Tzom Gedalia: Did the Last Jewish Ember Really Burn Out?

here we come here. Watch out world mamish. Watch out. Tish so far. The sponsors of the month are my precious sister and brother-in-law Yuri and Mik. And it's the moshim's grandfather and the our uncle my father's brother and and all right. Wow. [snorts] It's great to be It's great to It's great to be together right after Rashashana. It's really really special. It's hard to put into words what everyone went through, what we went through here, what we're going through. We're really in it. Hashem and we we we run to the Torah. We we run to we run to whatever we can hold not just hold on but like even even strengthen. And so I want to give us a that um running to the Torah always feels like home. It never feels like a copout, like running away from our problems. It's actually running to our to our problems, to our issues, to our everything because everything's in it. It's a real thing. You change it over, you flip it over, you switch it around. It's all It's all in it. And I just want to wish everyone it's it's hard. It's like you're like uh you're like more like you know but I don't know today I felt like let me like I was feeling I felt it this morning. Let me just sit here with before Hashem. So Tomalia, especially after what we're going to see today, is by far one of the most underrated days in the calendar. Aside from it being Yosi Sass's birthday, but besides that, it's a very very right. It's his birthday today, Yang Yaniv. >> Yaniv on the way back from Oman. It's a it's an underrated day. uh in the past we've we've tried to look into it from different areas but I think today it's very very shak 2020 2026 tin is this is very very strong I I prepared two different sh I'm just going to do one of them but just [clears throat] as a quick reminder about why we're fasting today and if you spent a little time with the dka forgal it's all there in the of I know people have such a hard time with that's yala we're we're we're together we're going higher to a place where we don't have a hard time with so everyone likes to call this the first political murder that happened in Jewish history which may be true it may be true some say look what happens you know of course that's what happens was killed by a Jewish benitania. But the the thing that is so amazing about it's the story about what happens today and we're going to look at one aspect of it inside through a certain sadic who just passed away about nine years ago Shapi the famous Makshava Shapi was awesome powerful and he has a in in the the one that I have is an what happens is just to understand where we're at in Jewish history throws out all the this gullus. We're thrown into galas, but he keeps a small comet, a small group of Jews in Erit, Israel. He does. There's a he keeps a small group of Jews in Israel. Everyone else went into galut. Everyone else went into exile. But it's the appoints a small group of Jews, Jews, and he has someone that's like their leader. That's gdala ben. Just as I'm saying the names, there's a from the says this is gdala. This is the fast that makes hashem bigger for you. Gdalia, it's the fast that makes Hashem just a little bit bigger to you in your in your eyes. Gdal, right? Makes Hashem bigger. And this small group of Jews that's left here, there's a whole whatever it's in for me. You could see the whole story there. Gdalia is warned. Gdalia is warned. He doesn't want to believe on Eden. And what ends up happening happens. You should see in Sharim in the 20th chapter that explains over there the problem with sometimes being too much of a which was what happened with Gdalia. He didn't want to believe but it ended up resulting in in such a horrific murder. But the the whole in is one thing I was thinking about is why did keep a group of Jews here in if the happens and gullis is gull then why are you keeping anybody here so one of the things that I'm thinking about is that and I think I saw it somewhere I don't remember my mind is a little bit uh fushed from from yont in a good way is that even he knew the secret that if that the only way the land could prosper is that there has to be Jews in the land there's no other way so it was just selfish reasons that he kept yidden because he wanted to make sure that the arts wouldn't be totally schmama. So he says, "Okay, they had they got they all they're out of here. There's no bas on English and everything, but we have to make sure that we still have produce in the land. [snorts] We can't go back." This is way before Mark Twain's Adus, you know what I mean? He even he knew even that Russian knew that there had to be yidden left here because otherwise the land would be completely completely desolate. I think it's also of [snorts] that he left a comment of Jews saying it's like it's gull it's disaster but like I'm still leaving a little bit of Jews here. It's not like I'm just thinking what was going on in that's for sure. I'm thinking about what's going on in >> right doesn't make sense. >> Huh? >> He had like dreams and such about >> about this. I think so. >> Well, yeah. But he we have to just think about I'm saying that it could be that it's simply because he really knew that yen and Israel it's it's one even the biggest Russian knows this Mark Twain say >> huh >> what did Mark Twain >> Mark Twain the famous adus he gave about when he came and visited the land I don't remember what what year it was do you remember Ellie what year >> the early or late 1800s >> where he comes and he describes is what this land looked like. And then we know what happens when Am Israel comes back to Israel and we compare it to the time of Mark Twain. We realize we really are the ones that caused this place to blossom. So, and and a lot of historians go to Mark Twain's diary to understand like a lot of different things about the formation of the Jewish state, n national whatever >> 1869. So this what's amazing about what we're going to see today is look at the pius of this day. So that the print is it's a came out a little bit small. I'm I'm sorry but we'll do our best over here. Okay. You [snorts] could pass these around. This is Shapira. It was a big mash, a big sadic and a big baka that's helped helped many many many people including Evatani. If you want to know more about that relationship, look at his documentary. A very very interesting relationship there. The fast of gdalyia gdalia is already brought down in the garra. The beginning of the learning that we're doing over here quotes the garra that speaks about the fast of gdalia. The seventh fast. It's today. Now the says here something really interesting. What is it teaching us? That this was killed. that the murder of a sadic is shak >> equivalent to the to the to the burning down of of the basdash. [snorts] Some say that really that this day is the fourth fast of the year that has to do with most of the fasts are really about but says move on. We have trying to understand the statement of [clears throat] what's now what's so hard to understand with the statement of [clears throat] tell me he's saying there aren't there weren't other sadikim over the years that were murdered that they don't get a fast day. What's what's so special about the day that Gdalia was killed? There there are plenty of tadikim unfortunately. Let's name a few. Not modern. Well, when were they killed? That's that's already a sh right. When were they killed? When were killed? So some say sorry >> we mention them both but is like what's the whole like why are you choosing toka put this on to say we have a fast day about it >> it's whether or not they were killed in it's their saying we could have >> but let's say no because we know that when it's shall live long years. Someone passes away that's we're talking about murder. >> He's murdered. But there are other that were murdered. have. [cough] [clears throat] We have to understand this. Has to be. Now we get a little bit of an intro into the day. Look at these words. On the third of tishalab was killed. This is the focus of the shia today. What's a >> coal was put out, >> right? The coal that was remaining was put out and gulas fully went into effect. >> That's what gish is. The coal that was still burning called Israel and Israel was officially put out on Gimmel. Remember we said the little bit of Jews that were left here kept something burning. But on today on Gimmel Tish with his murder that was the end of whatever remnant of AmI is left in Israel and Galut went into full effect. That's why to me when you just think of the Rambam as words like this, this day is more this day is like the saddest day of the year almost if he was killed aliml but really behold he was killed. It's crazy. Let's understand this what the says. Let's understand. Now we understand the mita of this sadic that kind of said you're in full effect now. No Jews left in Israel. No Jews left. That's like the B mikdash being burnt. That's what the garra means. And when there's no yid in here, there's no ba mdash. The b mikdash is being burnt. [snorts] So I want to give all of you kak right now for a second. Each one of you besides one made aliyah. You all made aliyah. So your choice to be your whether it was your choice or your parents' choice is basically looking into the face of gimlish of today and saying uh-uh not happening. It's true it happened. But it's not true. Not true. We're here. This was the end of the So the end of the of was through the murder of what's really going on beneath the surface. You know, I was I'm thinking about kif right now because let's say like for a second all of Israel was a right. Let's just say that for a second. All of Israel was like and then when they took the last Jews out of Gushkif >> that was like that was like being murdered and it's very similar because it's Jews on Jew the same thing and then what happens to that piece of land the moment that the last Jew leaves >> desolation we see we see what happened so look at the second paragraph Israel. As long as there were still little Jew, a little bit of Jews left in Erit Isel, the place could have been completely reborn and refunctioning at a certain level. As long as there is certain Jews there, it's not just though he left few Jews there and they're they're playing a political role. What the Gar say as long and you look at the as long as there were a few Jews that were still there was a chance for that big gullis that started to take place to stop and what ends up happening we all know the rest of the story thousands of years of right horrific after but also for us like people are talking more and more about the possibility of Right. People are freaking out. No one's besides two parties, no one's willing to even speak about this in in government and everything. But we all know that in these places as long even if there's one Jew there, even if there's one Jew left, that's why as confusing as the times that we're living are really are, you know, just take a take a stroll around Gition, around this whole area, how many new spots of desolate lands are now being resettled? by Jews in all these different places all over the place. Not enough. Got to keep on going. And now only now, right before elections, of course, everyone's trying to take pride in we did the you didn't they didn't say anything for months, right? Years, no one's mentioning this. Now they want to get the vote. They say whatever it is. I don't know how many uh in but whenever there's a desolate land and then there's no yiden on there that place is that place is that do you know what kind of you know what kind of we have to have for the of the residents of it's a given to us ah they're there yeah there's yen living in wasn't always like this and what they go through daily I remember Like just thinking about maybe the roads are better now, but for years and years and years to drive those roads day and night, day and night, [snorts] I'm not going to toot your horns now, but you know there's there's places we have that have gone to places where it's been desolate and now there's that now there's now there's now there's blossoming. But when there's not one left, that is and that's what he's saying over here. Second line in the second paragraph. If all Jews were thrown into immediately after then the itself, not that we can understand this, it would have been even more more just horrific. And it also would have seemed more >> permanent forever. Now this goes to what Jeremy said in the beginning of year. Those few Jews left after were supposed to be the pioneers of a whole brand new movement of Israel 2.0 mash. [snorts] It should have been rebuilt again from those Jews that that stayed that were not just stayed but placed in Israel after Now, this is a very interesting word in Hebrew because it says over here, what do what does mean? >> Remnant. >> What we usually say this, we use this as a when we talk about the Yidden that were left from the Holocaust. What do we call them? >> What does that mean? >> Plugaining. the remaining >> the remnant of whatever is left you know it's like so he says not just a remnant of what was left from the from the OG from the beginning from the from from the source it's true it's just a remnant you know when the time was a young Boy, he would ask each person he met, "Do you remember? Do you know any nigun from the BA mikdash?" He would ask people this all the time. Do you remember anything from the BA migdash? A famous story. One time he met a yiddler late at night, middle of the night at the hotel. And he asked him this as well. And the Y told him that in his family the Msur was that and I propo we say this now that the only thing we have left from the B mikdash is the of right the only thing we have left is the interesting la yesterday >> I had the guys everyone just give me give me a second one second yesterday I is I don't do tashlik on the the second day. I just wait till this like alone with my take my children try to I try to remember sometimes it's I do it on zanaka that's for another story but so I was like finally oh my god there was no after yesterday >> nobody in sh I sat down with a few gazant cold coke zero it's amazing it was perfect I'm sitting here hear the door open okay then the steps Okay. So, if someone takes a few steps and it stops, they're sitting in the back learning. Give out. But every step closer, closer, closer, closer. Oh my god. It's like when you're, you know, like when you're on a plane and there's a seat next to you. It's [laughter] >> you're saying every capitol you ever know by heart to make sure the person does not sit next to you. Right. So, I'm like thinking I have my swami finally. Like, there hasn't been a second. [snorts] And it was the Gabby of the Tim. He's like, he said, "Can I be a sure?" It's like [laughter] he's basically [laughter] so I went down yesterday for and I was the 10th of the year >> and he was right. But I was sitting there thinking, is this more accur, you know, is this more accurate than the way we do it? And 100% it is, right? 100% it is. [snorts] It was just a cute story that just happened yesterday, right? This play, you know, this year they're holding on to that is so much more accurate than than us white polishers. you know much no matter what will ever doesn't mean what we're saying is not beautiful and it doesn't mean that what we're doing is not hundreds of years old for sure it is theirs is probably much more like thousands of years more medyak right so to hold on to something that has sh to really the roots of something you know that's the cover you give to elders in different societies they're holding on to the those Jews weren't just a few Jews that stayed alive. We We were basing the future of the Jewish people on those few people that were still there. So in the middle of the We're in the middle of the paragraph now. It's the opposite of that. It's the opposite. Is crumbs of making nothing into nothing of is what we're trying to do. And we say this, we've been saying this. They've been in Iran. They've been in Iraq. They've been in America. There's always been a remnant, always of something. It never gets to the root till the end. The remnant The [clears throat] issim I love this gim is >> when did that come to you? >> This morning >> before she >> I didn't send him the text before. She just know. No, Gabriel said because Gabriel said it in Yeah, you said it right. But when he says here means to be the galut. This is what's called to mean to put out the coal of Israel. I mean, there were so many times we thought that actually was going to happen. Remember, we sat in this room, November 2023, a few of us sat in this room late at night. Men turned the lights off and we let it roar and Many of us in this room, rightfully so, were having feelings of this really could be the end of this nice, you know, >> experiment. >> Yeah. Like it was a real, it was a very real feeling. We weren't trying to be dramatic, you know, we were just waiting. We remember we were listening the living on pum and you we kept on listening to like and trying to get people could hear understand what they're actually saying in the mosques because they were louder than ever those days and they were screaming and saying all these things and we were wondering when are they giving the order for people to just you know >> charge >> charge right and we're sitting in here and we're like kimat with all the pain fear and obviously like worry for our family. The sentiment in the room was like, if this is how we have to go, this is how we have to go. And like we then we're like, oh my god, we actually feel like this. We actually think like this. This is insane. This is crazy. You know, but we were we've we've been in these situations where it looks like the ger was really the coal was about to burn out. It wasn't the first time. It was the first time in our lives maybe, >> you know, it was the first time in our modern lives, but it wasn't the first time in Jewish history. But think about it back then when they when they were eventually when that was the end of the possibility of Jews to have this rebirth in Israel, that seemed like a sofa, the end. Now he does something beautiful. Okay. So, what's shavik maniac? The more you let it just be it slowly fades out till it goes away. It's basically we're speaking of the difference between a gel and a shvit. >> A shvit is a flame. The more that you let it, the more that you let it be, it spreads. It's the opposite. It goes away more. A flame is a is a fire that's burning. So, a coal is something that stops the fire inside. You all know you've always I'm sure many of you have been at campsites, campfires, whatever it is where there's coals that you're banking on whatever you know fire to be on the coal and what do you have to do in order to make it happen, right? >> Maybe he'll do on the co as well. But the cool thing about a coal is that it kind of like it kind of like keeps the fire inside, right? In order for possibility for rebirth. But it does it from the inside. But if you don't wave, if you don't produce movement, if you don't blow air into it and you let it be, it'll go. It'll fade. And sometimes like we know it completely gets extinguished like we have full communities of Eastern European jury that have been completely removed. And the saddest thing and what this eritz and this arm has to do mad crazy insane chuva for is that the group of Jews that kept the kept the gahelid burning in a place called ritsuat aza was done by Jewish people. It was done by Jewish people. their removal. They were a gel. They were a shahvit really, but they were a gel as they were a coal. And that whole area that had a gel, the fire being burning in the inside was removed. Until we do chuva, until we resettle that whole area and remove every last is from there, the arats needs to still do chuva. Welcome. You guys haven't heard that in a while, but it's still true. Still true. More true than ever. More true than ever. Don't think that anything here could be rebuilt until we take care of the area where the gel was removed. How? Leave Ellie to do it in diplomatic ways, but it has to it has to happen. N encoui for the of what this place has is is intended to do until this happens. Third bottom line, but even when it seems that things have been completely removed and coals are completely gone out and it ever happened to you that you thought that a that a meda bonfire was out and in the morning you saw a fire. That ever happened to anybody here that you were certain that it was out and then in the morning, oh my god, what is going on over here, right? It just happened to us in over the summer. >> Yeah. We had a one of the places we were staying and we did a little fire. We as if I did it, >> you know, the kids and their aunts and cousins did it. And um sure it was out. And then hours later we saw but but on a historical context this day is such a opportune time to do chuva over we could say it there's two ways to say it. One is a very prey place and this is a lot of cha can be done on this. It's like where in my life was there a little bit of a spark left but I gave up on it till the cold eventually ended up fading away and I just said ah whatever follow on the national level which is definitely what this day is very much kashu because this happened on this was a national murder. So uh within us obviously yeah you could learn a million things about and the whole story and all the political murder and like I said in on on I forget what day I think second day of Yant about you know it's it's oh I was telling the story about is we're going to elections I'm I'm I want to challenge everyone and I'm going to write it up but we're going to write it up. I want to challenge everyone this year. Um, I mean, most of you are not so involved in this, but if anyone is, whoever hears this, I want to challenge everyone that when you're pushing and advocating for someone to be elected, I dare you, I challenge you to just speak about why you think the person that you want to get elected to get elected without mentioning why you think that other people that shouldn't get elected shouldn't get elected. >> Like pelle, right? Wouldn't that be just such a tiku and such a clean right? Can you imagine? Can you imagine if one politician said, "You know what? I'm just going to speak about why you should vote for me and not why he's dangerous and why he's dangerous and he's so bad and he's so bad." Right? It's so funny because people hear this side of me. They're like, "Oh, you're such a hippie leftist." You hear what I just said like 10 seconds ago, right? No, it's [laughter] not. It's just doing it. It's doing the job done. You know, we're back. The is back. It's a now. Should have been the end of the Jewish people. Should be the end of Jew Judaism. Should have been the end. Somehow it's happened to be only because of Torah that we took a gel with us into Bav and we kept on blowing on that with every ounce of learning of trying to understand God's word and what he means and what he wants of us till we brought it back to the Holy Land and now there's a flame but the flame has to be everywhere in the whole landm to witness it with our own eyes our hearts and souls.