Shabbat: The Source of All Blessings - Rabbi Ephy Greene

you should be industrious and and expand the horizons of of of the physical world. That's six days a week. That that's our job is to continue the work of creation in a certain sense. And on the seventh day, it's a day to create yourself. What does that mean to create yourself? To to again kind of like get in touch with your nephesh, with your nishama, your soul, and feel like, well, what is my life all about? So, you know, that sense of resting is is an opportunity to say, okay, but on Shabbat, I can just be I can just be who I am. And that's why Shabbat is such a beautiful time for family, such a beautiful time for uh learning Torah, such a beautiful time for a person just developing a certain sense of um identity. You know, who am I? What is life? What is my life all about? And feeling comfortable with themselves. And that rejuvenates them for the week [Music] ahead and welcome to Torah Talks Kazak's program with special guests. We have with us all the way from Shalim, from Jerusalem, from Israel, Rabbi Eab. Welcome. Great to be here. It is so amazing to have the kadusha, the holiness of Israel over here in Queens by Kazak headquarters. Thank you very much for joining us, Rabbi. And we're going to be speaking about the source of all blessings, which is very exciting. Very exciting. But before we get to the exciting topic, we get a little bit background about the rabbi and the great work you are involved with. Thank you so much. It's a big uh for a big opportunity for me to be here. I um enjoy the podcast and uh it's it's very exciting to be here. Worked out great. I'm here for a wedding and able to come and join you. Um, so you know, my my journey starts I grew up as a young man in uh St. Louis, Missouri out in the Boondocks, you know, very far from Queens. And um, you know, my my grew up in a traditional home. My father was a rabbi of a conservative synagogue growing up, a very traditional family. Had Shabbat meals. We had learning Torah in the family. Um, my brothers and I were a little bit like assistant rabbis in the initials uh that my father worked in. um you know helping with the Davening and uh reading the Torah and things like that and um and that I'd say planted you know a big seed uh inside of me for you know Jewish life in general and also helping the Jewish people and uh my parents have been incredible role models uh in that regard wherever they go they get involved in the schul and they you know my father is retired now but he gives dafomi or he learns parttime during the day so they've been incredible role models in that regard um um After finishing high school, I went on to learn in Israel for a couple of years. Uh went on to Ishiva University where I got my BA in psychology, my smika. Uh moved to Israel for a little bit, learned in the Mirishhiva and uh met my wife and um we started off um a year in Israel, but then came back to America. I was teaching in some of the day schools here uh in the New York area. And about uh 17 years ago almost 17 years ago we moved to Israel and I was teaching in yeshivas there uh first taraga and then um moved over about 10 years ago to Asia and it has been an incredible incredible journey. Um teaching in a is is exciting. You know every day is fantastic. You meet all kinds of Jews. Uh every Jew feels comfortable there. And um you know we have aidic rebi who sits in the bait midrash and in the study hall. And we also have a, you know, Jews walking in from all types. You know, tank tops and t-sh t t-shirts, you know, earrings and tattoos and it doesn't really matter who you are. Every Jew is there to grow and uh everyone's just inspired by one another. So, it's an amazing amazing environment. I've had this to be and see the operation firsthand and it is really amazing. And uh for all those uh listening around the world, if you ever been to the Kotel, that means you've been right across. I I I told somebody once he was he was looking for a program to learn in. So I said, "You ever been to the Western Wall?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Okay, next time you're there, just turn around." And we're right there, you know, just walk in the door. We're happy to have you. Amazing. Continue all the amazing work that you're doing. Amen. And uh so we're going to be speaking about the source of all blessings. And we know that Shabbat day of Shabbat is a source of all blessings. So, one might ask, "What is Shabbat? Why is it such a central part of Jewish life? Why is there such an emphasis about Shabbat? Keep Shabbat." And uh what's why is that, Rabbi? Okay. So, so Shabbat is is really it's there's this like enigma. There's this like funny phenomenon about Shabbat. You know, if you ask most people what is Shabbat, they'll say it's the day of rest, right? But what does that mean? What actually defines it? I mean, if you think about rest, rest seems like you're doing nothing. You know, you're laying in bed, you're just like knocked out, cold, you know, you're not actually doing anything. So, it's a day of doing nothing. So, Shabbat is definitely not a day of doing nothing, you know. So, we have to understand what that rest means. You know, uh we say, okay, because Hashem created the world in six days and then he rested on the seventh day. What does that mean? got rested. You know, his like his muscles were tired from shleing like blue whales into the Pacific Ocean, you know, like setting up the the Alps or whatever, you know, like he was he was needed a needed a rest. So, what what exactly does it mean? So, you know, when the Torah tells us that God rested, it says it says earth for six days God created heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested. He ceased that work and he he got he that what that word does So we translate it as rested but the root really of comes from the word nephesh soul and in a certain sense you know what does that mean god's got in touch with his soul. So it really means his most innermost desire his most innermost aspiration what god's plan was for the world he he executed and he brought that out through Shabbat. So the same thing is true for us when for us Shabbat is a day that you know for six days of the week God says for six days work and do all of your work in six days. The seventh day that's a day where you want to get in touch with Hashem. You want to get in touch with your core values, your core identity. What is your life all about? And um there's a beautiful book that came out a couple of years ago by Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein. He's the chief rabbi of South Africa. You had the rabbi talk. He's amazing. And this came out with a book on Shabbat. Yeah. Yes. That that book is phenomenal. um recommended reading to anybody and everybody uh really it's good for all uh all all walks of Jewish life and um you know he this is part of his thesis over there where he says that uh you know a person should should fulfill his um his purpose of creation in helping to create the world further in helping to develop the world let it be uh you know he should be industrious and and expand the horizons of of of the physical world that's six days a week that that's our job is continue the work of creation in a certain sense and on the seventh day it's a day to create yourself the name of the book is shab is a day to create yourself so you know in a certain sense what does that mean to create yourself to to again kind of like get in touch with your nephesh with your nishama your soul and feel like well what is my life all about so you know that sense of resting is is an opportunity to say okay the rest of the week I'm trying to create I'm trying to make things happen but on Shabbat I can just be I can just be who I am. And that's why Shivat is such a beautiful time for family, such a beautiful time for uh learning Torah, such a beautiful time for a person just developing a certain sense of um identity. You know, who am I? What is life? What is my life all about? And feeling comfortable with themselves. And that rejuvenates them for the week ahead. um you know when they are taking responsibility for their job and for their family and and for their community and everything that they need to do, Shabbat gives them that sense of okay, I have my core values intact. I have a vision of who I am, what I want my life to be. And that kind of like spiritual um reorientation, you know, allows for them to go into the week in a much more driven, much more focused, much more but also at the same time calm uh type of a type of a way. M very very inspiring, very very true. Uh nothing like Shabbat, the best day of the week. I tell it to people all the time. Some people that don't experience it don't understand it, but once you're in it, you can't stop. It's amazing. And uh one might ask, what is the ideal Shabbat experience like? What should a typical Shabbat look like or be like? So obviously, you know, we have uh many laws that go into keeping Shabbat in terms of the work uh creative activities that we're not supposed to do. So a person should try their best to to learn those laws, follow them, but it's um you know, Shabbat, you know, as a day of rest is really an opportunity for us to like like we said, kind of like reconnect with who you are. Um you know, Shabbat is is really very much a reflection of our relationship with God. Um, Rabbi Rabbi Shimon Pinkis uh wrote a beautiful say for on the laws the the ideas of Shabbat and Shabbat Malita Shabas Mala the book about the inner cabalistic workings of Shabbat and he gives a great parable and he says that you know if every holiday during the year is is like a picture on your wall. So you look in the frame for Rashashana and it's got a chauffeur. You look in the frame for uh Sukkot and it's got the little hut and some the four species and what what goes in the frame for Shabbat. So when I ask this the students they often say you know candles and a kdish cup and kala I'm like okay we have that but every holiday. So so what really goes into the frame for Shabbat? So Rafinkus explains you know what goes in the frame? A mirror. A mirror. a mirror because Shabbat just like a mirror is that whatever you put into it that's what you'll get out of it and when you look into a mirror so you see and depending on what angle you you know you you'll see different things in the mirror the same kind of thing sometimes you know people say oh I kept the I did Shabbat but it didn't really mean that much to me the question is what did you put into it you know um we encourage the boys in a uh you know as they become more observant and become observant in Shabbat invest in your Shabbat you know buy yourself some nice food get a nice bottle of wine to enjoy enjoy at your meals, you know, wear some nice clothing. Um, you know, Shabbat is really about creating a certain ambiance. You know, it's uh in a certain sense, you're going on a date with God. You know, you are having a candle at dinner, some wine, some uh some delicious food. You know, there's a concept of singing at the Shabbat table. The Shabbat are filled with dev Torah and filled with messages of how Shabbat can fill your life with holiness. And it creates a certain orientation of um of calm and of enjoyment and of beauty. Um you know the the source for the having three meals of uh on Shabbat um comes from the the man the the mana that fell in the desert for the Jewish people and um they were commanded three times to go out and collect it hayom today. Go and collect it today. You won't find it tomorrow in the field only today. So it says the word today uh three times and we learn from there that that's the source for where we why we have three meals. And I think the idea is that you know sometimes you got to like gobble down your food and then you're running out to a meeting, you're running out to do something. Shabbat all I have to worry about is today. I'm in the moment. I can I can sit and feel a certain peace. And um and that that that's really the nature of Shabbat is the Shabbat meals. Um the Shabbat afternoon, you know, uh there's an idea of taking a nap because even if you know, most people don't nap, I guess, unless they're older or whatever it is, you know, or babies, you know, during the day. But, uh Shabbat, there's an idea that sleeping in Shabbat is is an enjoyment, which is the letters of Shabbat. So, what is that about? It's that everything's taken care of. The world is good. You know, again, six days I have to I have to work on on the world. But for this day, I want to appreciate the world to see the beautiful fl color in the flowers to see the the you know, clouds in the sky, the birds chirping. I have a wonderful family. I have a I have a great community that I'm a part of. So, a person should really kind of like breathe in and kind like take, you know, take a step back and just appreciate life. Um, you know, the the structure that Shabbat gives us of three tilot and three meals, you know, sets us up for uh kind of like a process of this. Uh, you know, Friday night is very much about coming out of the week uh previously and taking some of that energy that we've had and that exhaustion that we may have also and um and helping us kind of like segue that into into a mindset of holiness. And then uh Shabbat morning is uh is all about being in the moment. You know the the prayers Moshe is was rejoiced with with what what he was given the that he was given the Shabbat for for the Jewish people. So just rejoicing being able to enjoy the moment just a calm the the week ahead is not here yet the week behind is gone. Just being in the moment and then sudashit when you come into the afternoon and the and the third meal. So that's already I'm starting to feel that this holiness and how it's going to like segue into the week to come and uh you know as a person goes through these uh time periods of Shabbat. So they can kind of like feel a certain energy and it's important to to go with the flow, you know, to to appreciate how uh Shabbat is filling us with a certain peak of the week and a certain rejuvenation and a certain aspiration and vision for how to take that holiness and spirituality with us into the into the week. 100%. Rabbi, just to add to the beautiful insights, all the insights are beautiful, but the the shim shimink is with regards to the mirror. what you put into it with what you get out of it. The Torah clearly tells us to Shabbat, you have to make the Shabbat. You have to do, you have to work. And we all know that whoever worked hard before Shabbat will have to eat on Shabbat. It's important to prepare and to plan. I tell to my guys all the time, you know, the the students and the, you know, the similar to, you know, getting k and people that are to bring them close. At first it might be very foreign for them this whole concept but once you're in it like I said before it's an amazing most amazing feeling in the entire universe to the point where they understand that the the nations of the world they saw how amazing uh the yen have it the Jews have it with regards to day off of the week that's where the concept of Sundays having a day off as well uh came to be uh so many people rabbi un unfortunately associate with restrictions uh how can we shift the focus from what we can do to the beauty of what we can do on the holy day of Shabbat. Um so, so this is this is a great question, you know. Yeah. So many people see Shabbat as this you can't do this, you can't do that. 25 hour jail of, you know, I can't go on my phone and I can't do this. Um you know, there is the concept in the out there in the secular world also of like a mental health day. you know, people need to take a day off from work. They need a vacation. And uh you know, there are there are certain um activities that they could do that um that that are more rejuvenating than others. Um and that's that's really how Shabbat is set up for us. You know, it's it's uh we say in the Shabbat afternoon prayers that it's a it's uh it's considered proactive with um a rejuvenation in in faith and uh and giving. Um not going to go through the whole list, but uh but it but it's it's a it's a sense of um of becoming re you know reaware of oneself. Um I think that that um the notion of feeling that a person, you know, when a person sees in general their mitzvot as like a checklist. So then Shabbat is just another checklist of what I can't do. So it's all associated with the negative. But uh you know we know that that Shabbat is very much um associated with one's relationship with Hashem. Like we said it's it's like that mirror. And um you know the way that kazal teach us about what Shabbat is is they don't even refer to it as what is Shabbat, but who is Shabbat. You know we talk about Shabbat as the Shabbas queen and the Shabbas bride. And um you know that those two personas uh kind of like color for us how we can relate to Shabbat and see it as you know it's not just uh it's not just a a a list of things to do or not to do but there's actually a a persona there's a personality to shabas you know and we have to kind of like greet that personality um with with a certain sense of relationship. Um, you know, the the Torah commands us to guard the Sabbath day, which is a little bit more referring to, yeah, which mean refers to the the negative commandments. Yes. Don't uh plow and don't write and don't uh build and things like that. But then it also tells us remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. And that I think lines align much more with the you know whereas the the guarding of Shabbat which might associate with the queen persona of Shabbat. The zakur the remembrance of Shabbat is it relates more to the Shabbas bride and how you know like like a a man who's lovesick with a woman and is constantly thinking about her. So the same thing is true. Our rabbis tell us that all week a person should be thinking about the Shabbat. So we said in the, you know, in the prayer for the day this morning, you know, Shabbat, today is the second day to Shabbat. The whole week we're getting ready for Shabbat. The Gumar tells us about uh Shama, who used to walk through the marketplace and see a a nice animal that that he could buy and use as meat for Shabbat. Great. He buy it on Monday, Tuesday. But if he found a better one later on, he would use that one for Shabbat. The whole week, he's living for Shabbat. And I think that teaches us very much like you said that the more that a person prepares for Shabbat, the more that a person is thinking about their relationship with Hashem and how to um how to make it more, you know, richer and and more expanded. So that's going to express itself in in Shabbat and they're going to be able to enjoy the positives of Shabbat in a much more significant way. 100%. 100%. I I always say person fails to plan, he plans to fail. So it's a good line. So plan plan in advance. Get ready for it. Make it exciting. Invite guests, get some good shopping, good nash, go to the sh, go to the classes, go to the rabbi, whatever it is. Connect. And it's the most amazing feeling in the entire world. Uh so many gems that the rabbi is giving over. We appreciate it and love every single one. We have a min and our Torah talks is a final message for our broad audience. I I think the message um you know is one that we can all take with us not just about Shabbat but really about everything that uh the more that we invest in our relationship with Hashem and our relationship with God in our um carefulness about how you know how we take how seriously we take our uh service with God. So then the more that we will feel that connection um you know people want to feel uh like an emotional a spiritual connection and um you know they often excuse themselves I I don't feel it I'm not feeling it rabbi you know um but the question is how much did you try you know how much did you try to feel it you know and trying requires sometimes sacrifice it takes it takes hard work um but uh but it but it pays off in a big way there's an incredible story um that I once heard about Cutler's Rashiva of Lakewood, New Jersey. Um he was in his older years and he was in the hospital and hooked up to a ventilator I think or something like that and um one of the grandchildren I think perhaps saw that he was uh his mouth was very very dry. So they bought a lollipop and they said you know what he can't he can't drink or eat anything. um he was only being fed through a tube, but you know, at least we can put something on his mouth, the lollipop to moisten, so he shouldn't feel so dry and so uncomfortable. So, apparently, this was a I don't know, I guess a Tuesday or Wednesday or something like that, and they brought the lollipop close to his mouth and and he smelled the sweetness of the sugar and the bubble gum flavor or whatever it was. And and and he he actually pushed the lollipop away and he said, "Save it for Shabas." Wow. And they put the lollipop down on the night table next to his bed. And um a few minutes later, one of the doctors came in and he saw the lollipop on the table and he said, "Did he eat this? He can't eat this. If he has this, it's it would kill him. The sugar would shock his system. It would kill him." And this is this is like a an example of how, you know, his prioritizing Shabbat and said something sweet, something delicious, something where I'm going to treat myself should be given to Shabbat actually became a blessing for his life. Wow. and it saved his life and and he was able to live for however much longer that he had. But the same thing is true for us on a you know on a minor level is that the more that we invest ourselves in the meaning of Shabbat, the more that we invest ourselves in uh our relationship with Hashem and and and how to make Shabbat special and meaningful and fun and that goes for people who are single. It goes for people who have families, big families, grandchildren even. The more that we invest in it and we prepare questions for our children at the Shabbaz table and we prepare stories to tell our families and things like that, then the more the richer the experience is for everyone and the more people will feel that incredible blessing that Shabbat has to offer. 100% rabbi amazing phenomenal great as the famous song goes Shabbat Kelly whoever keeps Shabbat god will keep them watch them and powerful story from Zatal and we want to thank Rabbi Effie Green for joining us at Kazak Torah talks my pleasure very very very inspiring the source of all blessings and as we heard it's Shabbat kesh the holy day of Shabbat uh we want to thank the various different platforms that host Kazak Torah talks a special thank you to our friends at Torah anytime time. Uh, daily giving, a dollar a day goes a very far away. Want to thank them. Encourage everyone to be a daily giver. An amazing concept. A, a dollar a day goes a very, very far away. Like I mentioned, really, really amazing. And the entire team and staff for all that they do [Music] and [Music] redemption. Thank you so much. Amazing. [Music]