Sefira: Our Work After Pesach [Archives]

Matzah shorts. Where did Pesach bring us, Rebbi Say? We went through Yitzias Mitzrayim. We certainly had fun. One bochur went to Orlando, one played baseball. We got good color, baruch Hashem. And we certainly enjoyed ourselves. But where does Yitzias Mitzrayim what what now? Where did bring us? What does it lead us to? What happens now that we went through a Pesach? None of us want to be superficial Yidden. And certainly going through a chag and working through a chag has to take us somewhere. Now being honest, whether we know it or not, keeping the mitzvos Hashem change us. Every one of us ate matzah, we're different. We ate matzah, asher kidishanu bemitzvosav. We're more holy from matzah. We became kadosh from His mitzvos. That says no question that doing the mitzvos Hashem elevates a person. You ate Pesach flavor, you leaned, you're changed person. You did mitzvos Hashem. Doing a mitzvah Hashem changes a person, asher kidishanu bemitzvosav. It's a basic tenant of Yiddishkeit. A basic truth of life that a mitzvah changes the equation. You do a mitzvah, you're no longer the same person. We say it every mitzvah we do, baruch atah Hashem. You count sfiros omer, you're different. Baruch atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech Haolam, asher kidishanu bemitzvosav. A mitzvah is mikadesh a Yid, whether he knows it or not. Whether he understands what change or not, a yet it is different from its ways. They elevate him, they change him. That is the power of a mitzvah. You did tzivuy Hashem, you are different. The word [snorts] tzivuy is in as in mitzvah, the word tzivuy means The word tzivuy means a command, but there's another translation, and they both go hand in hand. What does the word tzav mean? Tzavtza. The word tzav means connection. When you follow a command of Hashem, you're loyal to Hashem, you form a connection to Hashem. You're a connected person. You follow the tzivuy of Hashem, you're a connected person to the Borei. You follow the command, you got connected. That elevates you, you're connected to the Borei, you're an elevated person, you're different. You follow the tzivuy Hashem. So, whether we understand it or not, a mitzvah changes us, but certainly going through a Yom Tov, there are specific avodahs avodahs of every chag, specific jobs, and specific things that happen to us that change us. What is the change that Pesach causes in the Yid? What happens Pesach? What process does the Yid go through? In what way is he different? And now what that we went through a Pesach? So, I think the answer that question lies in a pasuk in a chazal in Brachot. The pasuk is in Kapitel Pay Aleph. Kapitel Pay Aleph in Tehillim Asaf HaLevi. We sing this song in the Beit HaMikdash on Rosh Hashanah, believe it or not. Why Rosh Hashanah, Rabbeinu say? The Kapitel Pay Aleph in Tehillim is a song about Yetziat Mitzrayim. Now, all year round, why do Asaf HaLevi of all days, why do Asaf HaLevi sing this song? Me and Yosef. I'll sing, it will be nice. Play for me, right? Yeah. Why do Asaf HaLevi sing this song on Rosh Hashanah of all times in Iraq? It's about the story of It would make sense to sing on Levite. Levite call it call it upset. So us Us us Levite rabbi say, why we singing this song about the story of Egypt on Rosh Hashanah? Capital of Egypt. Why on Rosh Hashanah? Shouldn't this be a song of Passover time? Does anybody know why we sing on Rosh Hashanah rabbi say? The answer is because the work stopped on Rosh Hashanah. We stopped being worked by Pharaoh on Rosh Hashanah. We didn't leave Egypt till Passover, till Nissan, 6 months later. But on Rosh Hashanah we stopped working and [clears throat] to celebrate that Hashem stopped the bondage of Egypt. They stopped torturing us. For 86 years they beat our brains in. They killed our children. They killed our They killed the men, the ladies, the children. Tremendous amount of killings. And for 86 years and all that torture stopped on Rosh Hashanah. Then there were the plagues and ultimately culminating in Egypt night. The next morning we left Egypt. But to celebrate the fact that the beating stopped the servitude stopped on Rosh Hashanah. So Capital in Psalms is the song that we sing to celebrate the end of the bondage. The Egypt, not the physical Egypt, but the beatings and the brutal regime that beat us up. It ended All that was stopped on Rosh Hashanah and to celebrate that we say Capital on Rosh Hashanah in the Temple. We sing it. The In that capital celebrating mitzrayim In that capital we say a line from Hashem. I am Hashem that took you out of Egypt. Widen your mouth which Rashi says ask for Hashem Hava. Ask whatever you desire and I'll I'll fill it. Your requests will be filled. Questions what I guess. I am Hashem that took you out of mitzrayim ask for what you want. I have people I might allow you. I means widen your mouth ask for a lot go for it. Ask for a lot and I'll certainly fill your requests. I am Hashem that took you out of Egypt ask for a lot. >> [snorts] >> What do I say? And the answer to that question the shot In that I heard from the Lakewood Yeshiva Rabbi Ocean in the shot I am Hashem that took you out of Egypt ask for a lot. What's what I guess? I took you out of Egypt what do you ask for a lot? Somebody could say to Hashem thank you so much for mitzrayim. They can appreciate it. They have a vulnerable that you get us to have. It's not the shot that your great great great grandfather was taken out of mitzrayim. Miraculous way and then many generations pulled down born on the side benefactor to the gifts to my dad. Somebody gives your father $5 million. And then you're a child so you gain from that your dad gets $5 million. Your trips are that much better. So I get bad I get Orlando, Chicago whatever. I I fly around there. It's Israel. Your your dad made money and you're the bene- the side benefactor of the gift. It certainly wasn't to you. That's not how Hashem operates. Hashem's is is is exact. Everything's very exact of the boy right. And Reb Yisrael Salanter the Talmud of Reb Yisrael Salanter speaks about this. He says that if you're on a plane Has v'shalom a plane blows up the Malaysian airline that fell down. Snapshot that was a gzeirah against two guys in the plane. And shucks, some other people are on the plane. Everybody who's supposed to be on that plane is on the plane. Not only that, Reb Yisrael Salanter says to think about It's a little bit He says ein avel. It says in Hazinu that Hashem ein avel, there is no injustice by Hashem. Not only is every This is going to be dizzying. You need It's lucky you're sitting. Those standing hold on to the shkender. Not only is every guy It buckles your knees when you think about it. You should think about it specifically. Reb Yisrael Salanter says you should go through it in your mind. If a plane goes down, so it impacts the neighbors of everybody on the plane. Everybody on the plane, the neighbors are sad the neighbor died in the Malaysian airline accident. Says Reb Yisrael Salanter ein avel, there is no injustice by Hashem. There's no such thing. In war sometimes you have like damage like you know came in mail or my massa. What's that called? What's the English word for what I'm saying? Collateral damage. Good Yidden, I'm proud of you. And they say what what is not good English. Collateral damage. Good Yidden. There's in in war there's collateral damage. Never like along the way you're in the wrong place, shucks. By the Ribono shel Olam there's no collateral damage. There's no by accident somebody was there. Anybody who's impacted was supposed to be. If there WAS ONE SHOCHEN WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO have that pain, the whole thing doesn't happen. There's no extra, then he wouldn't be a shochen. Now, Hashem sets up everything, every [clears throat] classmate of every child who was it all was exact by Hashem. Everything worked out exact. It's mind-blowing to think about. It would be impossible for a human being to execute such a thing. We have no shiyachus, a human being does something. We try our best, the collateral damage. By Hashem, there's no such thing as collateral damage. Everything is with exactness, Dovi, exact. Each neighbor, the neighbor's mother-in-law is affected that the neighbor is a little sadder, now she has a sadder son-in-law. That's also hashgacha pratish. And Hashem thought about it, and that's exact that that mother-in-law everybody was impacted in the slightest wave to the harsher wave, and every amount is exact by Hashem. Is the pshat the Rebbe said when we left Mitzrayim, we had all those miracles to make us free, us, the grandchildren, is not pshat that collateral gain, that you know what? Hashem wanted this great bracha to our avos, and then, hey, yippee, so we're the benefactors of those millions of dollars. No, no, no. Hashem saw you, and all the miracles were done so you and I get out of Egypt. It's pashut pshat, bishvili nivra oilam, simple pshat, that Hashem did everything for me. Every single miracle you learned about, pashtus, this [clears throat] is basic. This is not a chiddush, this is basic tenet of Yiddishkeit. Every single miracle, dam, tzefardea, kinim, arov, dever, shchin, barad, everything was done so Daniel Kalish, so Dovi Ackerman, so Yaakov Richland, everything. So, Marsha, every single act was done, every single miracle was done for my freedom. Unbelievably. Exactly for me. For my freedom. So, what does that say to us? So, we thank Hashem. Unbelievable. You did all those miracles. You did it for me. You did it for me. All those miracles of beating down our enemies, you did it so I should be a free man. So, I shouldn't be beaten by the Mitzrayim. So, I shouldn't be grow up under the shackles of the oppression of the Mitzrayim. You did it for me so I shouldn't grow up in that situation. So, you could thank Hashem. Thank you so much, Hashem. I appreciate this freedom. It's fun not being beaten. It's fun having freedom. It's fun having the Torah. I'm so happy that meaning in my life. He could thank Hashem. Picture the following scenario, young guy. Somebody gives you a lot of things. You say, "Thank you for this. Thank you for that." To our fathers, we say, "Thank you for this." Well, our father does this for me, that for me. You could thank him for everything and miss one thing. He likes me. The underlying factor that he likes me. You thank for this, thank for that, thank for the third thing. It's supposed to occur to us, he likes me. Oh, he likes me. I have a place in his heart. I'm close to him. We could thank Hashem for all that he did for us and miss the boat. God likes me. I have a special place by Hashem, a special connection. If we appreciate properly all that he did for us, it should lead to being able to being empowered and emboldened to ask for stuff. If my son would come to me and in a very like shy way say daddy and he's like, you know, moving his body, contorting uncomfortably, and he says he says, "Daddy, can I have a dollar for the soda machine?" I would cry. I'm crazy on my son. You're shy to ask me for a dollar for the soda machine? Go get a dollar buck. I'm going to get a soda machine. Of course. I want to get I want you to have 10 sodas. Of course. It never got you son never. If the guy is not sad about it, he's out of his mind. Never on the father whose son is like afraid. Daddy, it's possible. Maybe I Are you out of your mind? You're shy you obviously don't One of the most painful will call me. Picture the scenario. A bucker calls. I see the phone ringing. So, I look I look at the phone and I see I see I see Yakov Resnick. I pick up the phone. I'm fired up. Yakov Resnick is calling. He's like fired up. Pick up the phone. He's like, "Rebbi, I'm so sorry to bug you." Oh. Oh. What? What? What? See, obviously he doesn't have something. I'm like fired up. I just got to call Yakov Resnick. This is exciting. I'm so sorry to bug you. I'm happy to talk to you. Something's off. Something's not communicating with the relationship. If we understand the Hashem does and we understand he likes us to Hashem, we're his people, we're his children. He's an av. How can people you ask for a lot? Be emboldened to ask. Do not be ashamed to understand you're close to Hashem. You have a casher. Talk to him. Ask him. Speak to him. He wants a relationship. He loves us. Where we hold today, Rabbis say, is it his second understanding Hashem loves us and specifically a his second feeler, talk to him more. He wants a relationship. He likes me. Call him up. Connect. Sometimes a guy is for some reason I remember I learned in the mirror Yeshiva for some reason I was some reason where Shmuel maybe my Rebbe is his brother-in-law. For some reason he found favor and he liked me. It was like a big thing a big God who likes you. Like do something. Do something about it. Cuz if somebody finds out you got thrown and you just want to Kanievsky just like takes a liking to you. It's pretty cool. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. GO SPEAK. YOU KNOW HE he saw you you know you find somebody learning in the mirror Yeshiva and you just get a feel not necessarily he's into you. It's I don't know why what the I don't ask questions. He's into talk to him. Talk to him. YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD GIVE THEIR RIGHT ARMS A cashier to the mirror Yeshiva. That's all. He find out he sent a message. He said I like you. The boy ray who owns all who created all who made all sent the signal out the loudest signal that's been ever sent out in history. You see us with him is the loudest line ever proclamation I like you. I love you. You're my people. You're my children. You see what I did for you? I don't usually do these things. It's out of the ordinary. It's out of the ordinary. It's unusual listen. With an announcement I like you. What's our response? Say [clears throat] what you like. Go go to Hashem. Talk to him. Tell him what you want. You have a massive end. Talk to him. Speak to him. I'm going to lay you certainly I'll fill it if you understood the lesson. This is what I think the Gamoran Brocho says that a Ben Oilam Abba is so cool with him. After they say go out of Israel, they thank Hashem for all the of Yitzias Mitzrayim and such as Adam, they so cool with him. They go out and it empowers and emboldens you. God likes me. Woah, I've a pull. Run in, ask, speak to him, talk to him with his second film. Go speak, go say your wants, your desires. You have an in. Go talk to him. Say what you want. You rate. If we would think more what we're doing when we die then that was a stickle funny. You got it. You die with Hashem. You should know I don't know maybe it was the source. I didn't know it'd hit me. Somebody brought me the closest spot you can say it stand to the Kodesh Kadashim. I didn't know it's an emotional thing. It doesn't prove anything. I didn't think it would hit me as anything. It's you know emotionally it doesn't Some reason my son said he had the same Well, when I was there I was like but we've learned so much about this I make those it could be it's the practical Kadusha that did I don't know but I was like overcome with emotion. And I'm dying by the marker of Kodesh Kadashim and you're saying to Hashem you're asking for stuff. You're asking for things from Hashem. Now but excellent you could say to yourself in this large world there are a lot of people out there. Beautiful world and you say to the master of all, God is it I want to ask you. The angels that feel comes up, who are you? What's you? What do you mean? God. God, there's something I wanted to mention. You call up Obama, you call up the White House and have an extra dollars. There's Dan Kalish. I wanted to Who are you? They hang up on you. So what? As well as so what? Who are you? By us it's never that way with Hashem, they say. How can he say that I'm something? He said I'm powerful. He said he loves me, took me out of Egypt, that's who I am. It empowers us. It's funny, they say there's shuls in Israel, a lot of shuls, they call them Yotzei Cheverin, like Bogrei Cheverin is those that went out of those that that graduated Cheverin Yeshiva. There's Yotzei Ponevezh, there's those that went out of Ponevezh Yeshiva. They have Yeshivas they have shuls, they call them Bogrei, like you you graduated from So a guy said his shul is the Yotzei Mitzrayim. Cuz the guys that went out of Egypt didn't know they didn't Those that went out of Egypt. They say we're the Am Hashem. He made it very, very clear that he loves us. And the response to the Yid is he davens. He utilizes this connection and this pronouncement Hashem made that he loves us, he turns it into tefillah, into a connection to Hashem by davening, by talking more to Hashem, by expressing more of our needs and our wants because he wants to hear us. Because he loves us and he announced he loved us with his Yotzei Mitzrayim. So I think the response to a Pesach The response to the Yid if he hopped it on Pesach it could happen naturally. It's not too late to happen now. The response to a Pesach is daven. It's a tremendous chizuk and tefillah. So much good with tefillah. After you say Gual Yisrael you immediately daven Shmoneh Esrei. You have I have power, I utilize the connection to Hashem. Talk to Hashem more, ask for your needs, ask for your wants. If I may lay you, certainly he'll listen to us. Certainly he'll fill our desires because we're close to him and he told us that. Daven with ka'avanah. When you daven you say who are you? You ask Hashem like big zachin in the world like make a taseh yes make a taseh. I'm I'm a Yotzei mitzrayim. I'm a ben Hashem. My tefilos are are very very extremely powerful. Daven. Speak to Hashem. I think Raboisai this this is man certainly we'll speak about in a few minutes the whole Yeshiva but other aspects of this man. But certainly Raboisai to work specifically on this area of tefila is extremely appropriate. I know you hear Hashem ach mitzrayim. The response is picha mallei you to daven. Certainly a tremendous man of chizuk and tefila. I want to speak about other aspects. It's now 11:08 11:10 Raboisai the guys say 11:10 we'll speak about