Rebbe Letters: Remember This Next Time You Feel Overwhelmed (Class 28)

Uh welcome to the Moz Shabas edition of 30 letters in 30 days. Um today with Shabas a Shabas before Pes and also the Shabas before Yalef Nissen. Please remember the big event which will be Monday night. The spaces have all filled up for the women's Fabangan near the Monday night. There were only 100 spots. Those are all RSVPd and taken. But everyone is free to join us on the live stream and join us for the 30th letter, the last letter of this series of this Hakon uh for Yalef Nissen. Okay, tonight's letter is a short letter, very short letter. Um and a powerful letter. It's not 100% clear to me from the letter who this person is, you know, what kind of uh what kind of a person they are, what their background is. um what kind of issues they're going through. There's just not a lot of detail that I can pick up on to put together that kind of uh clear picture. But uh nevertheless, it is a very powerful message which I think we can all apply to ourselves. Teeny tin teenytiny letter really just one page here in our booklet. Okay, Brooklyn shalom. This is the second day of the month of Ad 57:15. Uh, greetings and blessings. Again, that that means that the Debb is writing to a man. And that's pretty much all I can tell about this person that it's a man who's been through some stuff like all of us have been through some stuff. So, and that's that's about all I can tell. Okay. Certainly, and I've told you this before that my theory is when the Reb says something is certain or obvious or needs no explanation, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is already obvious and needs no explanation to us. But that the Reb is training us how to think that certain things should be exiomatic. They should just go without saying. And if they don't yet go without saying, we should start changing the way we think so that these things become a given in our lives. So the Reba says, "It is certain that you have copies of the letters that you sent me." Now, I'm not one to give instructions. Far far be it for me. Um, but it's interesting to me that the said it's such an obvious thing that you must have retained a copy of the letter that you sent to him. Now, most I I want to be honest with you in my life. Well, I don't it's not like a confession. I don't think there's anything so personal about this, but uh I'll be honest. I'm going to tell you something really really honest. Uh most of my communication, this is what I was about to confess to you. Most of the communication that I do is electronic communication is email or text. Um I don't write letters very often. I think last time I wrote a letter probably with like thank you cards for my wedding gifts after I got married 22 years ago. Now I might have written letters after that but um yeah so when we send emails it automatically retains a copy of our letter that we wrote and we can look back on it for reference. What's interesting though is I guess um there's the idea of retaining an office copy a personal copy of a letter that you send out. Now, the entire reason that we have the egress, and someone asked this, I we got a question submitted a few weeks ago asking about this, and I didn't answer it because uh I didn't have time to go back to it because it was already actually answered in one of the early classes. I don't remember which one of the classes, but it was one of our early classes, one of our first classes where I explained that these letters were archived by the secretariat. They were the office copies of the Reb's correspondences which were were retained by the secretariat and then filed away um in a in a in a in a safe place where the only access was one of the secretaries specifically Rabbi Simpson. That was that was part of his uh his job to file away those letters. So the the Reb retained on his end a copy of all the letters that he sent out. So the Reb is saying uh to this person certainly you also retained a copy. I don't know if this is an instruction to us. I don't know if if we should even take it as an instruction but it occurred to me that yeah when I'm emailing I always have a copy of my own email that I wrote. That's just the way email works. But when I write letters that doesn't happen. Maybe I should start doing that. Just a thought. Okay. At any rate, so the says here, surely you have a copy, your own copy of the letters that you sent me and consequently therefore dot dot dot. So therefore you could go compare the earlier letters that you wrote to me and the porfishes that literally means the scattering of the soul. It means anxiety or an in an an inability to feel emotionally settled and and the worry that you had about and the Reb says dot dot dot which means it was about a specific thing that the person was worried about a specific issue and I don't know what the specific issue was although in general there are three categories in life that we need blessing for and uh Those are that's children literally to translate it means children health and sustenance or maybe more practically you could call it family issues uh health issues and money issues. So if I had to guess the person had some type of issue in one of those three categories which basically means a human problem. You know, we all have human problems. Or possibly, again, I don't really know from the context of this letter. It could have been, it's actually possible there are some people who worry about these things. Uh, dig mima. It could have been a spiritual issue. Maybe the person was concerned about something that they felt they needed to do toua for or some some type of uh spiritual guilt that they were harboring. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. At any rate, the Eb that Eb says that go back and look at the copies that you retained of the letters that you sent me and go look at the tone of your letters and look at how anxious you were and how worried you were. Okay? And you know when they you know they sell those like uh diets and they have the before and after pictures, right? Okay. So the Reba says here, "Do a before and after picture. Go look at the letters that you wrote to me back when you were all all worried about this particular concept, which we don't know what it was, but whatever it was, it was clearly something that was weighing heavily on the heart of the letter writer. Go look at those letters. Look at them sort of as as a snapshot in time of where you were emotionally when you wrote those letters and compare them to where you're at right now before and after photo snapshot so to speak. Okay? Look at the letter that you wrote. Remember where you were mentally, emotionally when you wrote those letters. And now look at how you're feeling today and the complete transformation. That's the best translation I can give here. The complete transformation that has taken place in your most recent letter, meaning the letter to which the Reb is responding now. Before we continue, I just want to make an observation and that is I will ask you if you remember well letter number 12 or letter number five or letter number three. Okay, we probably don't even remember what those were, let alone the details of it and the tone of it and how the person writing it must have felt. And we've only read 28 letters. I want to ask you, how many letters do you think the Reba had read between the time that Eba responded to this letter and the last letter that this person wrote? Probably a lot more than 28. And it wasn't like that EBA was only answering letters all day. That Eba had a lot going on and a lot on his mind. And yet, and this blows me away if I stop to think about it, that EBA is getting a letter from someone and remembering not only, oh yeah, this person has written to me before, but remembering the feelings and the tone and the emotional texture that their previous letters conveyed to the extent that the Reb is able to say to the person and to point out to the person himself. Hey, you may not have noticed this yet on your own. Therefore, I'm pointing it out to you, but stop a second and recall where you were at. Excuse me. where you were at internally, where your mindset was, where your heart was when you were writing to me the last time, and juxtapose that with now. So the Reb is remembering and keeping up with this relationship to the extent where where the Reb is able to point out to somebody and make and make observations to this person about the the the nuances and the and and the and the tone of their communication after having taken taking care of so many other things in the interim. So that that itself to me is is wild. You know I it's it's hard it's hard to remember to keep track of conversations to even remember have I had this conversation with this person yet? let alone to keep track of the the emotions behind the conversation and to remember how was this person feeling the last time we were in touch. And it wasn't even a face tof face meeting. It wasn't even an actual conversation where I can look into your eyes and I can hear your voice and I can read your body language. It's this just letters on a paper. and to be able to retain and to remember and recall and refer back to where that person was on the last occasion that we were in touch. That itself to me is mind-blowing. Okay, but that's not even the point of the letter. Let's let's continue here. So, the Reba says, "Surely you have take a sip of my water here. Surely you have a copy your own copy of of your old letters you wrote to me. Why don't you go take a look at those? You know, go visit the museum and look at the exhibit of how your mood was a month ago, two months ago, three months ago, whenever it was the person started writing and look how you're feeling today, how radically different your mood is today. In other words, whatever this problem was has obviously by this point become resolved. All right, that's that's the point is making that the issue that was so heavily weighing on this person's heart the last time they were in correspondence with the Reb, that issue has been resolved by now. So it should be Hashem's will that this should be and how would you translate means like a a sign means a very clear sign a clear indicator for you. You should use this experience like note this note to self like file this away and remember this remember this moment right now my friend and refer back to it always from now on says the But do not get impressed. Don't get intimidated. Like don't get overwhelmed if something doesn't appear to be rectified immediately before your physical eyes. In other words, when you wrote to me last time, you were a wreck. And now you're writing to me and Hashem, you feel so much better, completely better, radically better. Your mood has become transformed. Please remember this my dear in the future that the next time you're facing something that is overwhelming please remember that you have felt overwhelmed in the past and that whatever it was that was overwhelming you has resolved itself and you feel drastically radically better. Please remember this and refer back to this at all times. Rather, sometimes you got to take a few extra days. Whatever's generous there doesn't say wait a few years. Yeah, a few days. What's a few days? And let things play out just like they did this time. Things got better. And it seems from the Reb's way of referring to this narrative, it wasn't necessarily that the person did anything. It just things got better. Now, I I can't say that for certain, but it it it seems what that's what the Reb is saying that just remember next time when things are overwhelming and they're not getting better immediately. So, you know what? Write it out. You know what they say? There's an expression, don't just do something, sit there. Right? When the adrenaline rush comes, you know, when the fight or flight response comes, it says, don't just sit there, do something, right? Do something. Do anything. That's panic. And the spiritual voice says the exact oppos opposite. Don't just do something. Sit there. Write it out. Hashem's got this. So, I know you feel like a wreck right now, but you don't have to feel like a wreck right now because this situation's going to work itself out. And you're going to get to the other side of it. You're going to get to the other side of it. If Hashem brought you to it, Hashem will bring you through it. You're going to be okay just like you were this time. Remember when you were writing to me how awful you felt and now you're writing to me and you feel great about the same exact situation. So just remember this for next time you have a situation that's overwhelming you. Okay. Um and here the Reb elaborates in addition to the fact that this is essential to spiritual health meaning chill out relax give it time or like the wisest of all men said gamaya yav this will this too will pass. Okay. So, in addition to that being good for spiritual health, spiritual health meaning like when we're all in that fight or flight, that's not good for our amuna, right? Because when we're afraid that we need to control things and we're we're we're we're upset that we feel that we have a lack of control, that means we're forgetting that Hashem is in control. So, that's not good for spiritual health. It's not good for our for our faith. So in addition to the fact that freaking out the Reb doesn't use the word freaking out. I use the word freaking the Reb called it pis but in addition to the fact that freaking out about something instead of just relaxing and waiting and riding it out in addition to the fact that that's not good for your spiritual health meaning it's not good for your faith and your trust and your and your reliance in Hashem. This tip, this trusty little tip that I'm giving you here is also very important for physical health. Physically, you're going to be calmer. Your body is going to be more settled. It's going to be better for you in in in just biologically your system is going to run more smoothly because you're not going to be all worked up. And it's just such a simple tip. I mean, basically, if you could reduce it to a an instruction, it's relax. That's it. That's it. I mean, if you want to reduce it to a tip, it's relax. But but I have this relax. relax, relax. But the Reba says so much more than relax. The actually and this is what I call isma not just about things that are normally the subject of intellect. Means cognition, the uh intellectual faculties of the human mind, but specifically in in the in in the context of is kabad the school of mystical thought that was established by the balatanya kabad doesn't just mean using your cognition in regards to subjects that are typically uh matters of intellect but specifically using your intellect in a way that's sort of anomalous because you're using it in matters of faith. Normally we we think of matters of faith, matters of intellect as being two separate worlds by definition almost inherently. And yet the idea of kabad is to take matters of faith and to try to integrate them as much as possible into our thinking. So I think this is a wonderful illustration of kabad because if you would say it in a language of faith in a language of amunup the message would be relax or if you want to say a little a few more words relax hashem's got it like it doesn't look like hashem's got it but hashem's got it so relax those that's the language of amunup but the language of of kabad is hey can I explain something to you logically okay the conclusion we're going to come to is the same conclusion as aut which is relax hashem's got But I want to actually say it in of in a way that actually logically appeals to your your brain. And that is, yeah, I know you're freaking out right now. Do you remember last time you were freaking out? Yeah. You remember the last thing that really really had you panicked? Yeah. Okay. And it worked out. You're okay. So, yeah. And you know why you're okay? Because Hashem's got this. So, let's extrapolate and turn this into a lesson for the future that next time something feels unresolvable and overwhelming, just say to yourself, you know, I've had this experience before and it's going to be okay. Why is it going to be okay? Because Hashem is in charge and I believe that. But in addition to believing that Hashem's in charge, I actually have some logical proof that things in the past that I felt overwhelmed by ended up working out fine and I'm not overwhelmed anymore. Okay, fine. Great. So, let's keep applying that lesson. Uh with blessings for success in all of the above and in your private matters. To me, that's possibly a hint now that I think of it that maybe the issue the person was worried about was a communal issue because the deba says all of the above in the areas of the of the above mentioned hanal and in your private life. So perhaps but who knows uh and I await good news. I await good news. Yeah. Um I want to just share something with you. That's that's the letter. tiny little letter. But uh when you're dealing with Tyra, nothing is tiny because uh Toyota is infinite. And even the smallest amount of information, just a few letters on a page, can contain condensed wisdom that is absolutely unlimited in its application. Every one of these letters, by the way, the truth is we could have turned into not just a 30 minute share. could have been a three-hour share or 300 hour share or we could have just learned one letter for the rest of our lives. Yeah, it's possible. Yeah, I I firmly believe that. I'm not saying that um to be hyperbolic. And at any rate, this is a short letter. I want to share just one thing with you and then we'll uh say good night. Um the Reb's birthday is coming. As you know, this entire Shir has been a hakana for the Reb's birthday. But, uh, one of the things that learning the egress does for us and so so much of the feedback we've been receiving at 30 letters30days.com has been people talking about clarity. They're they're thanking us for this year because it's given given them such clarity that the Debb's letters give such clarity. And I agree with that that learning the deba's letters really helps us to think in a clear way and it organizes and systemizes our our thought patterns so that instead of being reactive and panicked and you know like that I was saying the pis where you can't settle down and you can't focus and you can't think straight learning the debasis specifically the debasis in in the igress which are uh written in a way to direct directly apply to real human issues that real human beings are going through. It really trains us to be able to see the heart of a matter to get down to the essence of things, not to be distracted by superficiality or or things that are really of not really of import. It just it it gives us gives us good vision. It gives us I mean I use this is the word I used earlier. I'll use it again. Clarity. Clarity. It's that's what it is. It's clarity. So, here's what I'll tell you. Um, there's there's an expression. There is no greater joy than removing doubt that when you had been confused and you were unsure, it's fus. And then you experience clarity and certainty and you know what it is that you need to do. Uh that's simha that is great joy the greatest joy. There's no sim like such sima. So where is that saying from? It's an interesting saying and I looked into it actually recently um just recently and and I discovered that the sources of Matudis David Matudis David is a is a pantanak it's a matudis David on a puk in Mishi Mishi is King Solomon's proverbs and specifically on uh pedock tessv Chapter 15 verse 30 which says means um clarity of vision but it doesn't mean physical sight fleshly eyes. It means vision like a visionary somebody who has clear goals and uh sees the potential and knows where he's headed. So that's what it means. Clear vision. It gladdens the heart and good news fattens the bone. So the mitsudas david there on that pik says that clarity of vision uh means specifically in a hamup something that was wrought with doubt where you did not know the real answer or the truth. So when it becomes resolved and you do have clarity, he says that gladdens the heart. That's where that that's where that saying comes from that there's no greater joy than removing doubt. When you had had lack of clarity and now you do have clarity that's the greatest joy. And um good news is the literal translation. He says that that means the good news really means uh novelties or um innovative insights into so I really think that when we learn we get both of those things. We get the the joy of clarity where things that had confused us become so clear and we know what we need to do. And also we get the gishmak of good really creative original innovative Torah teachings. Now I want to mention to you there's a minig to say a puk at the end of with the first and the last letter of your name. So like if your name would be spelled shin. So you'd say like because it starts with a shin and it ends with a soft and that's why I'm a night owl because anyways um by the way my friend Simon Jacobson told me that he he could not find a pock that started with a and ended with a nun and he told the Reb and the Reb told him that it doesn't have to be a PK from Tanakh. It could be a uh line from the sither. He told him in kesh it says so it starts with a with a and it ends with a nun. At any rate that we all have this uh that represents I guess uh something of who we are and our identity. Well, have a custom of not only saying the PK that corresponds to the first and last letters of their own name, but also the first and last letters of their Reb's name. And the puk for the name, which starts with an a and it ends with a me is that there's no greater joy than having clarity when when you had had doubt and enjoying novel innovative Torah insights. Anyways, it's uh been incredibly meaningful for me taking this journey with all of you. We have uh tomorrow night's share and then we have the big Sum Nissen Fabangan and uh then we're going to have to figure out what to do next. Good night. Have a great week.