of D the book of darim is just days words when you think about books how long is The Book of Brit how long is The Book of schot how long is The Book of bik how long is The Book of darar it's 37 days now how do I know that that it's third that's the entire book 37 days well look at what the says it's the very beginning of the go to and it was in the 40th yeares that it was in the 11th monthes de Moshe that's how the book begins the 11th month which is the month of shabat if you look at the look at the commentary below this is just from the the art scroll Moses Moshe began his final teaching in the 40th Year from The Exodus on the first of shat which is the 11th month counting from Nissan since the sages give seven Adar is the date of moshe's death right zadar is the day that mosha passes away he conveyed the teachings of this book during a period of just over five weeks 37 days is safer fascinating when does he begin he begins with the first of shat and by the way it's rare that the Torah gives us dates and here we do have a date in the Torah he begins the speech his last teaching of the Jewish people in shabat what's fascinating yes please how do we well that well yeah yeah yeah it say it says it's a 4 that's how the pule Begins by was the on the 40th year yeah yeah so seventh is so it's 30 we have 37 days and what's fascinating is here we have MRA in the month of shat the beginning of shat which by the way it's rare for the Torah to give us dates I don't know if you ever took note of this I didn't take note of this until I Was preparing this year that it was the first of Shabbat and mosh Renu is about to pass away he knows that he's not going to see the land of Israel he knows that he is now passing this on to the next generation and this is happening in shant right this is happening at this time which represents a giving over a recognition that not everything is going to play out in my lifetime moshu certainly recognizes that I'm going to teach this Torah for a generation for the generations to come and let me share one other thing which is really fascinating which I don't know that much about this is taken the next source is taken from the book of our heritage sa toov he has a beautiful one of the classic works on all the months of the year he writes the following there's a translation Chad is the 11th month of the year based on the count that begins with Nissan and the fifth month based on Tish in scripture in the Torah it's always referred to as the 11th month and it was and he quotes the PK that we just saw and it was in the 40th year in the 11th month on the 24th day 11th month the month of Shabbat and that's found in zakarya but what I'm interested in is what what's at the very top that little picture so there are symbols or there's like a zodiac signs for all the months of the year which I don't know anything about it's a whole area which is more capitalistic but what is the sign wor shat what is that by the way so that's a bucket that's filled with water what's called a d so that is the sign that's the symbol of shabat now what does that represent when you think about a bucket or a bucket of water what comes I what think about cleaning your kitchen or your floor what okay it could be rainwater but I think about buckets I think about planting right going out to the field or a garden that you use a bucket and the far say something else as well and that is a bucket is a utensil that's not used for itself but it's it's a b it's a utensil that's used to hold water to use for some other purpose that's a bucket what is a bucket it's not you don't buy the utensil for its own use it's to hold the water if you're doing the sponga on your in your kitchen if you want to bring dirt out to the field so that is what is the symbol of the month Shabbat which represents these personalities and the Jewish people that we don't necessarily the end goal is not necessarily there that we play a role that we are mes that we play a role in a future in building a future so that's interesting an interesting way of of viewing which many the farim say is that the Lee the bucket that represents the month of Shabbat and andish the next s is the very first gar that's found in the tud sh me in brod 11 it is I have it here in Translation it's a famous source which is often quoted by R cook in the students of rook and it speaks about the Redemption and how the Redemption occurs and you may be familiar with this Gara it tells the following story of two great rabbis they are walking in the the mountains here in Israel in the arbel valley so look at what it says RAB Bara Rish shimala were walking in the arel valley in the morning and they saw saw the light before the break of dawn and that in Hebrew it's called the first light of the morning I have a friend of mine RAB Judah Michelle who writes for torit he named his daughter a right born in Israel a the first the first Lights of the of of the dawn of the new day RAB re RAB said Rabbi and this is the key line this is how the red Redemption of Israel will be at first it will be little by little what's called Kima Kima little by little or we say in modern Hebrew LA or Kima Kima little by little but then it will become stronger and then interesting they bring a a uh a source for this from How The Story of kuram unfolded at first morai sat the king's gate and then hamon took the garments and the horse then Mori returned to the king's gate and Mori left from before the king and roll garments finally the Jews experience light and joy so how does redemption happen Redemption does not happen in a single moment it's something that happens over time and again this idea planting the tree it may not be here for us at this moment but we see this as part of a process as part of the process of redemption I want to share with you the following beautiful story about Riv cook and uh we need this the the next page on page three we need the following source to appreciate the uh the story so this is the early years ruk is in arel he comes to Israel in 1904 he comes to to yafo to become the rabbi in yafo and the surrounding settlements and he's invited to a place called magdiel does anybody know where magdel is I don't think that we I looked it up I don't believe that there is a magdel today from what I looked up it was one of four communities that today is called H Hason if anybody is familiar with that but this is one of the founding communities called magdiel what today is called hod Sharon I think in the 1960s they brought these communities together and they changed the name to Hod Sharon he was invited early 1900s to come to magdiel and to plant the first trees in magdiel now I looked it up on you know on Google you can actually see pictures early 1900s of magdiel this settlement there's a couple of like little huts and I guess you know maybe some other huts on the sort of on the periphery where people are living but it's basically Barren land you have just a handful of Jews that are coming you know we we forget what what Israel looked like even here inim what it looked like 20 years ago and what it looks like today so going back to the early 1900s he's invited there there's like there's nothing there I mean just a few Huts uh a handful of Jews that are starting a settlement in a place called magdiel so listen to the following this midrash and then we'll uh we'll appreciate the story of Riv cook so the mid says the following there's a midash that's found inra R it's 25 and it ask the following question what does it mean and we'll read it we'll read a few lines from the from the text itself we know that the Torah says that we are to walk in the ways of God we are to imitate God what does it mean to imitate God does anybody know what the gamar says gar in chabas it's found in a few places it asked the question how do walk in the path of God anybody know what the gamar says very beautiful beautiful that's right just as he is merciful so you are to be merciful just as he clothes the naked right so you have those are the examples in the gamarra the midash has a different answer it asks the same question so look at what the mid says Sim it says in the you are to this is the top of Page Three you are to walk in the ways of God the G this mid asks the same question that the gar does can a person act like God what does it mean to walk in the ways of God and it brings a whole group of sukim that God is like a fire and God is so overwhelming we can't possibly come close to God what's it mean to walk like God and then the G I'm sorry this midrash gives the following answer where it breaks and it goes to the second paragraph Ella if you look if you want to follow along in the Hebrew Ella what did God do at the very beginning of creation when he created The World God did not involve himself in anything other than he started what's the very first thing that we know about God that God planted that's what the midrash says how what what does that mean God planted and It quotes aost what's the first thing or one of the first things we know about God G that God planted a garden in Eden that God is a planter that the first thing that we know about God is that God plants so the gamar so the midra sorry I keep saying gamar this midra says the following so therefore I'm sorry yes yeah three four lines up so therefore how do you follow the way of God how do you imitate God aam so to you when you come into the land of Israel the first thing that you need to do when you come to land of Israel is to plant as well if you want to emulate God if you want to imitate God plant plant trees plant tomatoes plant cucumbers what's that that's they that's right that the mid say as you come to AR the first thing you need to start doing is planting and that's how you imitate God God and that's what it says and that's what it says in the Torah itself and when you come to land of Israel you are to plant so this is the story ruk is invited to magdel they say we would like you we would like you honor us with the very first tree planted here at magdel so they hand him a shovel to you know to to dig he takes the shovel in his hand and he throws the shovel away he then kneels down on the ground on his knees and with his hands and he starts to dig out a place for the tree and there's another Rabbi that's there his name is Rabbi Zev gold who's a well-known Rabbi M sorry maon gold is named after Rabbi Zeb gold he's one of the signatures on the uh on the Declaration of Independence of Israel as a great Zionist leader and he's watching rcuk he sees that Rook is is absolutely shaking and he sees that his face is burning up as he's planting this tree so afterwards he goes over to ROK and he says I know that there was a very emotional moment but if you can you know just explain to me what was what was going through your mind at that moment and he said I was thinking about this midrash I was thinking about this midrash that God said that the very first thing that he did was to plant in ganeden and he says that when we come to the land of Israel the very first thing that we should do is to plant and he he said R said I felt that there was a Deus I felt connected I felt as if I was cling clinging to Hashem as I was planting the tree I felt that I was that I was embracing Hashem as I was planting the tree so that's a story from um from magdel I want to share one other story with you which is I just came across a story this week which appropriate for planting and for the soil of Israel so there was a man who came to the office of Ru cook today you can go you can go to R Cook Street you can see his his office he was an older tamman man who came in again early 1900s and he came into the office and rff cook saw in his face that he was having having a difficult day that he was bit wiped out whatever it was from you know not every day in Israel is uh that we're on cloud cloud nine um so he comes into the office and he turns to RI cook and he says you know what I've been thinking about possibly leaving Israel I you know I work the land and the plowing that I'm doing and the seeding the sewing that I'm doing it's it's very very difficult for me it's back breaking and I'm thinking about maybe going to the the golden of Medina you know let me go to a place where I can where I can make a living and uh and find better work so Ruff cook said you know what let me let's let's talk this through let's think about it I see that you're having having a you know a tough day why don't you sit down in my chair and RI cook had a a very comfortable chair in the office in his office and why don't you just rest for a moment so um so he says how can I I sit in the you know the rabbi's chair and cook says no you know just just rest in my chair so he came around the desk and the man this Taman man he sat down and he actually put his head down and he and he fell asleep not for 70 years but he uh he slept for a few minutes and then he woke up and he turned to of cook and he said I can't believe what just happened I just had a dream while I was sleeping and he said this is what I saw in my dream I was in heaven I was in shamayim and there were Angels there in heaven and they were pulling in a cart a wagon and there were all of these containers all these packages in the wagon and they were putting it on a large scale and they put all the packages on one side of the scale and was weighing down the scale and the angel said that these are your sins these are your transgressions in life and then another group of angels came in and they also had a wagon but in this wagon it was filled with soil it was filled with Earth and they took all of that Earth and they put it on the other side of the scale and it now weighed down the scale almost until it hit the very bottom and then I woke up from the dream and this T man said ruk you don't have to say another word I understand the message that I just received from Hashem that the soil of erel that working the soil of arel is such a such a Mitzvah it's such an important thing to do I could leave I could leave Israel maybe find another job but Hashem wants me to be here and to appreciate the gusa of the soil of arusell so that is a interesting story I never heard that story I just uh just came across that this past week so the the message that we hear from R cook is about is about anticipating is about waiting for the Redemption it doesn't come in a moment K magil would like it to come very very quickly right he he's used to asking things requesting things from hasem and he gets his way which is the way of sadic but that's not always the case he has to learn that lesson we as a Jewish people need to learn that lesson we've learned that lesson that we're waiting we wait we're very very good about saan not always in ER but we're good about waiting so we know that there's a famous gar we mentioned many times that one of the one of the six questions that were asked on the yadin when we're going to stand in heaven isua did we wait did we have the patience did we wait for red rtion RAB Shalom rasner I'm sure that's a name that you're familiar with writes for ter tibits outstanding so he asked the following question which is really a fascinating question he says if you look on a list you can easily find the Mitzvah in the Torah itself it says that you are to do Peru U that Hashem is going to ask you did you bring children into the world and we know that there's a Mitzvah the very first Mitzvah starts with Peru hem is going to ask did you set aside time for learning well we know that there is a Mitzvah that clearly that there's a Mitzvah what Mitzvah in the Torah if you go through the Torah what Mitzvah is that Hashem is going to ask us about waiting for the Redemption but but which Mitzvah is that where do you find that Mitzvah in the Torah so he quotes the following there's a very very important safer called the SM which is going back to the Balo and he lists all of The Commandments and in the very first commandment the very first commandment is the Commandment to believe inem based on the then you look at the bottom source to know that the one that created the world this the very bottom of page three that's the he lists that as Mitzvah number one and in that mitzva he says the following and this is the second paragraph just as AEM wants us to believe that I took you out of Egypt again that's in the very first first of the Ten Commandments to believe in God that took you out of Egypt where where do we find the very first sorry where do we find the Mitzvah ofua says the SM it's the very first Mitzvah of that just as God said believe that I'm your God and the god that took you out of Egypt you are to believe that God will also take you out of the Exile and bring you back to the land of Israel where is it Source the very first Mitzvah that's part and parcel of of the very first Mitzvah of to believe in God is to believe in God who is the Redeemer that's what we say that's what it says in the Torah that God took you out of Egypt that was the first galut but in every galut or ultimately the galute that the Jewish people will be in that God will bring us back that's part of waiting and that's part of having amem I'll share with you one other source and then we'll uh we'll conclude with a uh with a uh with a story or a couple of stories so look at the top of page four we'll conclude with we'll save we'll save some of the this material for another time the top of page four this we say every single day in our in our davening or at least during the week we pray for the Redemption we pray for messiah there was a great student of zal who is the the son of ruk his name was R drukman not sure if that's a name that you're familiar with one the most important religious Zionist leaders of the last 50 years in Israel he has a safer actually called kimak Kima that's the name of his book that little by little waiting for the Redemption little by little and he points out that in the bran again this is for us as we as we DAV in the kabana that we can have in our doing as we say the am every day we speak about the prayer for Redemption for messiah and he says three times we use the word what does the word mean what's that's right blossoming growing right growing that there's a process of growth so we say and then we say three times not once when we speak about Redemption we're referring to it as something that relates to growth something that takes time right we know we put it in the pot and we wait for that little bit that little green the little leaf to come up but then it's a process a process of growing until it becomes that great tree like the Karu that takes 70 years for the Karu to grow a friend of mine RAB Rabbi David Gat so he was a rabbi in Baltimore he was a rabbi in a a big Sho in Baltimore what would you say 300 families or so so he was ready to make alah to Israel he didn't know what to do and many rabbis have this question over the years do we leave our community Community where and sort of like the whyu approach over the years as always Rabbi salvic said that we've trained you to be great rabbis in America you really need to be in America that was kind of like the standard what we heard over the years he wanted to move to Israel he has a sh today he's living in R got um and he went to raron lienin zel the son-in-law of RAB salic and he made a meeting with him and he said can I have some time they spent I think he said a few hours together just speaking about this one on topic of a rabbi leaving America and coming here to Israel so uh he shares the following really two points and uh these are the points I'd like to share to share from Rabbi gatl one is raar lensin said the following he said I know that many people say that you should be in America because that's where your talents are right you've been trained that that's your training that's your language that's your background the amount of accomplishment that you can have there but he said why should America have your talents and not arel yes you're very talented you have a lot to give why should America have all those talents and we shouldn't have the blessing of your talents here in the land of Israel so that's one which is an interesting idea and then ronstein said the following which I think is a very deep and a very important idea and based on the idea that we've been sharing this morning he said the Sho that you're building in Baltimore is very very beautiful you have 300 families he said if you come here and if you if you have a of 30 families I believe that's just as important because there's a major difference between Baltimore and er Israel he says in erel what you're building and he used the following word is nit what you're building here is forever there's a future we believe this is the future of Amel and what you're building here is that you're building for the future like that carab tree right what you're planting here is going to develop fruits that there's going to be a great future we do not believe that the shs and communities of the galut of Exile is the future of am Israel we don't believe that there it's not going to be the future interesting when Yeshiva University about 20 30 years ago they started a like a sort of a little organization within Yu which was called the future of Jewish life what was the name of it yeah something like that the future of Jewish life the center oh no it was called the center for the future of Judaism something along those lines and a lot of people took offense to that how can you speak about in Washington Heights in New York talk about the future of Jewish life that's just not you can call it you know find some other name for it but the future of Jewish life is going to be in arel so that's what Ron Len told rali he followed his advice he's here in erel today he's built a beautiful Community much more than 30 families probably getting up there to the numbers that he had in Baltimore as well okay we'll uh we'll end with the following I'm sure that you saw this uh I'm sure that you saw this in the news um one of the women that was Rel released from from Gaza her name was aam burger aam burger aam burger a uh a young woman she uh she was in one of the Lookouts Towers right on the border of Gaza and she was kidnapped and she was just released it was just last week a week yeah just in the last week or so so this is uh this is from an article that was in mishak magazine just this past week February 4th um mishak magazine and it tells the following hostages released in November going back to November in the November deal told the burgers meaning her family the burger family that gam was keeping chabas and reciting brot over the next 14 months of her ordeal aam kept up that same conviction and M NE she refused to eat non Kosher meat for the duration of her captivity she and the other sapot what are sapot it says in the Lookouts that was what's that a job in the Army that's right a job in the Army she was on one of the lookout town hours and she was oh she's in front of a screen in front of a screen okay in front of a screen and she was together with others that were in that same group and they were being held together so it says together with the other sapot they were held with her they avoided eating bread on pesak and they fasted on yum Kipper and I don't know if you heard this part of the story aam this young lady who was released originally was slated for release on Shabbat along with with four other female Lookout captured captured with her in anticipation of her return meav who's her mother went on public record filming a video begging that people refrain from unnecessary Shabbat in conjunction with aam's release now interesting the family is not a what we call a religious family per se they took on keeping Shabbat especially after October 7th and the mother said I do not want K Shabbat around to release and this is what she this is what she said quotes it looks like our girls will come out on Shabbat it's not by mistake that our enemies are doing this she says she clarified that the family had been told by ranam to meet aam if she was freed on Shabbat and how to do so with minimal Shabbat but then added to everyone who has been embracing us and accompanying us on this journey we ask you please do not break Shabbat don't take pictures wait until after Shabbat we'll have plenty of time to take pictures and videos but the what I want to share with you is the following there was a picture and I'm sure many of you saw this that while what when when they bring back the um those that have been kidnapped they have them on the helicopter and often they have them with a white board and they write something on the board have you seen that that they're in the helicopter they're not able to you know to speak it's too loud or whatever is and they're just sending a message holding a board that they have a marker and a white board and what was on the board what did she she write she wrote Words which is a from tum from she wrote The Following and you can look it up it's on the internet she wrote this is her holding it this young lady a gam Burger saying I chose the way of of faith and I came back I'm returning with my faith as well and I thought that was so powerful and to me just you know what we've talked about today of a this is a long der right there's a long road this is long path until the Gula and she said I chosen that path of faith and that's what Kil that's what he learned that's what Rook speaks about that we plant trees it's about faith it's about faith in the future the Kima Kima the little bit as the sun is coming up in the dawn that we recognize that we're moving closer and closer to the Redemption and we take a lot of kuk from uh these are modern day heroes this young lady aam Berger the faith that she had that was the one message that she wanted everyone to know as she was coming back I left with faith I've chosen and that's a from to you can look it up I choose faith and she wrote and I come back filled with faith as well all right wish everyone yeah yeah do you want to make make a comment yeah and it turned right in the end she was not released on Shabbat that's correct and the mother said that I believe that that was also Yem that we didn't want to desecrate Shabbat um I want to wish everyone aishat growing up in America we just had the dried out you know just the dried carob and that was to they gave it out in school in a in a paper bag but here we can have fresh dates and we can have figs and we can enjoy tu bishvat everyone should enjoy it it should be a day that we connect to the land to the soil to G we'll just we'll stop here but I'll take any question just so I see just in terms of the timing yes