REPLAY: Siyum Maseches Nezikin with Rabbi Lebowitz and Rabbi Farhi.

[Music] Ready? 7:30. We're past time. >> It's being stream. It's good, right? I didn't check the time. >> Perfect. Okay. I'd like to welcome all those who are sitting here in the room in person and all those on the old app and the website across the globe who have come to participate in this summ and preparation and inspiration for the beginning this month Shabas. This isn't just a CM as we'll soon hear. It's a special cm hash being made by my dear friend, our dear friend Zev Bellski, who actually finished on his Hebrew birthday yesterday. So masletov the opportunity to celebrate and highlight one person's journey in learning together with all Torah isn't just a collaboration. It's what the mission and goal of all Torah is. That each and every person should have an opportunity to learn daily and consistently in their lives. At a time of so much pain, divisiveness and uncertainty in cla we must stop, reflect and treasure moments like these. When we come together and we're standing together as we did at focused on one goal and one goal only that is as the writes in the first perk finding joy and pleasure in our closeness to Hashem as himself writes in Hashem the most powerful way that this takes place is through as Torah consistent and serious Torah study. This evening didn't just happen on its own. First, I need to thank Rabbi Liuititz and the Shul for graciously opening up the Shul and the Badish and the social hall downstairs to host this event. to Alisa and Zev Bellski, to Ellie Rossman who's in Israel celebrating a wedding, Reena Hersh and usher Tesser and the all Torah team. The evening would not have happened without your constant effort to make sure that every detail should take place in the way we planned that the event should be a tremendous kadeshm. I'd like to welcome Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, our executive vice president, who had the long journey from Lawrence, almost as long as mine from Lakewood, who came to join us this evening. We thank you as well. I'd like to thank the donors of this evening. Without them, this wouldn't have happened either. Who have all contributed in honor of Rab Liuitz, Zean Lisa Bellski, Ellie and Jessica Rosman, Mars and D'vorah Smith, David and Suri Lander in honor of their children, and Nishmas Gola Basima, a name that we hear every single day for those who listen to Avisha Newman, Steven Grill, Jeff and Becky Misher, if I pronounced that correctly, if I didn't got it right. Okay. Mo Bulka, Josh Anglar, David and Esther Habber, Daniel Hersburg, Asher Klein, Yehuda Koig, David Laski, Moshe Mace. Did I get that name right? Got it wrong. Apologies. Steve Mermolstein in memory of his father, Matio, Mosha Ben Schlommo, Kobe Moses, Phil Rosenlad, and as I just learned, Mr. Natali Wilner and everyone here is with their spouses as well. So, we thank you all. We just didn't get all the information input in time. But thank you very much to all. I'd like to thank the Amu Al Torah who are the constant supporters, the backbones of everything we're able to do at the OU with with all Torah, the pillars of all Torah for the support throughout the year. Anybody want would like to participate or learn more, you can visit our website all tora.org/ammu and their names are outside and we thank them as well. I'm not here to speak. We have tremendous speakers coming up. Just want to share one thing before I introduce Rabbi Liuitz and to share the program. Rabbi Liuits will speak for a few minutes when I conclude followed by Zev's sim hashas followed by a few minutes of dancing and then our guest speaker Rabmo Fari Fari depends how if you know how to say the um and then downstairs we'll have a buffet dinner and kumzits and singing and celebrating the we're all looking for schoolers. Everybody is looking for schoolers. People spend time, money, energy, schoolist. They travel for schools that may not be sourced, they may not be correct, but everyone's looking for a school. It's no coincidence that this event is taking place during the days that Hashem has found favor in our eyes, days of compassion. Aaron Cutler, one of the greatest and Rashiva that ever stepped foot on American soil, shared a very special school for this time of year. As the Torah brings these days, the 40 days from after the 40 days of asked forgiveness for the and we were forgiven says that this time is an with an alf not with an he says it's a time full of opportunity. Says the gates of Rakim and Rutzen are wide open. And then he says, and this is the true sigula. He says, during these days, it's possible to acquire and grow chuva avoid with far less effort. He says much less effort than usually requires. At other times of year, all this growth may take lots of work. But he says during these days there's a special let's call it a sagula that a person can put in half the work and get what it takes usually much more effort during the rest of the year to achieve as we say in the first in the morning. Hashem opens the gates of compassion and enlightens the eyes of those waiting for his forgiveness. If only our eyes could see the eternal light and happiness we create with our avoid during this time, we would be supercharged to maximize every single moment with this in mind, knowing that this amount of work could accomplish what this amount of work would take during the rest of the year. And with that, I don't think there's a more appropriate way to introduce Rabbi Liuititz, someone who understands, appreciates, and maximizes every minute of his life at the service of Claudius Israel at the highest level. He's a living example of someone who radiates the light and joy of Israel. Thank you so much. Um, and there's something so special about celebrating Torah, specifically within a couple of weeks of Rashashana, specifically within a couple of weeks of the Yomadin, because we all know that when it comes to Yomadin, we're going to have to answer some difficult questions. The thing is, we're not exactly sure what those questions are on the annual. However, give us an inkling as to what kinds of questions we're going to ultimately have to answer on the ultimate and tell us that the first thing we're going to have to answer for is how we spent our time in learning Torah. is learn is did we learn enough? Did we uh did we dedicate ourselves to Talmra? But there's something strange about that because there is another gum where the garra tells us not only that there are in fact six questions on the big not just one question but even the way that it formulates the question is a little bit different. The garra when it talks about the question of the asks the question is not to butimra where you yourself for Torah and it seems to be a little bit of a steer or at least some sort of opposite or different kind of point of emphasis from one gar to the other. So what are we supposed to make of that? In fact, the annual celebration of the Torah typically happens on the of Shvis and we refer to that as the day of Kabala, which is also a little bit unusual because we know what was the great event that happened on Shivis. It was Matan Torah. So shouldn't it be called the day of Nina? Why is it called the day of Cababolas? Salvich had the following insight and as is his practice he based himself on a Rambam. If you were to open up the Rambam and the Torah and and try to figure out what exactly is the obligation of learning Torah, you'll find in the very first chapter of the Torah, the Rambam starts describing the obligation to teach one's child, the obligation to teach one's grandchild, the obligation to teach other people's children, the obligation to hire somebody to teach your kid in case you can't teach him yourself, and how the if your father never taught you or hired anyone to teach you, you're still responsible and you need to learn yourself and even if your child is a more promising than you are, you still have to dedicate your own resources not only for his learning but to learn as much as you can as well. understand how a person has to plan out their life to make sure that they learn a little bit before they get married and they have all the responsibilities that come with uh supporting a family and that Torah learning should begin as soon as a person learns how to speak and should continue gradually throughout a person's life and then in eight paragraphs into the Rambam writes that every Jewish person Every Jewish man is no matter how poor or wealthy, whether healthy or unhealthy, no matter how young or how old, no matter how busy a person is with family life and other things, one has to dedicate himself to notes. Why is that eight paragraphs in and the whole thing seems redundant? We just spent seven paragraphs talking about how there's no excuse and you have to do it and you have to learn. And then in the eighth paragraph, he says, "By the way, you have to learn no matter what. The Rambam is not known for wasting words." So, Salvation suggested the following very simple idea and this is the one point I would like to share with you that there are two elements. He's a brisker. There's always two elements. There are two elements in Talma Torah. There is proficiency in Torah, knowledge of Torah, mastery of Torah. And for on that level, it doesn't really matter how you manage to get there. Whether you have a very organized system, whether you have a song for every ma, it doesn't matter how you manage to incorporate all of Torah as long as you get there. But then there's a second obligation and that is to be coaim to set specific times for Torah learning. Whether those times lend themselves to a great deal of focus or is going to be 6:15 in the morning where you were up till 2:00 in the morning the night before and you have a lot going on in your life and it's going to be in one ear and out the other. But 6:15 is dafomish year. So I'm there at 6:15. I hope I'm not messing up the audio with this banging. But that's that's the second obligation to be there to be dedicated to it to show up each and every day. It's a rendevu with theina. It's a date that there's no excuse to ever miss. In the words of Rafa Salvich, God the rionalam in this case disguised as motherina never separated herself from her daughter. Veiled in humble anonymity, she accompanies her daughter, Princess the Torah. She is present wherever her princess happens to be. Whoever is eager to invite mother Shina must first set up a meeting with her daughter, the princess, the Torah. She always accompanies her. And it's that second kum of Talmatra that in a way is so much more empowering than the first. Because you see the first mastery of Torah, a genius has an advantage over regular people. The brighter you are, the greater student you are, it's natural you're going to accomplish more. But that second element doesn't matter how brilliant or not you may be. If you show up every day, you are having that rendevu with the a meeting with it's an amazing thing. the the different levels of people that engage in dafy. There are people that never picked up a gumar before in their life and somehow on some level they're engaging in dyomi and it's a different level than those who have been through shas who spent years in yeshiva learning but everybody who engages in dafomi is there is coaim shows up to that date with theina so no we don't speak about nina because god never gave it away we get him with the Torah it's kabala satra when we receive it we receive him because it's a date with the there are two questions after 120 years yes you need to know what are the words how much is there how much do you know did you finish all the do you know all of do you know the Torah but there's also did you show up for your date so the Rambam spends seven describing the obligation to master the Torah and then in the eighth he shifts gears And he describes how to dedicate oneself toward set times for learning. From a yadas hat perspective, a person who's hungry, who's in pain, cannot concentrate. And maybe it's not going to be the most productive learning, but he has to keep that engagement because when it comes to a meeting with the centrality has been assigned to the effort, the results are only of marginal significance. So the celebration we are having tonight certainly for many people is a certain level of yadas and that should always be part of the goal. Sedikin is very big and hopefully we picked up a lot of yodas a lot of ideas even if we didn't pick up every single detail but perhaps even more than that is the showing up each and every day and I want to take the opportunity to thank the daily who comes to learn together in every morning. It's not easy. Sometimes you're in these tough damios and you look up and it's like you're a quarter of the way through the do and we have like eight minutes left to the shear and I'm like, "Oh, if there just in case anyone is keeping up, they're about to lose me." And I'm looking at eyes glazed over because it's Hios and and still showing up each and every day being dedicated to the Torah. We have a that comes on Zoom every day. We have virtual visitors who comes often from Israel said I'm so proud that the same is happening in my sh people feel like they they belong here and the shelter the old Torah the old Torah conglomerate whatever of all the different apps but particularly all DA for this occasion and most of all I'd like to thank two people in particular first Alicia Graph for all of the filling in my dafomi Whenever I'm gone, I travel somewhat frequently and Alicia very very often gives the shir get him onto Aldaf and also and perhaps most importantly the balima for tonight Zev Bellski. Zev started just over seven years ago learning the dafomi. And Zev is one of those rare people that no matter how difficult the time of year is, no matter once he decides to do something, he is doing it. There is no there are no days off. There are no breaks. Consistent consistent consistent. He's also one of those rare people that also excels at the adas element of it. Zev often asks questions on the daf after the shar. All of his questions only have one thing in common with each other and that is that I don't know the answer to any of them. They are all so so intelligent, so sharp and it should be a to all of us to increase our learning to increase our focus and learning maybe to be able to come up with a zebki kind of kasha each day on the dafyomi to think to really think as we're going through the daf. So such a great pleasure to wish a maztov to zev is next right so to wish a maztov to zev and a mazov to everybody here that's celebrating the uh the completion of sed nikin and uh without further ado ask zev to come and make Okay, first I want to wish uh sorry I'm a little nervous. I want to wish a maza to old alum Domi and older Simon. Whether you're finishing shots like me or just finished a Seda or just a Mapa, it's still an accomplishment and it's still worth celebrating. I also want to dedicate the CM tonight to be Alias for Raal Alisa Bashomo whose schol is tonight. Um before I start also I want to I have to wish a few thank yous of course. So first and foremost I need to thank I need to give full credit to our kadesh Baru for enabling me to make this happen. Without Hashem's guiding hand I could never make I could never have made this happen. Seven and a half years ago, I decided to try something, start learning dyomi. And I'm standing here tonight because Hashem was my helping hand in allowing this to happen. 21 years ago, my wife and I made one of the best decisions of our lives and bought a house in Northmare where we knew we'd be attending the newly founded school of Basesus in North. Ra Liwitz though young at the time already had a reputation of being a charismatic speaker and was known for his guidance and knowledge. When I started learning Dyomi it was Rabi Leewood's shar and this shul that became the constant in my morning routine. Thank you, Reverly Woods, for continuing to inspire me, my family, and our hokah every day by always being the first one here every morning, regardless of how few hours of sleep you had the night before, attending a wedding or some other uh commitments, by showing us the importance, the importance of consistency and learning and continuing to share your incredible tal talents to spread Torah. Thank you. Thank you to Alicia Graph for filling in when I believe Woods is traveling and is out of town. I also want to thank Alicia for learning with me over Sukus in Shallay. Knowing that I have somebody to learn with at the same level that I'm able to learn at home and stay on track with the do makes it a lot easier to go away for y. Uh also want to thank Rabbi Nagel in Houston whose doshare I discovered while visiting my Houston office. It's also very helpful to listen to this quick khazara of yesterday's doc online just like short 10 15 minutes he quickly goes through the day before so very helpful uh also want to give a very very very special thank you on behalf of all the rubbly whistles listeners to Dr. to David Lander for his continuous sponsorship of the DAFF. Is he here? Thank you. We've never met, but thank you. We want to thank him for his continuous sponsorship of the DOP. So this way when we're away or we miss a day in Shul, we know that we're listening to the correct cycle. I also want to give a thank you to my wife Alisa and my daughters Talia Nava and for not only allowing me but also encouraging me to go to the share and for continuously supporting my learning and taking their own lead with infu with infusing our home with Torah and Alisa I would not be standing here without you. You're a true role model of of anious of how a wife should encourage and empower their husbands to learn. Thank you. And finally, I want to wish I want to thank Aldafu and his team for putting on this event. I was really just planning to make a kdish to commemorate this milestone, but they decided to go all out and they also handled all the arrangements and everything. So, thank you. Seven and a half years ago, Daniel Hersburg invited me to his house for a kittish when he finished us. I walked into his house thinking it would just be a couple guys and some herring. When I actually saw the variety and amounts of food and the number of people packed in there, I started to realize how momentous a milestone this really was. It was much bigger than I care to admit. When I was younger in Shiva, the view towards doing the daft was you had to learn since I couldn't do that. I didn't really have that much time and you know it's much much more difficult. I didn't have any learning s or schedule at all. But it always bothered me that I did not have a learning commitment. I tried to do the daft a long time ago with a small of about five guys and I fell asleep right in front of my chair every single night until I just stopped going. I was sure it would be different with Rabbi Leitz. But could I possibly get up at 6:15 in the morning? Growing up, my family my family was chronically late to everything on time. Never. I was late to school every day and had to wait outside the principal's office until they reached my father and he on the phone and he gave permission for me to go to class. When we moved to Lawrence in the 90s, my father founded the 8:30 minion in the White Shaw. Fast forward a number of years later and I began going to the sh's early minion on Sundays. I don't remember why, but that's what I did. And it bothered me that I left Shul after Shakris when I was there already and the do was starting. So I figured if I could go to the do share on Sunday and I could obviously go on Shabas then maybe I can go to Hik and as they say the rest is history. Now I usually get up and film my alarm on most mornings but without that inspiration I felt the Daniel Hersburg CM seven and a half years ago. I probably wouldn't be standing here today. Going to his house gave me a final push and planted a tiny seed that took that took root and is the foundation of learning uh and that took root the foundation of my learning routine strengthen and now I have the to be the one making this today. The Torah tells us We have a promise from God that we have the ability to do this. But we sometimes perceive as hard. We just need to try and take one step at a time, one page at a time, one do at a time. You don't get married after one date, graduate law school, or achieve success in business or anything else without putting in the time and effort. Why would you think that learning Torah would be any different? Here too, like Reveli Stfansky is keen to say, it's not about the DAFF, it's about the Yomi. Learning the DAFF every day keeps you accountable. It shows that you can do anything if you try and will lead to other learning. Once I started getting up before the rest of the world and had free time in the morning, I decided I should also do shay mikra. Then I thought I should do mishyomi because if you know the Mishna, it will surely help you understand the garra better. And before you know it, instead of wasting away all my mornings, I'm accomplishing a great deal before checking my emails. In fact, I'm planning to make another CM for my brother Simhan his yard site in doing will also expose you to new things like never tried it and new opportunities like when a Vishai calls you on Araf Pesak during CO saying I got a Hector to make it see him on the phone. Could you help me out? There are so many ways to to learn to do today thanks to technology. And a shout out to Aldaf. I've done the do on planes, trains, cars, and even late at night in hotel lobbies. I do it in the lobby so I don't fall asleep after a busy day visiting factories. And when pressed some time, of course, on double speed. Either way, once you get into it, you must do the dock before bed for your own sanity. I still prefer, no matter where I am, though, to find the live share. It's easier to stay focused and the community ask for you if you miss out and you don't want to disappoint them. The Gumaru recounts many times when people were asked why they missed the share. Plus, as a bonus, you'll be on time for minion. A side benefit was during CO when nothing made sense and there were no days, nights, weeks, no schedule for literally anything except for the do constant and on and on schedule with some new faces but mostly familiar ones. It was almost like an alternate reality, a lifeline to the real world, a place of calm and normaly among the chaos. Something to look forward to. The Gammorra at the end of Harious debates, what is better? Someone who can recall everything, a scenai, or someone who has great analytical skills, an Okahara. Clearly, we see from the Gumara that remembering everything cannot be the ultimate purpose of learning. So, when people say they can't do the dot because they won't remember it, it's just not a good excuse. The Tan themselves spent countless time debating who said what and how that fit into with fit into previous and or future statements that they made. Rashi also tells us Mosha once forgot Ala. We're certainly not great at emotion. We learn in the Gmorra also that Yoseseph forgot his learning and you have to remind him. So stop worrying. Of course you can't remember everything but you'll for sure come away knowing more than when you went in. Besides, as you go through shas, you'll see how topics repeat themselves, and you recall discussing it earlier. You don't need to remember every detail. You just need to get a get acquainted with the overall concepts and ideas. So, when something comes up, you'll know to ask or where to look it up. I'll always recall the words of Rabbi Friend at the Cashas. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I often hear people say that they miss the day and they cannot catch up. There's a fairly easy solution. Just skip what you missed and slowly fill it back in. Actually, whenever I travel overseas, I purposely fall one day behind so I can learn on my own schedule in the morning and my head is clearer. Then I catch up on the plane. Feels a lot better than watching a movie. Another beautiful thing about doing the do is the octas. It's really one of the only things in the world you can walk into anywhere in the world and they'll be learning the same thing. Doesn't matter what kind of Jews. It's all the same schedule, same lim, same everything. It facilitates. I heard her official shakler say this morning, he's a very scared driver and when he needs to pass a dog park car and bar park, it's like and then one time he just went right through. And his wife asked him, why are you so secure this time? So he said another car just the same as ours just went through. If he can go, I can go. Here, it's the same. Look around at the number of people doing the dot from all different backgrounds, upbringings, skills, and experience levels. The path has already been forged. We're doing it together, and you can do it as well. We believe in you. There's a well-known idea that Jews are smarter than the rest of the world. Torah is our secret. It's what makes us smarter. While the whole world is distracted by screens and busy dumbing down attached to devices and coming AI, learning the dot keeps us sharp. The Gamarra encourages us to ask questions, dig deeper, never give up, don't accept anything at face value, question everything, and always look for another approach. At the same time, it teaches us to do it respectfully. There's no such thing as a because in the Gumar, anyone can debate as long as you have a mura for what you say. You need to have a reason and a proof. And if you're out of reasons and disproven, you need to give in and accept belief. Shalom. The goal is to uncover the truth or truth. It's not about ego. It's about our core values. Taurus semis. We often see the Gumar leaves us with a tu. Sometimes there just no definitive answers. And it's okay to hold on to questions. It's okay to disagree in the base matter on an intellectual level. Just always remember it must not spill out into other matters. We meet the and the amay and we see that many had the same struggles as we did. Some were wealthy, some were poor. Some had nicknames like the short one, the bald one, the old one, rebi. They were businessmen, politicians, Russa. Uh, some were busy all day and only had time to learn at night. Mostly they they they sat around a lot. They went to market. Seems like they had drank an awful lot of wine. Whenever they had guests, they opened a barrel of wine. They regularly traveled back. They they regularly traveled by boat. They got sick and they visited each other often, especially for Bikol. Some of them suffered terrible tragedies like losing loved ones like Rioan who lost 10 children and carried a bone around from the youngest one to give comfort to others. I think the Gomorra recounts all these different stories to show us there were people just like us who reached great heights. We need to make the effort and we will be surprised at what we can accomplish. The mak answered a discussion of what's of which is preferred which is the preferred method of teaching asking sharp questions and being difficult or being patient and exploring all sides until you reach a conclusion. The Gar leaves this unresolved as a taker. Let's see. Last few lines start from the wide lines. There was a discussion between one said is better someone that has all the knowledge like an encyclopedia. said that someone that has the ability to analyze things is better also ra they they sent their question to to who should we hire first because they were looking for a new rasha they wanted to know should it be or or rabba so they they got the response fact is better called everybody needs to know the owner of the uh of the the the wheat storehouse. In other words, because Torah is compared to wheat and if you don't have the if you don't have the the data, you can't analyze it. So, first you need to get the data and then you'll analyze didn't want to accept a position. So, So Rabba was the leader of the yeshiva for 22 years and afterwards was and the whole time that was was uh was didn't allow anybody to come to his house to let blood also think of the past. Okay, next topic. They were sitting around. They need a leader. So they said whoever can say something and the rest of us can't refute him that's going to be our leader. So uh everybody that that said something he was disproven said something they they didn't have anything to respond to. So saw that head went up a little bit. Get up and say something. Teach us. Say they asked [Music] Which one is better? Is difficult and sharp. He's very patient and he goes through all till he comes to a conclusion. M. Who's better? Don't know. Got to wait and see. Okay. Our papa papa papa papa papa papa papa papa Papa, papa. Amen. Amen. Amen. [Music] Fore [Music] has shalom. [Music] Elma shave the whole bases. [Music] for [Music] shalom. [Music] So beautiful. Thank you. >> Thank you. Masle [Music] la. [Music] You got to use the computer first. Which one am I going? Nice [Music] to meet you. [Music] One second. Give me one second. It's okay. >> Sure. All you all Torah board members that have come to join the CM Mr. Mish Smith, Mr. Morris Meel, Mr. Natam, and Mr. Mishbane who was the president at the time and was an impetus for launching everything and anything Torah at the OU. So, thank you very much for coming. And of course, my dear colleague, Simon Taylor, who was here before. Oh, he's still there. The head of community engagement at the OU. Thank you very much for coming and your encouragement of and helping put this event together. Thank you. We'd like to introduce the guest speaker Rabbi Schlommo Farhi who has come special to address us to celebrate this special summ of Clus finishing Ezekin Zev finishing Shass and to prepare us for the Yes, the great rabbi that you have here who is uh everywhere in the world. As I mentioned to him just before that we uh had a very important meeting on the plane for a couple of minutes that he doesn't remember. Um it was but to be fair as I mentioned it was it was memorable to me for other reasons. Um but uh it is and an honor and as well humbling to speak in front of such um and as well I want to thank also Rabbi Schu for uh being relentless in making sure that this happens. I don't come out that often uh from my little cocoon in Manhattan. Uh you know there's I say some cities that you can't throw a rock without hitting a rabbi. Um, you know, in the city it's not quite like that. Um, I mean, obviously in certain areas we we've gotten used to people throwing rocks. Um, but usually there aren't rabbis in those areas. Um, so it's a very special thing to be here. It's also a very special thing to see um the power of what one man can do in inspiring another person. And while you were speaking, I was getting a little choked up. One of the highlights of my entire life had to be uh the three minutes that I got to speak at the Sum Mashas in Metife Stadium for Mendy Rosenberg Alello who was someone that lost every ability to be able to move anything completely paralyzed um and only was able to move his eyes and decided at that point that he was going to finish Shas and he finished Shas multiple times and as you said finished other and wasing questions with his by moving his eyes so he could type the letters to formulate a question and um I was told afterwards how many people who were inspired by that. So it's uh it's a very beautiful thing to be able to inspire people but like the puk says about even though the entire world heard how many people actually listened closely enough to have that become uh an impetus and a catalyst for such change in their life to finish. It's unbelievable. So, you should be very proud of yourself, you and your wife and your family. And it should be a zoot uh for your family and for everyone else. Uh I'd ask if this class could also be for who's currently in the hospital fighting for his life and we are praying and hoping that he should be. There are many statements and phrases that get bandied about quite uh recklessly shall I say and probably none more uh when it comes to the yamim than hame bas which is interesting because the origin source for this is not really in the gim it's not really in the midashim uh it actually is made first popular by the first labavba and um those who try and find an earlier source for it quote the famous midrash the midrash that talks about the king that leaves the city and is still away from the city and the people are encouraged to go chase him before he gets too far. But what's interesting is that that midrash if it is the source number one doesn't ever mention the word sad. But number two also describes a king that is running away and has paused in his running away to see if the people will chase him and to give them that chance. I don't think that that's the way most of us perceive this concept of so where does this concept come from? Well, in the first lava is the exposition of this idea. He describes a king sitting in the field who's not yet at home, who's not yet in the royal palace. There aren't guards at the gate. Uh there aren't people holding you out. uh we don't have the locked gates like it says all the are locked or closed except for the the gates of tears which are always open if a person is coming in truth. So we don't have to make an appointment. We don't have to fight a guard. We don't have to have TSA pre or clear in order to get in. We could just walk up to him because he's in the field and there's no one there. And in that opportunity when he doesn't have anything on his plate, we could come to him with whatever we want and get answered. But the question is, why is the king even in the field? Why isn't he in the city? If he was trying to come to you, couldn't he get a little bit closer? I think maybe that there's another source for this concept of the says The Midrash says that the nation of Israel said to let's go out to the field. Let's lie in that uh in that in that space will wake up to the vineyards. We'll see if the vines have flowered. Did the young grapes open? Have the crowns of the pomegranates begun to fall off? That is where I will give my love to you. Rashi on these words says, "What does it mean?" What does it mean? Why is the king in the field? Why is anyone in a field? Says, "Why do we go? We go to see how the fruits are doing. What are the perot? What do they look like? What stage are they at? That refers to the shs to the Let's see if the vines have flowered. That refers to the people who are still studying. It's the beginning of the flowering. Have the grapes, the young grapes open. The little grapes are starting to show themselves. That's says Rashi. Who is that? That's the Mishna. The people who study the Mishna. They are a little bit closer because not only have they begun to flower, now you're starting to see the fruits. What came from those pisim the Mishna. And finally, when the pomegranates are already done, they are ripe, that the crown that surrounds them begins to fall. Uh, I'm a very curious person. So, even if I'm preparing a shure and I'm running out of time and I hit a rashi like this, I can't help myself. I Google right away, what does it mean that the crown of a pomegranate falls off? Rashi is telling you that that's when when it's ripe, the crown falls off. Har, I have had many pomegranates in my home that still have the crown on them. Am I buying them wrong? I know that you're supposed to hit the watermelon once. Someone told me you have to roll it if it rolls straight. I'm just imagining loads of people bowling watermelons in seasons. Anyway, maybe I'm getting it wrong, but I found out that actually Rashe when he says doesn't mean that they fall. It means that the crown actually starts to fall inward. And actually, it was striking me because I read this Rashid didn't make sense to me. What does it mean that the crowns fall off? Those who study the they're they're worthy of giving being they're worthy of teaching because they have the I thought to myself, how could that be the mashal that the crown falls off? I'm sure the rabbi is already thinking he's writing notes furiously hopefully about my the rabbi is thinking already of course of the that a person is not allowed to use the crown of Torah. So now that you became a person who's able maybe that's what it means that the crown falls off. But then when I saw that Google tell told me and explained that the crown doesn't fall off. In fact if you take a look I actually googled this time lapse a pomegranate growing begins as a flower then it gets pollinated. Initially the crown is wide open but as it grows and it becomes ripe. It doesn't fall off but it begins to turn inward and it closes and it gets dry because one of the problems of a person who is studying and a sign in a person who is not a developed is that he's wearing the crown is that he's doing and learning it for the sake of cav for the sake of what it brings him. But when the crown dries up, at least clapp the pomegranate itself, at that moment, that's when you know he's ripe. when there is no more crown anymore for anybody else but rather the value of the pomegranate is not the crown that it used to wear but rather the fact that is compared to the because is because it is filled from side to side with side like I said I'm a curious fellow I'm a very strange guy for those of you who have had the displeasure of knowing me I'm a weird fellow fellow. I find out that there's 613 seeds in the pomegranates. We take five at our table, everyone gets one, and we're not continuing the meal until everyone's counted. No one had 613. So, I took the pomegranates back and got a refund. Costco will let you return anything. And um and I learned a tremendous lesson. If Am Israel says to God, "Come with us on a whistle stop tour. We want to show you the fruits of our labor. Let us show you what is beautiful about the Jewish people." What are they showing him? Rashi tells us nothing but their Torah learning. Fascinating. Rashi ends in case you didn't read it the right way. That's where I'll show you my honor and that which is great about me. That which we are that which we are proud of. Now both rabbis who came before me and our very recent inductee to rabbihood which is different than Robin Hood just to be clear is a very interesting idea. I think there are many people who look at this time with a tremendous amount of fear and worry and they are right to do so. These are yim these are days which are not simple. They are not pashoot. We have no idea what they hold. If anyone thinks that they know what the world holds and they can predict the future like every financial ad ends, past performance is not indicative of future results. We all the time pray for things that we don't have. But very few of us pray about things that we do have to continue to have. I kind of feel like Charlie Kirk woke up yesterday morning not thinking that he needed to pray literally to survive the day. I kind of feel that before the tariffs came about, people who were titans of industry who were selling running billion dollar companies who are now literally bankrupt starved for cash overleveraged because there's no way they could have seen it coming. And even if they could have seen it coming and they shifted out of China to another country, the next day randomly there's a tariff in that country. Every single thing, my friends, is on the table. We are praying for Mashen law, but we don't know Mashesh law. We don't know. And if that is the case, my friends, then every one of us ought to be taking this very seriously. There is one image that sticks in my mind and I think about it every Yamim. It is a comment from a dear friend of mine, Rebi Rev. David Barkin R. David Barkin once said to his students before Rosh Shah he said I want you to make a list write on a piece of paper every wonderful thing that happened to you this year. Write down if you're you got engaged or your father you know got had a great business deal or you know your mother got a refor shala or even something mundane you finished j no I'm joking right something small something amazing that you write it down on a piece of paper okay they finished writing it down he says okay now turn the paper over and he said and write down every very difficult thing that's happened to you this past year to you your community your family your people I'm Israel it's Israel out and everyone finished. He said, "Pick up the list and look at it both sides." That list is the list that God made last year on Rosha Shana. You only get to hold it in your hand at the end of the year and look back and see yesesh and ends and yesesh that now end. So these days are incredibly difficult days to get through. So, what do we do? What should we be able to do to be able to get through to the other side? Now, of course, I don't know if anyone has tried this yet, but I was thinking about making for Rosha Shah. I just figure if it works when it works, who knows? Maybe we're all sitting there trying to figure this out, but the key to the locked gates is in the schis. I don't know. I'm not I'm just saying it can't really hurt to try. So that's one option. But assuming you're not taking that one seriously, and I hope you're not. I'd like to suggest another ma another mahalak, another route, another root of this concept. You know, Rabbi Schuade mentioned the concept that is called why it's we understand it's the days of mercy where God has mercy on us and writes us hopefully in the book of life. But it's also called the days of raton. And I think that that raton is a double-edged sword. It plays in two different directions. Number one, it's days of where wants us a line that we say all the time. We say we ask God to want our to want our to desire them. So number one, the concept of is that our deeds and our actions in this time are far more powerful because God wants them more. He chooses to want them more. The first rule of economics is supply and demand. And even if the supply is the same, there's greater demand. Cost more. My mitzvot cost more. They're worth more. So anything that you do in this period of time, it's a got the magnifier effect. Fantastic. But my friends, I don't feel like that's enough. This concept that it's worth more. I don't think that that gets us there because it doesn't tell us what to focus on, does it? So I'd like to share a little simple example about what is worth spending your time on. There was once a man uh Rabbi go karif brings there's a man who went every day to a rebbiton to give to take saddaka. One day the rebi the admir is home. Every day the wife gives him a little bit and he goes the he comes into the admir and he says is it okay? Can I get a donation? And he gives him a hundred rubles big sum of money. He says listen you know things are very difficult. Is there any way you could give me more? And the rebi looks at this young man and he says you know every day you come and you ask my wife and you never ask her for more. How come today you ask her for more? And the tells his rebi, he says, "Every day your wife gives me a pa. She gives me the smallest coin, a penny. I'm gonna embarrass myself for a penny. I'm going to put myself out for a penny. But today, you gave me a hundred rubles. For a hundred rubles, it's worth begging. It's worth the embarrassment. It's worth trying something that I might not be able to achieve, that I might not win, that I might not be successful at because there's a 100 rubles on the table. My friends, in these times of ratson, we have to look for where all the chips are on the table and where we could grab something that is incredibly valuable. So, I want to take a look for one second at the opening of Silikot. And this is very interesting because in all the we have the same and what's fascinating is that while our varies so greatly the also say this you know you guys have every day we don't do chauffar you know why because the source of chauffar is wake up you sleepy heads from your sleep don't have the we've already But our does not vary when it comes to this is almost a universal custom. There are some extra pis not extra pisukim shorter longer but almost any country you go to you will see that they have them in to say at least the main body of these pisukimaz the whole month not the whole month. So I want to bring to you one beautiful observation in it. We say some of the come from Tanak some of them do not. In fact these do not but the of this whoever it was who managed to convince the whole world to say it says like the poor like the impoverished we bang on your door. On your door did we bang, oh merciful and kind and compassionate. Don't turn us away empty-handed. Don't turn us away empty-handed from before you. From in front of us, our king, don't turn us away empty-handed. It's interesting that it seems to be very repetitive and if it was that you couldn't break in half. I understand you're just lining up a run-on concept. But if they aren't all exact, then why are we saying these concepts again and again? We end the first verse by saying, "We're not coming with our deeds. We're coming poor, banging on your door." Next, banging on your door. Don't turn us away empty-handed. Next, empty-handed. Don't turn us away, our king. It sounds like it's the same thing. What's going on? Why are we repeating these concepts of knocking and knocking? And why are we repeating the concepts of not being turned away empty-handed? So, I want to share with you an amazing idea, a beautiful concept. The idea really is understood best through a mashal. I saw the mashal from Rav Levvenstein. There was a fellow, he lived in Paris, his name was Rabbi Levy. every uh year before the amim he would go to Morocco from Paris and he would go collect the Moroim and he would take the most beautiful ones and bring them to Israel and one year he took anrog and he brought it all the way to ravar he comes to le he sits down with him at the rogue he gives him the rogue and he says I have to tell you a story okay let me tell you a story what's a story he says I have a friend this friend of mine lives in a building in Paris, a very fancy building. Upstairs in his building, there's another fellow who's not Jewish, a Muslim guy who's very, very wealthy, very dignified, very noble, and he lives upstairs from my friend. My friend told me that his upstairs neighbor, he found out his daughter married the king of Morocco. So, the guy was fascinated. He said, "Listen, whenever it comes, whenever the king, if he comes to visit, if you would please, is it okay if I come for a few minutes to talk to? I never met a king before." Okay, no problem. One day, the guy's daughter comes with his son-in-law. They're in the apartment. He goes downstairs. He calls his Jewish neighbor. The Moroccan king was always very good to the Jews. Well, the man comes upstairs. He says, "Hello." The Moroccan king says, "You live in the building. Do you have a family?" I have a family, many children. How old are your children? says 117 one in another month is going to be bar mitzvah. He says, "Excuse me." He realizes he's talking to someone not Jewish. He says he's going to be 13. We call it bar mitzvah because we make a big celebration when he turns 13. He's receiving all the mitzvot. He's going to start doing all the the commandments of the Jewish people. We rented a a hall. It's going to be a big party. The Moroccan king says, "I understand that it's not a regular birthday then." He says, "Yes." He says, "It's a religious ceremony." He says, "Yes." He says, "Is it okay? Is it okay if I give a gift for this thing or am I not allowed to because it's a religious ceremony?" Clearly, Mora King had never met Jews before. Say this all the time to people. People ask me, you know, am I allowed to drink my uh cherry whiskey? And my response is, "No, it's all Trafe. Please ship it to 151 East 72nd Street. I'll take care of disposing you according to the Meri. He said, "According to the miri, what does that mean?" I said, "Well, the miri says that before pesak, you could fulfill the obligation of tashbisu by eating the kamet. So, I will make sure to get rid of all your questionable scotch according to the miri." My friends, the king of Morocco offers a gift. Am I allowed to? It's a religious ceremony. Or is am I prohibited? He says, "No, no, it's fine. Gifts are welcome." The king of Morocco takes out a check and he writes him a check and he hands it to him and the man does not have the good graces uh to not look down at the check and he starts shaking because the check is made out for 40,000 euro. Um I don't know how much that is right now. I moved from England about seven years ago, so I've kind of lost touch with how much European money uh costs. It's a lot of money. Um so he's shaking. He can't believe the size of his gift. And the Moroccan king says, "I know it's a lot of money and I know that I could give less, but I am a king and I don't give gifts every day, but when I give gifts, I give gifts like a king. The gifts need to be representative of the king of Morocco so that the gift doesn't embarrass the king." So that's why I gave you the king's gift. This man says to Raar, "I had to share this with you because it gave me insight into these words in we knocked at your door, Hashem, but when you opened and we saw you in all of your splendor, we realized that what we were going to ask from you in the first place was so minimal and so small and so inconsequential, We're asking for the smallest and the littlest things. But now that we have seen you revealed in your glory, the first time it says that's a me kind of gift, Hashem. I don't want my kind of gift from you, God. Let's do this again. Shut the door. Let me come back. I'm going to do the pitch again. Give me like you would give me, Hashem. Now my friends, what does the gift that God gives look like in our life? We think of and we imagine a pulse. But for Hashem, life is not only a pulse. You know the Gar says famously that there are three books written in front of Hashem. What are the three books? The book of the book of the book of the Benonim. But then we open up in the we get to after right how many books did you suddenly open the answer is it's all one book but in the eyes and through the perspective of the gift of the king God doesn't only give the bare minimum of life when Hashem thinks of life it is incorporated is infused with the greatest life force with the greatest of gifts, with anything and everything a human being could need. Most people interpret that that it means that Hashem gives every living being what they need, what they would want. Some people say, but maybe we could read it a little bit of a different way. He gives the entirety of life. He gives the gift of a king. So what's the challenge? The challenge is not in asking. He gives what he gives. The challenge is in recognizing who it is you're asking for from for this gift of life. And if we did not open the door again and take the time to say to Hashem, we need to go together, then we don't get this. I'll explain by using a very simple concept. Do I have a few more minutes? Yes. No consensus. He said if they're not sleeping, I could keep going. It's much harder. Dafomi first thing in the morning when it's huras. you rabbi said that some I don't believe that anyone's sleeping with the rabbis talking but I'll end with this again I I have a lot to say but I'll I'll try and keep it very brief the answer in my eyes is something very simple the answer is something that the rabbi alluded to the puk tells us that spoke to he spoke to face to face just like a man would speak to his friend. Now, that sentence when you read it, you could just read it, but just imagine a man walking along holding like the tiny leg of an ant, right? That would be weird, right? Imagine if it wasn't a man, you know, like our size man. It was like a man from like a basketball team, you know, 7 foot2. And now it wasn't an ant. It was much smaller. It was like a dustmite. It was those red bugs. You know those ones that you're not sure if they're bugs until you see that they move, right? They're just you're like, "Is that a Yes, it is. Yes, it is." Okay. Imagine a seven. Imagine a being like Baroo being a friend with a human being. It makes no sense. Hashem is infinite. There's no boundaries. It doesn't How could God be speaking now? It's not me that is saying this. It's not Moshe mistakenly saying, "I kind of thought it was a friendship, but uh afterwards I found out I'm an ant." And he's No, Hashem is saying that the relationship was like that of a man who talks to his friend. How could that be? And how was Moshe to this? The answer is hidden in what Yor said. The answer is my friends that when a person studies Torah the says not only does he acquire the thing it's like a salesman who says here I'm selling you this but when you buy the you know what you get you get me too you get this seller as well and maybe that's what the means when it says I gave you a great gift you know what I gave you don't leave my Torah The best gift in the world. What is it? Torah. This is it. And you know why? Because when I gave you this, I gave you me. When God gave the Torah, the first word he said was and the Gimar says that means I wrote my soul down and I handed it to you. That's what you do when you read any gim, any piece of humash. You share a question on the para. You do the questions that your your kids brought home from the para even that says the says the midrash even the question that the asks unbelievable any bit of Torah and as you say says the one step further as you say the words the words from the up in the heavens says the at that exact moment whatever this means God is mouththing the words together with you. The ultimate my friends understand what this means. You are acquiring Hashem. You are connecting with Hashem which means that you are together with whom? The source of all. So you want to know how you beat being written in the book of death? Very simple. The tells us, Hashem tells us, I made the and I made an antidote to the You know what the antidote to the is? The study of Torah. Now, here's the kicker. Ready for this? The kicker is that if the Torah to the he's the spice, it's kind of like water to the wicked witch. Okay, they're melting. That's the when you bring Torah to the picture. If that's what that means, then I need to quote to you one last right but the says on that it's the same angel. The brighta says mate he comes down he convinces you to do the wrong thing he goes up he's the prosecuting attorney upstairs he gets heavenly permission and he comes and he takes your soul but this personality disorder guy okay we know how to get rid of You know why the Torah is the because how can the yet kill you if you are cleaving with Hashem? You're together. You're imbued with God. He could no more kill you than he could kill anything else uh associated with Hashem. And that my friends I believe is the ultimate concept that you and I need to focus on during this time of multiplication. This time where everything hangs in the balance because in Torah is every single and I'll prove it to you from the last gim. Sorry I said last before but this is one more last one. The gim says that when God gave the Jewish people the luot there were two letters that were miraculously standing in the loot. Do you remember what they were? The letters were sak and the letters were mem. Why? Because the me looks like this. It has a middle piece. If you go from side to side, what happens? That middle piece has nothing to hold on to. It's floating. Miracle. Same thing. Bit in the middle. Floating. Says not only were they floating for my next trick says, you're able to read the words forwards and backwards. You could read it on both sides. Ask the Masha, does that mean you could read it on both sides? Didn't you already tell me that the Sakan and them were miracles, which means that it had to be paved from one side to the other? I already know you can read it on both sides, says the Masha. That's not what it means. You know what it means? It means that if you read it on this side, it read right to left. And if you turn the loot around, which will penetrate from one side to the other, it's still read from right to left. Miracle. What's the miracle? The miracle is that God gives us the Torah. And what is the Torah? It is a panacea. It is a solve all like the Gar says, it is a sam the two letters that God showed us that this thing penetrates anything. This thing Torah penetrates its backwards and forwards. Even if your life is upside down, it still reads straight. It miraculously stands where no one thought it could. So this season, this let's take on ourselves to double down on our to add another sh to be able to come to and say I see you have this book and that book and this book but I have a different book. >> Thank you very much Rabbi Fari. Thank you to everybody for coming all those online. We will now go downstairs for a sudas mitzvah and singing the thank