The Soul of Israel: Building a Ramp of Faith

hey everybody Shalom this is rabbi Katz you're listening to the soul of Israel on the land of israel dot-com Land of Israel Network hope you're all doing fantastic as we are here in the Judean Hills I'm joined this morning by my dearest partner and holy crime soul brother on many levels someone I have the privilege of praying with then learning with almost on a daily basis which is a dream on its own Rabbi Ari Abramowitz good morning brother how you doing you look great you look I wish people could see the Clare I see just a lot of light and clarity it's funny because the contrast between walking into da Venegas morning to the davines and then the shear from Donnie isin stock and then your shear it's really a day when we just turn the Sun that sometimes you learn Torah and it just as you get sometimes it is medicinal right he did use that word wonderful that's beautiful I wanted to discuss today something that expresses the shift between I guess the maneuvering between Bereshit and shmutz we just began the book of Exodus when I love I love seifish month much as I it's hard to bid farewell to debris sheet obviously but seifish motives there's something incredible we learn about a lot of miracles and we also learn about when miracles don't play take place that's what I wanted to discuss when when the Torah shows us miracle happens what is it saying tense and when the Torah shows us that a miracle doesn't happen what is Hashem telling us there - so I want to share with you something that I've learned last week a story I learned last week story of a friend of mine I didn't know about this I was out of the country and a mutual basically there's a person a very close friend of mine his name is Amy just take these names for what it is I me and I meet periodically lives in usual line and when I met with him two weeks ago sorry last week Amy said to me where were you on Hanukkah I said I was actually in New York he's like wow wow Ashlyn what you missed like what did I miss he said remember Rafi fil now when he as soon as he said that name I get I got I got the I got I got excited inside a little bit of shaver a little bit of excitement because Raphael is one of the most precious yet and I ever met who lives in but I in he's a therapist life coach if you will and Rafael has been waiting to have a child for many many many many years him and his wife were not youngsters in order meaning all in context rape they're they're young in spirit but he's in his mid-50s and I think she's in her mid 40s and they've been trying for years and years and years to have a child mommy says to me you missed on the eighth day of Hanukkah they had a breat me laugh for their son Rafi was a person that when I would meet with him is a person when I mean when I would meet with him I was blown away by his enthusiastic and optimistic approach to the notion that Hashem can do absolutely anything so ami said to me you're not gonna believe it but they had a baby boy he said and I want to tell you about the speech that he gave it his sons Bri Mila and this is what he said Raphael said his sons Brittany lamb the as he's been building his house the last few years one of the most compelling parts was planning and building the entrance to the house he told the contractor that he doesn't just want stairs going up to the house apparently this must be a level up from ground the entrance to the house that is he told the contractor and that he wants a ramp also so the contractor looked at me said you're not I mean you're not a youngster but you're not that old you don't have to plan in advance for when you you know you need a wheelchair right what's the trip what's the deal here he said no no no I'm not that's not why I want a ramp I want a ramp because I believe that a sham wants me to have a son a child and I'm gonna keep on davon him contractor looked at him confused as did many people that drove by the house afterwards and saw that ramp there but whenever if I will come home and see the ramp to bring him back to that place of the Avenue to have a child no matter what he kept on the Avenue basically what he said was this Britt Milla is all manifested like the miracle of it was manifested through putting that ramp building that ramp despite what anyone thought and said from the contract it's a neighbor's and onlookers the ramp that which seemed like it can't be impossible when a Jew doesn't stop that meaning for something anything is possible and it brings us right into the portions of the week we we see crazy miracles taking place we're gonna see soon the splitting of the seat actually we're starting this job it's already see this portion of the weakness to see the McCook the plague is graining down on egyptians soon we're gonna see the sea split then we're gonna be on mount sinai seeing voices and hearing God's voice and those all stem from they all were basically answers to Jews crying about how difficult things are the Redemption began when Jews started crying but Taha bottom alechem they raised their pain up to college bar home and miracles our responses to Jews ramps if you will right building of their own ramps rain says the run bans something something very points out something very very a mind-boggling that should be something that everyone asks afterwards should be how could it be that God performs the craziest miracles like splitting of the sea and give coming down onto a mountain and yet when their own leader has a speech impediment it's not instantly cured wouldn't that be an essential and a but important miracle take place that unban says do you know why there was no miracle there you know why his speech wasn't cured and because he never asked for it that's exactly what the tour is coming to show you the most basic what would have been seen as the most simple miracle rain didn't happen because it wasn't asked for him says the rat doc Murdoch is one of the parsha name the commentators on the profits and he goes to the story of Jonah and he says that what happened to Jonah Jonah was swallowed by a whale what are the miracles that took place in Jonah's life so he says two main miracles took place one is that he was swallowed by a whale and he was still alive but there's a far greater miracle and what's that that while he was swallowed by a whale and was still alive he kept on diving thinking that there's actually gonna be a way out of here he says to compare the second miracle to the first isn't possible for us the fact that he's still alive is not a miracle you and I could relate to that's God's decision there's nothing to do with our battle here at home she's without free choice but the the fact that he kept on praying while he's in the midst of such darkness before he's even answered that's a miracle on its own so when we look through the book of shmoop and we look in our own lives when do miracles take place and when don't they it seems to be that when you simply say that Shem Abba Father I'm here I need you Hashem can Shem we can respond with the miracle but even moshe rabbeinu with a speech impediment you'd think it'd make most sense for a miracle take place in the name of what not my name uh looking smart you know sounding smarter as a leader of a Jewish people what should I be knows it's not even that his request was denied there was no request he just said how was I how are they gonna hear me when the air outfit I'm way III have these problems with my mouth I stutter or what you know whatever he however you want to explain it how come his request wasn't answered because there was no request he didn't say that sham please heal my mouth so I think like the simple learning we could have from the themes we're gonna be learning specifically in the first part of schmatta Exodus until partially trochus then Mishpatim traumatic severe it's that that's already more details regarding the gifts that we already received but definitely the first half of the book of Exodus is what can't you stop diving for and when you see what you don't even dare to dive in for ask yourself why are you scared to be let down are you fear you have a fear of us I'm not answering you or perhaps you're fearful that a Shem will answer you and then you'll feel like you own him and you don't want to be in that stage either you just want things to happen without you asking for them that's not the way it works the beauty of a relationship is communication communication brings about miracles I mean that's that's in a nutshell and I know we could expand on this for hours right now in a nutshell this teaches this manage touches upon the holy human psychology throughout man's communication with God throughout the tall Torah throughout Jewish throughout history but specifically in these parts when you now read the Pasha's and realize when a miracle took place and when it didn't take place it'll start to resonate a little bit clearer and deeper I think so Ari when was the last time that you didn't pray for something that you could have I'm that's what I'm thinking of right now is as we're talking I think that it's you know Rambam speaks about something that I think about very often that the greatest distance in the world is connecting between the head and the heart and I think sometimes my brain is so consumed about what I should be doing to accomplish what I think I shall wants me to do that I don't really sit down and say what do I really really really want it's almost like and I should give a mush or a bin of the benefit of the debt but when he says on ER Elsa time this I shall not know that it's almost like he's introducing himself and sharing things about himself that maybe Hashem doesn't know right let's get to know each other as if I should have didn't create him with this stutter or list or whatever whatever it was man but but that's really what I'm taking from it is that I need to spend a lot more time just sitting in and thinking just on a very basic simple simple level what do I want sometimes the that's ro not the lacking is that we have are so overwhelmingly loud that we don't we take them for granted and we think okay with these issues that I have how can I best right move forward Hashem help me with that right instead of also thinking well these basic issues that I have you can also help me with that but you but you don't ask for him right not you re I'm saying in general we don't ask for it okay and I think it ends off you know really with the question of question for all of us what's our ramp what are we building our ramp for Raphael built a ramp for his child for her to have a child to be born and bring him into the house that ramp is the keva slimmies bath it's the ramp also too you know like when we wanted to offer something to a Shem you had to go up a ramp to go onto the altar we have to stop and say to so3 boenish no mom we know we have to be full of gratitude and thankful and everything but you also want us to ask anything from you a father wants to be wants to feel that his child can feel a father wants to know that his child can feel they can ask anything from their father why are we scared ask em for everything why why are we so why do we hold ourselves back if dear member Hashem wants us to ask him for everything it's not like a relationship where you don't want to feel needy and the guy doesn't want to feel like you're asking for too much that's not what we're talking about and wound up means Hashem wants me to go to him for everything and ask him for everything from speech impediments to God knows what it doesn't matter what it is should Moshe Rabbeinu have asked for that because maybe there was thinking that well if I shown if you made me this way you know what you're doing I don't want to second-guess you and and ask for you to fix something that you made to begin with there's a way to fall into I saw one of the commentators that said then once you're at Bain who consciously did not ask for it because then he'd have no excuse but to take the job of leading the people out of Egypt oh my goodness that is profound yeah I forgot where I saw that but that's a very good question you raised you know I've had thoughts about my chef and redemption and I think to myself but of course I want mashiac I'm vomiting all the time and I want Redemption but do I really really write do I really really really write I don't know if you know what I mean by asking that of course but that's already I'm Mulliken you to her comes in place with you because by the second really they start making put placing and judging injecting doubt into you and saying you don't really so therefore don't really ask for it well so could you say the same thing about my sure being or not wanting his Lisp to be ill because then he would have to then I wouldn't dare go there because my shirt obey no says look I'm BL can wash it or whatever however far-reaching a man can read a man can reach with intellect my shereena was the up there Shaba up there in terms of supernal intellect and oh my lookit godly wisdom but I think that even forgave I shared meaning for a second it really goes back to asking ourselves where don't we davon not out of laziness but over what don't we pray and to go there and be vulnerable enough to say do I really think that God can't do everything cuz if God is God he can do everything and that's where the world of Fela begins that's where the world of miracles begin and that's how we're introduced to the book of Exodus it's the book where we go into the darkness and write awake start coming out of the darkness receive the light on Mount Sinai and then try to figure out what we do with it so I bless us all bless me back please all our friends listening to listen to the heart inside that always says don't ever stop praying don't ever give up hope and even though the sounds so cliche and so corny by now don't ever give up don't ever give up the Rebbe Nachman wrestlers screamed on his deathbed and shown Yosh by Elham claw because when you realize that you can Davin you realize that anything can happen and this is a generation that's left with its broening left with prayer basically with all the tires that we have we all know the Torres that they need to lead us to praying crying to Hashem so if that's the case we're in a good place we're in a great place we're sitting in the Land of Israel we're a result of people that didn't give up we're a result of people that after a third of its nation was murdered brutally murdered we somehow believed in miracles let's keep that going with resolution please please reach out to us Shalom wat Land of Israel calm re Atlanta visible calm let's keep this conversation going in between shows have a beautiful rest of the week and shabbat shalom from