The Key to Success & Blessing: 4 Lessons From the Olive - Rabbi Shmuel Wagshal

Okay, another and this year was generously sponsored whose yard site it was today with the blessing and hope that the yeshiva that he built should be vibrant and strong until the coming of Msiah. The alik today is going to discuss an interesting question. Um, we know that the purpose of the Mishkan, we spoke about this last week, the purpose of the Mishkan was that Hashem wanted to have a resting place in this world to be able to send the energy, the shea, the abundance that this world needs to to uh to exist. He wanted to be amongst us in this world sending it. He didn't want to be in heaven. He wanted to be with us and from our space send out the abundance and the shuffa to the world. He wanted that because he wanted to be close to us and he wanted us to be close to him. And that is the purpose why we had to build the b mikdash the mishkan so that he should have a house and a dwelling place in this world to maintain and continue send uh continue setting uh sending the shea into this world. But we know that he says where did this come from? Where was Hashem's presence? Where was he? Where did Hashem rest? In the in the holy of holies in the place where the rested there was the kuim. And between the krim was where hashem's spirit hashemina rested and from that space is where hashem sent all the shafa into the world. And from that space all the light of the world comes out both physical and spiritual. Everything that we have in this world came through the conduit of the of the of the Shakadashim. So he asks a very simple question. If that was the purpose of the Mishkan and that was the purpose of the Shakadashim, why do we need a place called the Kaidesh the holy the holy section of the of the Mishkan? And specifically why did we need the vessels and specifically the vessels that we're going to discuss today is the main two vessels that were in the kesh in the holy area the holy sanctuary was the manra and the shulan the manra and the table of the showbread why was it needed what was the purpose of that and of course it wasn't needed because hashem needed light from the minura and needed bread you know he needed to eat something. So, you know, he had to put some bread out for him. Of course, that wasn't the reason. So, what was the reason that Hashem commanded the Jewish people to put a mana, a candalabra in the kesh, and the in the kesh? What was the purpose of that? Right outside of the holy of holies. [snorts] So, the alik explains as follows. The garra says a very cryptic idea. If somebody wants to get rich, [snorts] he should turn northward. And if someone wants to be wise, he should turn southward. Why? Because the the table the the showbread table was in the north and the minaru was in the south. As the garra says what does that mean? Because this was in the north. This was in the south. So if I want to get north, I look that way. And if if I want to get rich, I look north. And if I want to get wise, I look south. What what does this mean? So he explains as follows. Really, Hashem wanted that he should send all the abundance of the world through his holy abode, the Kaidakadasha. But he understood, Hashem understood that if he's just going to send it from one place, from one holy abode, the receivers, the people will not understand or feel like they are personally receiving what was given to them. They will look at it like there's a main office that sends out sends out money, sends out food, sends out health, sends out wisdom, sends out children, sends out happiness. And then each person has to fight for his own lot. You have to work hard to get to receive it. You have to you have to you have to uh you know come to the yeshiva to learn and and you'll become wise. But it's it's a free-for-all. He sends it out and it's a free-for-all. People will not appreciate that Hashem is not just sending it out in the world and it's our job to grab it. But actually, Hashem is sending each and every person exactly what he needs at every single moment. Both in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm. And the reason we need to know this is not only because we need to appreciate that Hashem is giving this to us, but also because a prerequisite for us to receive it properly is to create for ourselves to become a vessel in order to receive it properly. Because when Hashem sends us things doesn't necessarily mean we're going to receive it. Why wouldn't we receive it? Because we're not a vessel. We didn't make a vessel in order to contain it. So, how are we able to make ourselves the best vessel possible in order to receive the physical and spiritual abundance that Hashem sends us? Whether it's food, whether it's health, whether it's wisdom, whether it's spiritual light, how do we prepare ourselves in order to become a proper vessel to receive that which Hashem is sending us personally? So he says the tools that Hashem wanted us to be able to use in order to get into our consciousness of how to receive everything that Hashem sent us is specifically the showbread table and the minora. How is that? So the explains that Hashem like we just said sends everything physical and spiritual. So the first thing he deals with is the physical. All physicality, all money, all sustenance, all food is sent from the kaideshad from the holy of holies. And the conduit that it goes through is the shulhan. And why is that? Because he says if you look at the shulhan, there were 12 loaves of bread on the shan. Why was there 12 loaves of bread? So he explains because the 12 loaves of bread represent the 12 tribes and Hashem wanted us to think about the idea that Hashem is not just sending sustenance in the world and it's you know random. It's our job to accept to to to grab what we can but Hashem is sending each tribe exactly what they need. Each tribe gets a portion and in each tribe we're supposed to come to the consciousness and awareness that in each tribe each family gets such a need and each family each comes down to each person. So we look at the and we tell ourselves we are aware that all the work we're doing in this world all the hardships we're going through to make Hashem is sending it to us and not just random [snorts] Hashem is sending each and every one of us personally exactly what we need and the prerequisite to receive this blessing is to appreciate that it's coming from Hashem. Another thing we know about the bread was that it was always warm. it a whole week. It was put on in the beginning of the week and taken off at the end of the week and it was always warm. It stayed warm for a week. And the alik explains something very interesting. He says that the reason why it was always warm is to show that Hashem is constantly giving us. Hashem doesn't get stale. Hashem doesn't forget about us. The sustenance is continuously coming. It is only in our hands to be able to be the proper vessel to receive it. So the first thing we have to understand as far as our physical um experience in this world is that everything we have is coming from Hashem. And when we appreciate and we look at the and we see that Hashem is sending it to us personally and he has our exact needs in mind and everything that we need is there for us to take and if we don't have it that means we don't need it and everything that is needed we have. This is the weirdness that we need in order for Hashem to fully in order for us to fully receive what Hashem is sending us. This is in the way of the physical. What about the minra? So you turn to the south and you see the mana. So the alik says what can we look at and glean from the mana to see what do we need to prepare ourselves in order to be a vessel to receive God's wisdom, God's light, God's spiritual uh God's spiritual spir the spiritual awareness of God. So he says very interesting things. He says that the verse starts off he should command the Jewish people should take he says for themselves the first thing they have to realize is that each person in this world receives his portion of spirituality his portion of the Torah his portion of godly awareness that is meant for him and it's my portion to take so take for yourself take your portion how she so he says there are many things we can learn from olive oil it's a very interesting idea he has many many things that we look at the we see the olive oil there are many many things that we could learn and we should glean from it in order to pure ourselves to be the vessel to receive god's wisdom so the first thing he says is that sheas a olive is something that you have to plant the tree in the field and it take time and water and effort in order to grow the olive properly and then you have to harvest the olives. All of this is being done in the field and then you have to squeeze the olive in order for it to come out the olive oil. All of this being done in the field or being done outside. And what finally happens with the final product? It comes into someone's home and his house is bright. But from the perspective of the field, the tree could ask, I did all this work. I grew a tree, spent years working very hard to produce this beautiful olive. Where did what what happened to it? All I saw is that it fell to the floor. They crushed it and took it somewhere. What happened to it? Nothing happened. What a waste. I'm working so hard and nothing is coming from it. But we know that all that work and all that years of toil ended up being the final product where someone could sit in his home and it could light in his house. So too, a person has to know that all the mitzvah and all the Torah he's learning and all the awareness of God that he has even though we don't may not appreciate fully what we're doing, we're going through it's a lot. Sometimes it's a lot of work, takes a lot of effort and what takes sometimes it takes money. You have to buy things two mitzvah. Sometimes it takes time. You have to you have to focus. You have to put energy. And we ask ourselves where is this all going? I made kesh. I put on I fill I did all these mitzvah. I don't see anything happening. But just as the olive doesn't see the light that he's bringing into someone's home, we do not necessarily see the light that we're turning on in the higher realms. that every single mitzvah we're doing is igniting and lighting up the higher realms. And the same way Hashem sends sustenance down here, our mitzvah and our actions sends spiritual sustenance in the higher realms. Sometimes a person turns light on in this room, but you don't see that the light turned on in another in another room. You turn the flick on in this room, but it it lit up another room. That is what mitzvah are. So when we be aware and we appreciate that mitzvah and learning Torah is not just getting knowledge or learning something or just doing uh you know cultural actions that make us feel Jewish but it's actually changing the world. We just don't necessarily see it but one day we will see it and we will appreciate it in the world to come. So so when we do when we have this awareness we could do a mitzvah with the right attitude with the right understanding and we will take it seriously. This is the first thing we can learn from the olive. The second thing he says we can learn is that she zolve oil that is pure that is pure. Right? So he says that every mitzvah that we do, every spiritual action we do, we should appear ourselves that we are doing this because Hashem wants us to do it and for no other reason. Because a person could learn in order to become a big rabbi and become famous or in order to be able to make money or in order to be able to have fame or people look at him and say, "Wow, look at this great person." Or a person could do mitzvah or do kindness because he wants people to look at him and say, "Amazing. Look what this guy's doing." But the reason we should do every single mitzvah in this world is because and only because God told us to do it. And the more pure reason we do it, the lighter the the lighter the mitzvah shines. Just as olive oil, the purer it is, the brighter the light. So too with every one of our mitzvah. Any mitzvah we do shines. But the purer we have in our intentions and the pure mindset we have for doing it, the mitzvah shines even brighter. So this is what we learn from the pure of purity of the olive. The third thing he says we learn is that it has to be cussus. What does it mean cussus? Really really crushed. Now, what is the purpose of an olive being crushed? Is it to hurt the olive? Of course not. It's because the most important part of the olive and the most valuable part of the olive is in the oil. And in order to receive the oil, you have to crush the olive. So to a person in life goes through spiritual hardships, goes through spiritual challenges and physical hardships and challenges. And he could turn to God and say, "What am I going through these hardships for?" and all these challenges for what is the purpose of this? But a person again has to realize that in order to become the best product that you could become in order to be the best vessel to receive true wisdom and true understanding of Hashem, sometimes we need to go through hardships. This is for your good. And each person has the hardships that he has to go through, whether physical, spiritual, emotional, that Hashem knows is exactly right for him in order for him to become the vessel that he needs to become to receive the wisdom of Hashem and the light of Hashem. So a person has to realize that everything he's going through in life is preparing him to become a vessel to receive the wisdom. And when he lives his life with this awareness, he is in fact making himself a better vessel again to receive the wisdom of God and to receive the light of Hashem. So again, this is another thing that we can learn from the olive that the crushing is for a purpose. So, and the the final thing that he says is that there has to be an element of humbleness because really the purest part of the olive is the oil which is just a little tip a little a little a little seed a little little a little drop a little drop and that's where the greatness comes from. The little drop of olive oil is the from the whole olive that the first pure the first pure drop is where the greatest light comes from. When we look at ourselves as just a little drop as humb and we humble ourselves in that drop comes all the wisdom. And this is why Moshenu who was the humblest of all men was also the wisest of all men. Because in order for a person to receive God's wisdom, to receive God's light, to receive God's, you must be humble. And again, looking at the olive oil, you see this whole olive, you see this whole tree, you see everything. What is the purpose of all of this? What is the highest point of this entire tree? One little tiny drop. So if you look at yourself as a tiny drop, you will have the ability to become the purest olive oil. But if you look at yourself as something that's very big then you're just a bark on the tree worthless. So a person has these messages to look at says the al to look at the in order to be receptical to understand that Hashem is sending you the wisdom you need the clarity you need the awareness you need to live in this world but understand that in order to be the best person to receive this you have to appreciate first of all what it is you're doing you're not just learning Torah or just doing mitzvah because of you know to learn something new or to because you're reading a nice novel you're reading a nice philosophical ideal Learning Torah, doing mitzvah brightens the entire world and literally brings energy to the higher realms which we will see we will receive and appreciate when we come to the next world. We're doing the work in this world which is the field in order to receive the light in the next world. Second of all that we have to be pure. Our mo the purer the motives the purer the the light that we send out. Just as an olive the purer the oil the purer the light the brighter it shines. And again third of all that cuss that the more we the more you get crushed understand that Hashem is preparing yourself to be the best vessel possible to receive God's wisdom. And fourth of all to be like the ta the little the little the little droplet that understand that if you look at yourself as a little droplet like that's where Hashem sends his wisdom. But if you look at yourself as this great being you look at yourself hy you don't look at yourself humbly then you have less space for God's wisdom to enter. So this is the message that Hashem says God sending everything through the holy of holies but he wants us to be able to receive it. In order for us to receive, we have to understand that we are personally receiving what we have what we have to get from Hashem. But in order to do that, we need to make ourselves a receptacle both for the physical and the spiritual. And that's the idea of the and the