Teshuvah with Joy | Letter #3 of 30 Letters in 30 Days

Purim we're here yeah I told you that we weren't going to miss class because of poor I hope everybody had a wonderful creasa mcgilla and uh in accordance with the balship's teaching I hope that everybody made sure not to read the Magilla la mafrea meaning to say to internalize the story of Magilla is something that is happening very much now in the present and in and in all of our lives okay so tonight's letter is not overtly about Purim it's not even from that time of year we're still at the beginning of tough shinyud tests we're still in the month of tishre um but I do want to mention something that is connected to this time of year and that is that last night if you remember letter number two that Eva's answer to a young educator in the Holy Land uh to uh Rabbi Josef Martin so I I mentioned when I was giving background for that letter and I was explaining the ufarats the era and the the reshet the network of Chabad schools in the Holy Land I mentioned gansberg Oliver Shalom where that ABBA spoke to ravichka about the the importance of that work I did not know it at the time I didn't know it maybe my Mazel knew it but last night and today tainisaster iska's uh your site yeah and I'm not sure what if if this is something important to mention or not or if anyone cares but just on a personal note I should say that the very first time that a very young Rabbi Chase Taub ever appeared speaking on a on a video this is before the internet so it's back in like 2000 maybe 2001 I guess there was an internet but I don't think we had videos on internet pretty sure we didn't have videos on internet but there was a video that was produced by called a deeper reality and uh he put me in that video so uh that's how I got my start in Showbiz at any rate uh the Michigan should have a uh a little and the icker I mean he was always speaking about the and about mashiach so enough of Canadian he should be back here with us in the physical world back in his body and punching us again I don't know if you guys remember that he used to punch everyone he used to punch me all the time um yeah so anyways that I didn't even realize till today that it was his yard site and I spoke about him last night okay um tonight's letter it's a short letter let's jump in your test Brooklyn so this is still the month of tishre in fact it's still the yes the days of penitence and uh that I was writing to a man as we know from I don't know who this man is I know a couple of things about him if you read the letter carefully I know that he feels bad about something that he did and he's sad I know that and you're going to know that in a minute when we start reading I know that he's involved in some type of public activities maybe he's a rabbi maybe he's a teacher a communal leader but if you'll read on in the letter you'll you'll find out he's somebody who Who's involved in activities uh that are for the greater good for the for the community so basically probably he's a rabbi who's sad about something he did that was beneath his standards and values and morals and it makes sense he would write to the dev at this time of year that I was answering during the ceresimichova the letter itself indicates was written out of Rosh Hashanah so yeah you're talking about probably most probably if I use my Sherlock Holmes thinking here it's a rabbi who's trying to do chova and he's feeling bad about something he did and he's writing to the head of Rosh Hashanah because you don't want to head into the new year without taking care of that uh the old business that that seems what the context of the letter is I'm not a hug I'm not 100 sure but just seems like that's what it is okay so shall we uh I'm here by uh acknowledging receipt of his letter that he wrote on Edward Rosh Hashanah I mentioned that a moment ago um certainly it is Superfluous to mention or to emphasize that all that makes a categorical statement all thoughts that are the opposite of joy and gladness see there ever doesn't even use the word says the opposite of simcha the opposite of joy and gladness that these come from and that ever doesn't say they come from the yet Sahara he says they come from not the Yates or type you have to know how to read it so any thoughts that aren't Joy are from not the Yates or Tafe okay um so obviously this person is writing to the devil saying he's having thoughts that are the opposite of joy and we're going to find out why he's having thoughts that are the opposite of Joy has to do with some guilt that he has but that'll become clear um as this is explained at length in many places this idea that um sadness does not come from the yetzer Tafe even when we think we have a good religious reason for sadness sadness is to be shunned so the number since this is explained at length in many places um among those places those sources it is explained in the holy book of Tanya because as is indicated or noted cited with a C in the index of subjects in the back of the Tanya let me just pause here for a second because I think this is an important point there's an incredible tool called the mate m there are a bunch of tools in the back of the Tanya but let's just talk about this particular tool that that is speaking about here in this letter the index of subjects many people do not know that when the Tanya came out in 1954 when kahas printed the Tanya in New York 1954 the Deborah wrote a a forward to that Edition explaining that it was significant in that it was the first printing of Tanya in the lower hemisphere those of you who are familiar with the significance of Sivan the 28th of seven and the Reba's arrival to America in 1941 with and then again when the rabbit arrived over from France he arrived on the same date again remarkably Hof has seven so those who are familiar with that story and that was explanation of the significance of that story understand the idea of the kayak of Sivan that Sivan is like bringing the the that which is above to the below and the below to the above and the merging of the spiritual and the material and has the power of that uh of that idea so basically um the Debbie gave a lot of significance to the relocation of labavich and his personal relocation from the higher hemisphere you know people probably noticed I keep this on my desk there's a reason I keep this globe I had I had one that Lit Up and I gave it to yasel gutnik for his birthday so and it was that I replaced it with on the doesn't light up but um the reason that I have this one is because it rotates both axes most Globes they only spin one way but I have this one because it you can rotate it both directions and what I do is I make it correct I put Etc on the top we're used to seeing the the North Pole on the top which really is not correct anywhere that you go to erits Israel from is called Aaliyah you're going up when you're going to add Cicero so etz Israel is actually the holy land is actually on the top so then everything around that area is called the higher hemisphere so that includes all the places where most of the Jewish communities lived for a couple of thousand of years after even the the destruction of the second temple meaning whether your ancestors went to uh Lithuania or to Morocco or to Yemen or to uh to to to uh Poland it's all like on the top hemisphere over here but then what happened is only in the past like hundred years is this Mass migration to the lower hemisphere down here you guys can't see it so well on camera but here's here's the top here's the here's the top and it's a thrill and then here's here's New York it's toward getting toward the bottom I don't know if you guys can even yeah so it's going down going down okay so at any rate um but there's a significance of going down to the bottom of the world it's uh it's leverage that ever spoke about that the idea of you well I mean the dev actually is quoting Toyota R from the from the altered but that when you want to lift a building you could even lift the building if you get a lever a lever to get up under it and so too you can lift you can Elevate all of say that are styleless you can make all the worlds Holier how by coming down into the physical world and within the physical world itself the the lower part of the physical world at any rate so there was great significance given to this idea of publishing the Tanya in the in the lower hemisphere and in 1954. and in conjunction with that publication so the rabbit included some learning tools in the back of the Tanya including a um an index of subjects and I just I don't think people realized that it was it's the rabbit's own scholarship that ever created this this index and then I was very into math Texas into index or indices in general but maybe that's a it's a class unto itself um but at any rate it's very important to to understand the tool that the the index of subjects is and I've personally used it not just to look up where something is that's not the only thing yes it helps you to look up where something is but more so it helps you to know like where the main sugya um of something is like if I want to know for instance let's not say simcha because that's what the Reba is talking about in this letter where does it speak about simcha in Tanya well if you use a computer to search it it'll say the word simcha in a lot of chapter I mean it'll say from the first chapter right uh where it says simple but two of live off right yes the first chapter it'll say the word simcha if you have like a a an artificial intelligence tell you where it says the word simcha in in Tanya that doesn't really you need you need to actually be guided where's the real place in Tanya where that subject is defined and explained properly so for instance so you look up simha and uh yeah so it doesn't have every single time it has the word simcha far from it it just has the main places where you're going to really learn what simcha is so for instance chapter 26 of the first volume of Tanya so over there it speaks about meaning since you didn't serve Hashem with simcha right as the Ariza explains uh and also chapter 31 the special type of joy that comes after and out of bitterness and frustration and then also um chapter 33 which later on became one of the 12 sukim and then also it get us a Kadesh I mean sorry igoris achova uh chapter 11 which the devil refers to as Tom Le simcha a reason for simcha and as well as you get a satrova chapter 12 Canal the same thing that ABBA says meaning again the reason for simcha and then aleph uh which is also that says again Canal the reason for simcha um yeah and each one of these chapters that are all called the reason for someone give different reasons in the eggeris academy speaking about thinking about how God is creating the world something from nothing every single second so how could you at all think that think things aren't perfect at this second but can you get us a chova chapters 12 and 11 and 12. he says something a little bit different and I'm thinking that perhaps that is specifically relevant to our latter um in chapter 11 of igueres achuva that explains that one can Harbor joy and frustration simultaneously it's not a contradiction as is mentioned in chapter 34 of of gets into it in in more uh detail it speaks about the idea that um Hashem is marvelously Hashem is abundantly forgiven forgiving so what is the Tom hassimo what's the reason for simcha is that you know that Hashem is abundantly forgiving and that even though we mess up and we mess up again Hashem forgives us and the alternative explains over there unless you think that because we mess up again and again and again that Hashem is going to get tired of us no Hashem is infinite he has infinite patience unless you argue maybe you're really smart and you're gonna pull out all these turmeric arguments to try to prove that you should be depressed so the out there says and unless you argue that hold on this is called this is this is a a person who says I'm going to sin and then do Triva later and and then we know that it doesn't work other than the alternative explains even that that my speaking means it's not going to be easy for it to work at any rate but you're not supposed to do that hold on so if I'm gonna sin and then I'm gonna do chova and then I know that I'm probably gonna fall again because that's my track record so why should I think that Hashem is going to forgive me and so he explains over there that actually only means when at the moment of the sin itself you consciously rely on the loophole of chova then they close the loophole and it doesn't work for you but if it's just an absence uh an absent-minded thing where unfortunately human weakness prevails and you end up stumbling again so that's it's unfortunate and and we need to be better next time we need to do better next time but Hashem will still be infinitely forgiving and that is a cause for simcha that is a cause for joy that's chapter 11 of you get us a chova and then in chapter 12 if we get a situated with the very next chapter he gives another cause for Joy that's related to chuva and he says and by the way if you ever have a problem in life who Among Us doesn't have problems in life next time you have a problem in life you should be happy because that's Hashem cleaning you off from any of the wrong things you've done in the past and isn't it great to get all that stuff paid up now and get it get all the debt worked off now and not have to carry that with you so next time you have a little bit of stress in life you say ah it's a kapada it's cleaning me and it it's a cause for simcha at any rate so that every references of Tanya and tells this uh this person go check that out I think it'll help with the issue at hand that ever continues Let's uh go back into the text gives them another reference to go check out I love it Tanya and rambam basically that's that's the life of a hasid isn't it that's our lives that's and and and egress I mean that's that'll keep you busy all day long so whatever gives him some rap I should just mention it has nothing to do at least not in any way that I can figure out an association uh quickly off the top of my head but it seems to have nothing to do with this letter or tonight's class or the fact that it's form but uh doesn't matter I'm gonna say it because it's a public service announcement we are coming to a cm of the daily rambam on base year the birthday of the rebe marash which is uh significant that I've always held that day dear um it's a CM for those who learn three chapters a day and complete the Mishra every year as well as those who learn one chapter a day and complete the mission once every three years so it's a good time to get in on it and since it's you don't have to wait until the actual you could just start now and start learning wherever we are okay um so the web reference is so I actually went and I dug up my zmanim even though we are in safer what are we in mishpat then we're doing squiros um but uh yeah so here's zmanim and love and at the end of the rambam speaks about simcha mitsvilla Harvest we were talking about the the SIM card yantev this is the end of uh the the last chapter chapter five and I'm looking at the dalid um and in the next is now he talks about in general that a person has just in being able to do what Hashem asked him to do is a great it is a great Aveda it is a great Aveda meaning not not only does it enhance the Mitzvah but it itself is worthy of being referred to as uh an Aveda is and it's not good to hold yourself back from that similar meaning no matter what your excuses are okay over here he talks about people who hold themselves back because they're self-conscious and they think it's beneath them they don't want to look like they're having a good time God forbid um but it could also be applied to somebody who makes religious arguments that uh if you knew what I did what I have to do Triva for you would realize it's not appropriate at all for me to be simcha so that is invoking this uh these words of the ramam to tell this person you know what yeah maybe you have to do children maybe you have some stuff in your past it really needs fixing but that's not an excuse It's not a reason to do the opposite of Simcoe okay but let's look at the rabbit quotes that I'm here from yes it's understood from the rambam like it says over there foreign that simcha is one of the main important points of serving Hashem Indian it's not just something that's done to enhance a Mitzvah so very important discussion here is simcha a catalyst to make a Mitzvah stronger or more powerful or potent but the actual significance begins and ends with the Mitzvah itself that's one way of looking at it or Sim itself intrinsically Worthy so that ABBA says from the rambam it seems that it's itself is an Aveda it's not just something you do to enhance the Mitzvah the number says not just an Indian shall hither itself a big way of serving God it's totally Superfluous to elaborate further on something so obvious and I've mentioned in previous classes the one that ever says something is so obvious if it wasn't obvious to us until now it should start being obvious to us from now on I know some people get get like discouraged and they feel bad and like oh the devil said it was obvious and I didn't even know about that thing I feel so dumb don't feel dumb feel lucky that the dev Is clueing Us in on which ideas are obvious which ideas should start us off as our premise in other words there are certain things that do take harder work to figure them out and to come to a recognition that these ideas are true but something with the rabbit says it's just so obvious so you can install that in your heart as an axiom you don't have to worry about it anymore you can just make that a given and and life becomes so much more clear when we when we operate from that perspective okay this Israel enclosed is a check like a money that you write a check from one of the uh charitable funds of my father-in-law the leader of the Jewish people that's why I'm saying that this is probably a rabbi or communal leader because the debit is sending him money from one of the feeder crebes funds and then the Rebecca says that you should spend that money on one of your activities that you're involved in Leb also says it in Yiddish one of your undertakings by the way I heard that that Evan would not use the word undersea it's interesting in Yiddish one of your undertakings which is I heard that um Nissan Mandel wrote undertaking I think that's where it was written and uh that ABBA corrected and said he didn't want to use the word in English why not whatever uses it in Yiddish because in English was so careful we mentioned earlier that I didn't want to say depression that obviously the opposite of simple didn't say yes the opposite of the Year type or not from the eight of type even double meeting and double meanings uh that ever avoided if they had a negative connotation so an Undertaker in English it's like a funeral director so that I've been didn't use that word that's what I heard at least umatoid and it would be even better if you would spend the money and two of your activities so this is a busy guy this is a guy who's involved in more than one positive activity that would be a worthy recipient of one of the Philadelphia's funds I I'm not purporting to understand the implication I'm just wondering if the debit isn't sort of reminding the guy about all of his responsibilities and letting him know like hey not only are you doing one activity that is worthy of the Frederick of his funds being directed toward but you even have I mean it seems like he has more than two because whatever says one or two of them of them meaning there's probably a lot of them I don't know I'm just I'm just thinking maybe the Deb is reminding the guy how much good stuff he's involved in and that's the web is General approach by the way when people are feeling bad about what they've done that ever tries to direct them to focus their energy more into positive stuff okay Hashem should fulfill the saying of our sages above Ambassador test of Base okay this is an interesting concept here um zagamada over there and it mentions the idea that somebody who would get a coin from Eve would be blessed and uh yeah the the Gamora is speaking about the wording of the the verse in Eve um that the Sutton is speaking to to Hashem and saying look at you of he's he's got such a a great life materially and spiritually and that even foreign that's the first chapter um the work of his hands or The Works plural of his hands you have blessed what does it mean the works of his hands you have blessed so they come out of there explains that it means that things that eo's hands touched with Carrie blessing so if somebody received a coin from Eve they would have success because of the blessing that was transferred just from receiving a coin that Eve had touched that's how powerful he was that was the that was Eve's touch so to speak so the rabbit is sending a check to this person from the feeder grab his funds and saying being that it's a check from the feeder garbage funds meaning it's free to grab his money so this should have the effect that our sages say about somebody who gets a coin from Eve and it says about him about eov Tom the yasher game it says that he was a sincere man a straightforward man it goes on Akim he was God fearing with and he avoided evil hey this is all of those descriptions that the the the Torah says about Eve can obviously be applied to the fried so the power that receiving a coin from E of has as our sages describe would uh ostensibly it would stand to reason that that same power would be contained in receiving something from the fitted and of course we all know about spent so much of his time and energy giving physical objects to so many whether it be the dollars which is sort of iconic that the the Deb is standing and giving dollars to people which was also for the purpose of Mitzvah like that it made very clear but obviously I had that that meaning as well of receiving something from the hands of the Sadiq that would that itself would have an effect and also that ABBA gave out um and uh tanyas and contrace him so there were many things that that ABBA gave out and it has this effect of carrying with it these blessings as indicated by uh the gomorim okay hapanchally yukare is which is a standard formula for writing writing to specifically a a letter that a it's more than a letter but it's a uh it's a deep deep connection that a classic formulates on paper to a rabbit has specific significance so it's it's informally referred to as a pawn or pidginess Redemption of the Soul so the the Reba says the pond that you wrote apparently there was a letter and upon usually that's how it was done there would be two separate um documents so the devil says your pan I'm going to read at the Isle of the Freddie cadaver at an auspicious time is that really really soon literally soon you should have good news to report in all of the above in other words you know let's put this uh negativity behind us and move on and let's do it with joy but negla it should be good and an obvious apparent way meaning you shouldn't have to philosophize to come up with an interpretation where you see good it should just be Obviously good and the main thing should be with joy and gladness of heart I said this last night this is bench people during this is the way that we should say it Berkus with a blessing for us to be sealed and a complete ceiling for good and that is our letter for tonight we will see you tomorrow night for our special so this poor edition of 30 letters and 30 days