0:00 / 0:00
Tisha B'Av 2025, R' Schaffel, R' Kleinman, Reb Geldzahler, R' Greenberg, R, Lati, R' Glatstein
2,778 views
Rabbi Gershon Schaffel Rabbi Heshy Kleinman Reb Chaim Ozer Geldzahler Rabbi Dov Greenberg Rabbi Uri lati Rabbi Doniel Glatstein A special thank you for Reb Chaim Shmuel Friedman for the videos. See the Bais Hamikdush as it has not been seen over 2000 years https://baishamikdash.com/ For ES Studios for editing and structuring the video
Chapters
Comments(0)
Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
D
[Music]
and I've seen enough I've seen
[Music]
Oh,
[Music]
>> it's hard to believe that we are here
once again mourning the Bikto, the
destruction of Bikto,
the exile, the Claustro from Israel in
the continued suffering and
anti-semitism that we face. Sadly, we're
now experiencing in real time what we
say every year in the hold
that every generation we have enemies
that are have their sights set on
destroying and annihilating the Jewish
people. And we're experiencing it now in
out in the open. Rather than being
behind closed doors and being secretive
about it and being somewhat subtle in
their anti-semitism, we now see it in
the news. We now see political leaders
feeling confident enough that they can
express it without any fear of backlash
or fear of being marginalized. It's
something which is frightening to to be
here. But all of this ultimately is a
consequence of the consequence of the
fact that when the was destroyed went
back up to so we lost our we lost our
attachment to to Hashem. And what's
always interesting to to consider is the
fact that Khazal decided that they were
going to go ahead and use the model of a
to express and to capture the emotions
which they want us to experience during
this this time of year and it's not
something which just went ahead and
latched on to but over the generation
through the time of the rish the go and
the rishonim so the experience of aos
has expanded rather than being just
tishabove itself or even air of tishab
or even shuabo the week in which tishab
occurs. So it extends in some regards
even through the entire three weeks the
entire beginning with
we already begin to experience some of
the aus and it increases with time and
the question obviously is why did kazal
choose this as the mode by which we're
going to observed
of all the things which they could have
chosen all the emotions and all the
practices which they could have come up
with they could have innovated something
newbas
was something that experienced
once and then a second time. So they
could come up with their own method of
commemoration. We have things which we
do specifically
we have
which addresses practices and
restrictions which we observe
specifically to commemorate
acknowledging that life cannot be the
same without the bas. But why aus? Aus
we know is the observance that we do
when a person passes away when a close
relative passes away. So we tear ka and
we sit in the shiva and we sit and there
are restrictions on our behavior against
sim. But over here when it comes to
when it comes to the gullus of from
Israel, why would Kazal go ahead and
choose the mode of a as the expression
of of that? Aus would indicate that
somebody died and we know that it's true
that many people died, but we're not
really mourning the death of those
people who died when the B mikdash was
destroyed. The mourning, the ais is
really for the BA mikdash. seemingly
it's for the basal
choose that as our mode of observance of
besamed
and I think that its core as with
everything that that we do there are the
superficial expressions and the
superficial behaviors which we do but
those behaviors which we are instructed
to do and observe and to follow are
really simonyim of something which is
much deeper and if we're going to truly
understand what kazal want us to
experience erience. We have to be able
to go to the root of what they want us
to experience. Not simply the
observances and the behaviors and the
restrictions. It's not about not eating
meat or drinking wine. It's not about
not wearing new clothes or making haz
want us to think more deeply about why
we're doing those things. And once we
can understand why we're doing those
things, that's the emotion which kaz
really want us to experience during this
during this period of time.
In a itself is something which is not
merely the an expression of the fact
that somebody has died that somebody was
alive yesterday and they're not alive
today and therefore a is going to be the
way that we observe that. Aus or grief
is really because there was somebody who
was in our lives, a very important part
of our lives, one of the seven close
relatives or Revi Muak or something or
something like that and all of a sudden
they're no longer here in this world and
the ais which we observe at that time is
because there's a part of us which is
attached to that person who's no longer
here. Whether it's a father, whether
it's a mother, whether it's a sibling or
a spouse or a child, Rahman, there was a
part of us we in the relationships that
we have. So there's an element of deos.
There's an element of attachment.
There's an element of of connection.
This is the way we're wired to connect
to other people over the course of of
our lifetime. Nobody is supposed to live
on a remote island all by themselves
without any connection to other people
whatsoever. Can't survive under those
conditions. So we have the people who
are our immediate relatives who surround
us. So they become a part of who we are.
Our soul is connected to them. Their
soul is connected to us. And upon the
passing of one of those relatives, upon
the passing of that person who's
significant or rebiu, what happens is is
that there's a part of us which now has
a gaping
wound which cannot be filled. There's a
part of me which is no longer connected.
The connection the devus which I had
with that person bound me together with
that person and now that they're no
longer here it leaves an open wound in
the in the survivor and the ais which we
have is the recognition of the fact that
there's a part of me which is missing.
It's not merely that the ais is it's not
merely the honor which we give to the
deceased but there's also for the
survivors because the survivors now have
to figure out how to adapt and how to
live with a part of them who's almost
literally missing from their lives and
that's something which is incredibly
painful for anybody who's experienced a
loss of a loved one. So one knows what
that is. Even a close friend one knows
the feeling of of being disconnected of
being disoriented because a part of you
is now exposed and that raw pain of the
loss of that person is something which
hurts very very deeply and that's really
the ais which a want us to experience
when we think about
the destruction of the Bikdash is
something which is an outerious
almost expression of something which is
deeper. The dull the exile which was
sent into in which we continue to live
in is also in a expression of something
which is much deeper. The most deepest
part of Bamit is the fact that the Bamit
represented that attachment, that
connection between
and
created the world in order to be able to
have a dus relationship together with
together with an amar those who will be
loyal to Torah emits and the bas was
that place where and gashmi where the
physical and the spiritual would bind
together. That's where heaven and earth
would meet. And that was representative
of the devas, the relationship that
we're supposed to have with.
And that's what fueled us. And that's
what allowed us to be able to live in
this close proximity spiritually, this
close proximity to the 410 years of the
first Bik, the 420 years of the second
Bik. And then upon
what happens is says that this
relationship isn't working in its
current state and I have to leave. I'm
going back up to Shamayim. And when
leaves, when his presence, his presence
leaves,
we're left with just the outer shell of
a building. And when by the time the
nations came in and they destroyed, they
burned the bay, they were just burning
the outer shell, the remnants of what
used to be the bamed, but all rrook was
already devoid. All RNA was already
missing from the building at at that
point. Bam represents this superficial
expression of the fact that the deacus
relationship that we had with Baraku was
now missing
goes into a mode of hester panim of
concealment. And in the same way when a
relative or a good friend or rebu is no
longer with us we feel that gaping hole
inside of our own nishas inside of our
own body because our loved one is no
longer here. So you saw collectively
felt this gaping wound of the absence of
aes the deacus which we used to have
which would be overt and which would be
obvious and which was tangible and
during many of those years we could see
explicit miracles taking place
expressive of the relationship that we
have with and the devas that we have
with
suddenly that was gone and the
realization that it's gone is something
which is so incredibly painful that in
the same way losing Loing a parent,
losing a child, losing a spouse, losing
a sibling, losing a rebiu leaves this
gaping hole of pain of raw pain that one
is going that the survivor is going to
experience.
Israel who now is no longer actively
connected to now that has gone into
concealment. He's gone into upon him. So
now all of a sudden we're left with this
gaping raw wound which is incredibly
painful. And that's why chose a as the
mode of expression
of
of the gulus which we have to experience
because it's the same way that an
attachment figure an attachment person
that we felt deeply connected to is no
longer here and now we're left trying to
pick up the pieces trying to adjust
trying to figure out how to manage life
without this attachment figure. And
isn't just stam an attachment figure. He
was he is our loving father, our loving
spouse. He is the loving king. He's the
one who took care of all of our needs.
And now that he's no longer here in an
obvious way, in a in a clear intangible
way. Now we can only find him in hester
upon him in a con from a concealed place
from behind the curtain.
So this is something which leaves
pisrael devastated as a result and it's
for that reason that they chose aos as
that mode of expression because it's the
same type of devastating loss of the of
the relationship that we have with that
we now observe.
Now what's interesting here is is that
there's regular grief and then there's
what I refer to maybe clinically as well
but there is there is complex grief.
What's the difference between regular
grief and complex grief? Regular grief
is we know the person, we know the loved
one has died. They're no longer here.
And as a result of the fact that they're
no longer here, so we know that we're
going to have to pivot and we're going
to have to shift our our our life moving
forward. We're going to have to manage
the new reality of not having that loved
one in our lives, not having that rebby
in our lives anymore in a physical way.
That's what regular Greek. But
ultimately, we know that there's
finality to it. There's finality to it
in the sense that we know that the
person has died. We know that until
they're not coming back. And we're going
to have to learn how to live in our new
reality without that person. Complex
grief is when there's an aspect of their
existence. There's an aspect of the
attachment which is gone. But at the
same time, we're still able to hold on
to some sort of hope that maybe it's not
really true and maybe the person is
still here. And it becomes very
difficult to be able to grieve when that
happens because we don't know because
there is no finality to it. There's no
closure to it. We're not certain that we
need to move on because we still yearn
for that attachment which we which we
want so desperately and we're not able
to move on to the step of being able to
accept consolation.
If you think about what tells the Torah
tells us what Kazal tells us with
regards to Jacob and Yoseph, the
brothers come and they tell Yakov Au
that Yseph has died. And as much as all
of the children and grandchildren came
to be a to Yakov wasn't able to accept.
Why wasn't able to accept? Because there
was a part of him which did not accept
the fact that Yseph had actually died.
Whether you would call it denial,
whether you're going to call it nva,
whatever you're going to call it, it
doesn't really make a difference. But
Jacob could not accept, he could not
accept consolation because there was a
part of him which was unwilling to let
go of the relationship, the attachment
that he had together with Yoseph. And as
a result of that, he was inconsolable.
And in the same way so we as krael
although haku disappeared although the
bameites was destroyed although finds
themselves in gullis subject to intense
anti-semitism the whole door in every
generation and yet we never lose hope on
the one hand we want to mourn we want to
grieve we want to be able to move on but
we refuse to accept the fact that this
is our circumstance forever that's why
we say for example
It doesn't make a difference how many
years have gone by. It could be decades.
It could be centuries. It could be
thousands of years since it was it was
centuries and centuries that CL did not
have a strong presence in Eric is yet
never lost sight of the fact that that's
where we need to return. We all know
that that's where we ultimately want to
land because we know that when returns
Israel that's expressive and that will
be representative of the restoration of
the relationship that we're supposed to
have together with
and therefore we're inconsolable
after all of these hundreds and
thousands of years since
we're not willing to let it go. Not
because we're commemorating something
which happened in the past per se, but
the fact that we continue to live in
this circumstance of hester. We continue
to be struggle with our
we have so many questions and we have so
many unanswered
difficulties about our relationship with
how Hashem is treated
both in a general sense as well as
individuals. And it's something which we
we we cannot let go of the fact that we
have so many promises from the nave that
there will be a gulah and we never lose
sight of that. We never lose hope over
that and as a result of that our grief
is inconsolable. We can't get past it.
Even at year after year after year that
we sit and we mourn and we follow all of
the restrictions and all of the
observances and all the expressions of
aus which should allow us to be able to
experience and be able to move on. Yet
the grief which we experience the ais
which we have is complex grief because
as much as we have to come to terms with
the fact that this is our reality but we
don't have to accept that this is going
to be our reality forever. And as a
result of that,
so never fully accepts over the
circumstance which we find ourselves in
because we continue to uh to uh to to
hope as we move forward.
Regular grief leads to being able to
manage the life our lives without the
physical presence of our loved one a
anymore. We continue to keep them in our
lives. That's part of that's a high
level of attachment is to be able to
hold a person close even when they're
not in close physical proximity. But we
know that physically they're not coming
back. And we make that adjustment from
just from their physical presence to
their their presence, but not in a
physical form.
But the complex grief of of
so we're not able to move on. We're not
able to take that final step and say,
you know what, I'm settled here. I'm
good to go. I'm going to build my life
over here and I'm going to just accept
the fact that this gullless circumstance
this no circumstance this circumstance
that I'm going to accept that forever
this is something which we are
inconsolable and it's something which is
unacceptable for us and the only thing
that we yearn for and we continue to
hope for we continue to daven for we
continue to work for is the restoration
of the duas which were supposed to have
with the because ultimately
golas was all about the breakdown of the
deus the breakdown of the attachment the
breakdown of the close relationship that
we had with
and the gula is going to be the
restoration of that relationship it's
going to be the rebuilding of the bik
the in gathering of the gulas for
everybody to come back together and to
be able to live with the bas with as the
center and the focal point of all of our
lives of and it's in this regard that we
continue no matter how many times a
person is going to observe the ais of
the and the nine days and air of tishab
and tishab itself it's never going to be
enough because we can never be consoled
we can never accept true for what we are
experiencing currently the only that we
can have is when returns with mikdash it
It happened.
Amen.
[Music]
Oh, now she
[Music]
now she
[Music]
know
[Music]
is the day we mourn the destruction of
the B minus.
But what does it mean to mourn the
destruction of the Bash Midas? In the
golden era of the Bash Migdos, Hakbo
whose presence was so profoundly clear
and tangible, Jews who journeyed to us
and found themselves irresistibly drawn
to Ducha. The Ramban tells us that after
the Jewish people conquered and divided
Israel as a clear manifestation of the
brought this, anyone who spoke would
immediately be punished with Saras
and they were open miracles witnessed by
all who came to the B mdash. The mission
of lists open miracles in the B of
Mikdash.
Fire from heaven came down on the mbeak
upon him stayed warm all week and
somehow there was enough space for
everyone of all sheld.
You see in the time of the B mikdash's
involvement was visibly clear in every
single detail as clear as daylight. In
the time of the basdos the miracles
weren't rare they were daily. Hakur's
hand wasn't just something that they
believed in. It was seen
the time of the mdash who actually saw
in action. The miracles were a living
manifestation of real presence available
for everyone to see and experience.
The miracles made our presence
unmistakably real.
The time of the bash mdash, we knew with
clarity what the puss meant.
belongs the earth and all it that it
contains the world and all those who
dwell in it. This pa confirms that the
entire world with everything in it and
with everyone who lives in it belongs to
and as a result in the time of the bash
mdash we felt's love we experienced
protection and we felt secure because we
knew with certainty that was involved
directly in everything in our lives.
So in reality the is about mourning the
whose presence is missing it's not open
on the world stage and when we mourn the
bayas we're talking about mourning the
clarity who runs everything in the world
the clarity who loves us the clarity
that always washes over us with his
destruction of the
whose vivid presence has been obscured
his divine existence once so overt is
now hiding behind the curtain of nature.
We lack the feeling of security when
things go wrong. And if that's the case,
an honest question must be asked. How
can we truly mourn something that we
never saw? How can we cry for a loss
we've never experienced?
It's like asking a man, a man who'd been
blind from birth to feel the fact that
he never saw a sunset, that he never saw
the sparkle on a loved one's eyes, that
he never saw the rain.
How could he have seen it? How could he
have an experience? He's blind. So too,
we were born into a world without the B
mikdash. How then can we be expected to
truly feel the pain of its absence?
So, I'd like to share a story with you
that happened to me last year. Something
remarkable happened to me which
profoundly impacted my understanding of
what we are missing with the destruction
of the B mikdash. The date was July
12th, 2024. When I was learning the
discusses the exchange between and in
which makes a heartfelt plea to Hashem
that perhaps his suffering is happening
by accident.
Maybe a storm passed before you when you
are confused between
and the word which means enemy. Maybe my
suffering is a mistake.
Responds with three parables
illustrating his precise control over
the world. Parable number one.
Barasi I created countless hairs on a
person and each one is sustained by its
own follicle. No two hairs draw from the
same one. And if two hairs were to share
a follicle
tells it would impair man's vision. And
if I do not confuse the follicles and
the hair, how could I confuse?
Parable number two.
I created the rain in the cloud
has its own channel
of two drops would come out of the same
same channel. Guess what?
The earth's ability to bear fruit would
be diminished. It wouldn't happen. And
therefore said to if I did not confuse
drops of brain how could I have confused
in parable number three the most
powerful one's
letters
do you know when the wild goats give
birth or when
what happens
explains that the wild goat seemingly
cruel gives birth at top a mountain
And I send an eagle
to cast a kid at the exact moment.
If it would come one moment too early,
too soon or too late. You know what
would happen? That little kid would die.
He would fall down in the valley. And
therefore the aisha says how would I
confuse
these three parables demonstrate's
precise control and unfailing justice
beyond human comprehension.
These parables underscore's
infinite precision assuring that nothing
in the world including e suffering
happens by accident.
So how does learning a gamura create an
epiphany? I had a light bulb moment
where the truth became clear.
You see, that was on July 12th. The very
next day, July 13th in Butler,
Pennsylvania, I saw this very Gomorrah
come to life. The Gamarra was no longer
an abstract. On the 13th, the Gammorra
compl became completely real. You see,
on July 13th, a wouldbe assassin tried
to assassinate President Donald Trump.
And by doing so, the bullet missed his
head by a margin so thin that instead of
delivering a fatal shot, the human
precision could not even have been
calculated, the president remained
alive. Think about it. that day in
Butler, Pennsylvania, had the wind
gusted less, had Trump's head turned in
a slightly different direction, sooner
or later, or had the adrenaline of the
shooter would have been beating slowly.
The world would have been plunged into
chaos. The United States maybe would
have even had a civil war. Was shocking.
This wasn't luck.
Protest in action. You see, if you look
closely, if you really look, you'll see
that it was the assassin was positioned
with the perfect line of sight.
The gun was powerful and accurate. The
moment was chaotic, and yet he missed.
And the question is how? How could he
have missed? And then I thought about
the gam with that I had learned just a
day earlier.
in the Gomorrah is speaking not just to
speaking to every single Jew.
If Trump would have moved his head one
moment sooner or one moment later,
You know why the assassin's bullet
missed? There's only one reason
telling the world
is telling the world
the president would have died and
therefore
The bullet missed
perhaps because
using
President Trump flawed and humanlike as
all leaders are to protect, support and
uplift CLA Israel just like the ais you
Cyrus the great the Persian king Kesh in
the days of the Bidos.
And perhaps a who wanted President Trump
to be alive to bomb Iran almost exactly
one year later
and for the United States to attack
Iran's nuclear facilities.
Or maybe the asterist wanted Trump to be
alive for future events that have yet to
unfold.
But for me, for me the confluence of
events on July 13th, exactly one day
after I learned that
for me became a light bulb moment.
You see, I had been learning the for
over 30 years.
And I have learned the same several
times over with learning it in.
And yet this time within one day this
garra became my light bulb moment
or a truth about
the same thing that the Jews during the
bda saw over and over each and every day
it became clear to me but why this time
so desplains
as follows.
There are those who speak about
recognizing.
They say it with their lips but not with
their hearts.
[Music]
If a person truly internalizes the
reality of guidance
and his heart perceives the miracles
with clarity,
[Music]
his actions will inevitably change
entirely
from one extreme to the other.
Otherwise there is no change in his
action was teaching us you know what
we're missing with the destruction of
the B mikdash
you see when the B migdash was standing
involvement was visible we were able to
see it and to internalize it with
clarity we lived it we experienced it we
felt it in every detail as clear as
daylight light
in the time of the B mig miracles
weren't real they were daily
whose hand wasn't just believed it was
seen
the times of the B mda she didn't have
to believe
without knowing you actually saw in
action
at the time of the midash the miracles
were a living manifestation's
real presence available for everybody
body to see and experience
the miracle made presence unmistakably
real.
You know what deser is telling us
that seeing
in action has the power to transform us
deeply.
And if we genuinely saw the hidden
miracles and the divine precision
surrounding us every single day
would not be just theoretical
but would become a lived reality.
And you know what would happen? Our
actions, our priorities, our very
essence would shift dramatically.
It would reflect a life aligned with our
gurb whose presence and his loving care.
You see, abstract lessons which are not
vivid demonstrations do not awaken us.
They don't jolt us into realizing that
nothing in this world is random.
Seeing is believing.
Because when we see something, it
creates a visceral undeniable connection
to reality.
moment or if I would send it a moment
later Miyad Mace the little child from
that bur that gives birth on the top of
the mountain that child would die so
I don't confuse the moment
the is telling us I am still here I
still run the world
but you know why you take such an
unusual event at least for me like
Butler, Pennsylvania. It was so unusual
or so remarkable, the confluence of
events, the exact moment. Why did that
have to happen to show me that Hashem
runs the world?
Gives a beautiful parable that explains
this idea.
A man is grieving the loss of his infant
daughter
and he was walking one day with the go
and the
who gently held the man's held and
inquired do you notice my firm grip?
Yes, the man replied
then pointed out but you're wearing a
watch that doesn't seem to bother you.
You don't seem to feel it. Why is that?
And the man was puzzled.
Slammed explained the following. You
don't feel the watch because you have
grown accustomed to the watch gripping
your hand each and every day. But my
unexpected touch however ah that you
felt immediately. It was unexpected.
And this is the way reaches out to us.
Butler Pennsylvania July 13th. The day
after I learned that gamarra, I had
learned that gamarra over and over many
times garnished.
But when I saw when I saw with my own
eyes the video of what happened when the
president got shot and tragedy was
averted.
You know what I saw? I saw more than
tragedy being averted. I saw Elmune in
action. I saw unexpected grip holding
our hand at that time. We got a glimpse
what it meant living with the bas what
it was all about
who governs every bullet, every
heartbeat, every breath.
On a hot summer's day in Butler,
Pennsylvania
gave the world the same message he gave.
We're not like blind men who have never
seen a beautiful sunrise, the
magnificent sunset, a beautiful radiant
color. We have seen it. All we have to
do is look for it. Kim Kfski explains
the puzzle
the glory of the
it proclaims his handiwork. Yes, the
heavens at the ais he speaks to us.
He speaks to us like events in Butler,
Pennsylvania on July 13th last year. He
tells us to do chuba when a calamity
happens.
used to encourage his students to view
world events such as wars at divine
messages.
The Pik says the mind of the king and
hand and although man has the free will
to choose between good and evil the
king's decision particularly those
affecting global affairs such as war are
directed by the aisha.
With this I was able to figure out
perhaps three years ago I wondered why
would au have Putin invade Ukraine
and perhaps now with the 12day war with
Iran with the United States knocking out
Iran's nuclear sites perhaps who wanted
Russia to be so busy that Russia should
be in so over their heads in Ukraine
that they can't be involved with the
wars in Gaza and Iran.
Sam Cipher used to say that global
events especially wars are orchestrated
by the Aisha through heavenly
representatives of each nation.
The truth is
every aspect of our world
widespread global events they're all
imbued with spiritual significance. Each
moment, each incident serves as a
message from the hash
clamoring for us to acknowledge his
presence and awaken our spirituality.
And that's what the garra means in a
no calamity strike the world is it
doesn't mean that we should view
ourselves as a direct cause of all
global disasters. But if misfortune
reigns upon the world, it's a message to
us to the cha. If misfortune reigns upon
cla themselves,
then we need to take responsibility.
You see, the truth is miracles still do
happen. It's just the miracles that
happen in our day, they look different
than the way they used to appear in the
time of the ba mikdash. Now the miracles
are wrapped in nature.
The miracles are wrapped in politics.
The miracles are wrapped in war.
In our day
still runs all the world events,
sometimes gently
and sometimes with thunder.
Every millisecond and millimeter in the
Trump assassination attempt was
orchestrated with precision like the
ais's message to either one slight
variation and the outcome could have
been catastrophic impacting millions in
the United States and billions
worldwide.
This visible display to us
serves as a powerful reminder. Nothing
is random.
This showcases
mastery of even the smallest detail of
life.
So it's not enough just to theorize
about a bou's presence.
Just as it happened in the time of the
bases,
we can witness
presence
imprinted this truth on us in a very
unique way that cannot be ignored.
It encourages us to internalize his
presence and live with a greater
awareness of
exactly what happened during the time of
the bas.
And it's not just now in 2024
who sends us these glimpses throughout
history.
He wants us to see that he exists, that
he runs the world, that Islamic, that
it's real.
You know, in the 1967
6 day war, Israel was surrounded on all
sides. In six days, Israel not only
survived, but on the third day of the
676 day war,
Israeli paratroopers entered the old
city of USA into control over the Kosil.
And when the Israeli army military
defeated the Arabs three days later,
General Mosha Dad went to the Kosil. He
was the first person to dabin there. He
placed a fiddle in one of the cracks of
the wall. A curious news reporter took
the from the Kiso
and reported what Mosha wrote.
It was aim
recognize
this was from
wondrous in our eyes.
By then everyone realized that their
unusual military victory was because
Hashem runs the world. Rabyak of Kamki
was quoted as saying, "If you don't see
the Yashm in this war, then you're
blind."
We saw it. We saw it this past year. We
saw it in 2024 in October.
We saw it in 2025 with the 12-day war in
Iran.
Yes, we have experienced this. We have
seen it with our own very eyes. We've
experienced it. And the message is just
like just like it happened in the time
of the B mikdash.
Imagine in 12 days in 2025 the war in
Iran who flipped the script. It's not
because the firepower was greater. It
wasn't the timing. It wasn't the great
discipline. It was divine choreography
with the aisa doing its thing.
We began by asking an honest question.
How can we truly mourn something we
never saw the bas? How do we cry for a
loss we've never experienced?
And you know what the answer is?
Although it's true that we may never
have seen the basis with our eyes. It's
true we never brought a curb in. It's
true we never stood in the courtyard.
And it's true we never heard the levim
song echoing off the stones. But in our
day, yes, we have seen glimpses of
Yashem clearly.
In fact, one could say that presence is
really hidden in plain sight. Except we
just have to train ourselves to know
where to look and how to find him.
We should be z to the
menu.
[Music]
Our generation has a unique unique
problem and that is that we um we ask a
question that I don't think was asked
much in the history of Israel and that
is why do we cry
people come together every tishov and we
try to
connect with the idea of mourning and
sadness
and
reflect on what we're missing.
Historically, I don't think yen really
had the luxury of thinking like that
because you didn't always had what to
cry about. You go to the average in the
in the the last few hundred years and
he's basically he's trying to withhold
tears year round. He doesn't need he
doesn't need inspiration to cry. his
life was so miserable and so challenging
and um you know from whether it was the
the pits the the the disease
whatever it was just life was difficult
in the were poor it was just a difficult
life so when it came once a year that
was dedicated as a I don't think they
sat down and they asked the question why
are we crying today
we uh our lives are very different than
they were hundreds of years ago and uh
all over people come together and we try
to really connect and think you know
what what what is it that we're crying
about
and I think that if we really want to
find out what we're crying about you
know there's a good story a good story
is that the
was once in in was in and like all the
big
like the first you know the first he got
up by and he cried. He cried
think
no mashka is sleeping and he hears he
hears someone crying.
He walk you know he goes from room to
room until he could hear where this
whailing is coming from and he he walks
in quietly and he sees this old yidela
sitting over sidd and crying and
weeping. He approaches the man. He says,
"Reban, what's going on? Could I help
you? Is everything okay? You look, you
know, you look very distressed." So the
says, "I'm crying because
so the se you know this mosque is a very
simple man." And um he asked the what
what's this all about? She says, you
know, we don't belong here. You know
that the we we belong in
and you know the the torture
us they take advantage of us they charge
us crazy money and every day there's
another pgram and you know the turist we
hear all so we die when Hashem you know
Hashem should help us and we should you
know should finish with all with all of
this
oh he never thought about it so he goes
so what's the solution solution is
going to send Msiah
And um Mashia is going to take us all to
fine. He goes to his wife and he tells
this uh Mrs. Mos and he tells his wife,
you know, this this ye has a very good
point. You know, the go are terrible.
They're torturing us and um we should we
should cry. We should all go to to
his wife said, "No, it's a big problem
because you just invested money over
here in, you know, in the stable with
the with the horses. just invested a lot
of money. Go ask theb if he could that
mash should come and take all the gun
and get rid of them.
We have to be careful when we think
about and we reflect about what we're
really mourning is if it's only about
the and if it's only about um you
know a person has a heart or
whatever it is then the solution for
that doesn't really have to be the gul.
The solution for that could very simply
be that Hashem should you know Mashia
should come and take all the Gim and
Mashiah should come and take the Gim and
the disease and then we'll all be good
and we could all stay here. So obviously
when we reflect on what we're missing
there's something that we're that that
we ourselves are lacking in our
day-to-day lives and our experience as
Eden and our avoid hashem is um to the
point that we could mama on the
floor and cry about.
So the Torah famously is in
Pes says there's adbash the adbash is
that every day of PES is is a
corresponds to a different for a
different event in the in the calendar
and the first day of PES is at is alf
the first day of P is always the same
day of the week that is
the symbolism the idea behind that is
>> is that
the first day of Pes in general we reach
Sherim
is the migilla that describes the
relationship of Claus and
as it's
in the most intense love possible and
that is at the outset of when Hashem is
marrying came to and he found Israel and
and the there was beautiful future.
There was kavok a couple that loved each
other with with such deep and saw so so
much beauty one one another and the
future that they that they saw for each
other that's all expressed to mish the
intense
is written on the other side of this
relationship is written when this woman
is an alman
when she
betrayed everything that was special in
that relationship to the point that she
finds herself alone
the idea. So now I want to talk about
something very deep and very mystical
and very you know primus but um
obviously we uh
there's deeper levels in everything and
um I think there's something that we can
all really understand if we put our
minds to it.
There's an idea of
which is something that seems very far
is a type of person. So he probably
could uh you know he could cry about
it's something he could care about he
could relate to. We uh as a very mundane
people rarely come in contact with the
you know in our day-to-day lives.
But the idea of we all say, you know,
before you say
the idea of is that
Hashem created the world and he put part
of
every one of us and that
is that is that is the is Hashem's
covenant, Hashem's that is reflected in
this
And when when
the relationship had with the
relationship that is described in that
is the relationship where Hashem had a
had a meeting place in this world there
was a place there was a base Hashem
there was a bid in no it's called which
is a place where
met in a very intimate way and that's
when when has open relationship with
that is that when when we have right we
have a channel in which we could talk
Hashem talks back where we could if if
something's bothering us. We go to we
ask him you know what what is it Hashem
wants from me? Why is Hashem punishing
me and will tell you if you fix so and
so and you'll see everything's going
everything's going to turn around.
That's a relationship. If you did if you
didn't have if you made a mistake you
made a mistake you go to the B md bring
a carb you you have a kapara you want to
say thank you you can bring a carb and
say thank you and and in turn we have
Hashem talking to us and and Hashem
being in it and you have the kim and you
have and you have and you have all that
that is that is the perfect life that is
the life that if someone's with someone
wants to wants to connect if someone
wants to feel like hashem is part of his
life he doesn't have to work on it in
times of the basement was was an
integral part of every person's life
people were spiritual people but by by
by just waking up in the morning you
appreciate it you you you you felt you
felt
You felt kadusha, you felt spirituality.
So when
we lose all that and when we betrayed
that relationship, right? And whatever
that various we did because we just you
you know the the nobody says really why
it happens and it's it's it's in the
idea of you know when sometimes
if if a person has a relationship that
seems so strong and so dependable and um
so predictable you know so there's a bd
standing for hundreds of years what
happens is people take advantage of that
and people instead of bringing to
to to to to to correct your ways and to
reflect and to bring yourself closer to
the ultimately what ended up happening
is is people started to take advantage
of that relationship and say worst case
scenario if I mess up I'll bring a carb
at a certain point that carb it turns
into an insult right imagine someone
says I figured out a cheat code you know
if uh if every time I hurt my wife I can
bring him flowers so then he just takes
advantage of that and he brings flowers
eventually the flowers are are are are
not only repulsive but the flowers are
the most hurtful out of their
relationship with these flowers. Don't
bring me these flowers. I don't want it.
I want a relationship. I want you to be
someone who cares. I want you to be
someone that's that's involved.
Hashem says to the Nim through the end
of the for the B m and other says, I
don't want you to come to the B mikdash.
What is it? You're coming to you're
doing whatever you want and you come to
the B mikdash just to feel better about
yourself. Get out of here. I don't need
this. What do I need this for? The B
mikdash is really what corrupted us. It
wasn't the B mikdash obviously per se,
but it was the fact that we took
advantage. We we started neglecting our
own our own
to make ourselves a place of and we
started think you know seeing the mdish
as the place of instead of understanding
that the real
is when every is connected when every
time you do a mitzvah you're
representing in this world and you're
bringing down in this world and you're
making a place of every time you do a
mitzvah you this world you yourself you
bring you elevate yourself You elevate
whatever mundane object you're using
whether it's a little of an or whether
it's food or or
whatever it is whatever it is you're
elevating the entire world which was the
and the was that that there's an
elevated
is reflected in their actions and the
way they do business and the way they
eat and the way they walk on the street
in the way they marry and the way they
talk is reflected in every part of their
life and it all culminated and it was
all the the house for that was the bidos
where there was
and there was a void on the highest but
that's obviously in this world we had
that place where you could go and
connect in the deepest highest level but
when when the bdash itself became what
the the the vehicle through which we
started taking advantage of our
relationship with
then it was all it was all for not
so threw away the bid
so
when we when we sit down
There's two things we should think
about. The first thing is we have to
really appreciate
how
how how much of an ammon we are, how
much how neglected we are. The fact that
we dav and we do mitzvah and we try to
do everything. We're good. Claus is
good. Try closure tries to be better
every day. But the fact that we don't
have no the fact that October 7th could
happen and we don't know why it
happened. We could theorize why it
happened. We don't know why it happened.
The fact that that second world war
happened. We have no idea why it
happened. We could all theorize why it
happened.
But the fact that we we we we we suffer
so much maybe us in our personal lives
everyone to their degree but
collectively and we have no way we're in
the dark and we tr we dive in areas
answered are we doing the right thing
maybe we're focusing on the wrong things
who knows we have to understand the
tragedy that we don't have a two-way
conversation something that Eden took
advantage of for a thousand years we
don't we don't we live in a world where
we have to do whatever we have to do but
we have no idea if what we're doing is
right what we're doing is the the
telephone line is cut off.
We we live in a world where we fight to
to to appreciate any sort of
spirituality. If you want to get to
Vegas, you're talking about people that
the biggest sadikim in the world reached
levels of the veas after a lifetime of
intense work things that every in the
times of the B mdash people lived with a
spiritual awareness. They just their
eyes were open for spirituality to the
extent they were of a desire, right?
There was too much spirituality to to
us. That sounds you know we can't even
connect with that idea but in a world
where where where vus is a given
spirituality is a given imagine you live
in such a world where where you wake up
in the morning and you feel intense
spirituality you feel the the highest
high you've ever had in inem
that that is the baseline of your
that's what we're missing we're missing
we're missing is that
reflected in this world when we cry
about
We're crying that our nishas are are are
are extinguished. They're they're
they're flickering. They're they're not
the intense fire of that's really and
that's ultimately what every want. Ask
any of the
I want a little everyone wants because
we're doing it anyway. We're dedicated.
That's the thing with we're going to do
it whether we feel it or not. We're
going to do it whether we're connected
or not because we're here for the long
run. We're here. We're dedicated. We're
going to be here. Yes. Alman, not
Almano. We're here.
But if we're doing it anyway, I want to
feel I want to feel close. I want to
feel like Hashem is part of my life. I
want to feel like this is the the thing
that I love to do more than anything
else in the world.
That's what we're missing in
now obviously the of it is is when you
have a B mikdash, but we have to
understand that if you start with a B
mikdash, right? If we were
if we were to start now with the B
mikdash, we would end up in a very
similar place where they ended up till
now. Right? You can't if if we want if
you want to be worthy now. I believe
Christ was worthy. we suffered enough
and we're still
but if we want to is be worthy of of of
of
we have to start in in inkb
said right famously was a little kid and
his reb asked him where's the he said
wherever you wherever you know you let
him into so if you open if if we could
open our hearts
to build in our hearts and that is to
make
that our lives should be refined and our
heart should be a place where Hashem
should feel comfortable and we should be
d and yearn for this and make ourselves
worthy of it. Then hopefully
that collectively we should be as a to
be reflected with and and we should
Mar.
[Music]
I'd like to focus on
a strange
very enigmatic episode in Berious
because it gives us insight into
and that is it's the last moments of
Rahul's life.
She's giving birth and it's incredibly
painful. She's suffering and she
realizes she's not going to live. This
is her end. And as she's giving birth,
she looks at the child she just brought
into the world. And with her last dying
breath, literally
she calls this child Beni, son of
sorrow, child of my pain.
And the apostle concludes
Binyam. But Yakave the father intervened
and said, "No, no, no. His name is
Binyam." Binyam means child of strength,
son of my right hands,
child of power.
Now this story
is deeply enigmatic
because by the birth of all the
otherwhatim all the other 12 tribes the
mom always selected the name and the
father never intervened
certainly never overrode
the name that the mother chose for the
first time the mother says the name of
the child should be Beni,
the son of my sorrow. And suddenly the
father steps in and says, "No, no, no.
Binyamin, child of strength."
What makes what makes it deeply
perplexing is
that this woman Rahul
was the woman that Yakov loved with
extra love. The TRA tells that to us.
And it tells us for instance that he
worked 14 years for her hand in marriage
and because he loved her so much 14
years of hard work went by like a night
was very powerful feelings of love and
this is the woman that he loved the wife
that he loved so much and it's her last
wish the last thing she ever said she
says this child that I'm dying for
I want his name to be son of sorrow
and this is the time where a loving
husband says, "No, no, no. I'm changing
the name.
I disagree. I have a different name. I
want the child to be child of strength."
Very, very strange. Why does he do that?
Where's the sensitivity?
I was reading a safer very profound book
called written by Dave Buri. He's the
son of the firstb
and in this
he descri he asked this question and he
gives a very beautiful answer and I want
to share the answer that he gives in
that safer
he says the reason why yak changed the
name is not because he wasn't sensitive
to raal and what ra wanted
but precisely the opposite because he
loved ra and he was sensitive to what
she was trying to accomplish. That's
indeed why he changed the name from son
of sorrow to son of strength from Ben to
Benyam.
What what's the meaning in the names are
very significant?
Names are not simply okay your telephone
number a way to identify you I need to
call you something so this is your
number. No, in the tra the name
represents
an essence, an identity, a calling, a
destiny.
In the TRA, a name is not biography,
it's destiny. You see it in many areas.
I'll give an example or two. Aram and
Sor could not have any children. Hashem
promised them children. They were not
unable to have any children. What what
happened? Hashem said, "As long as your
name is Sai and Aram,
there's no children there. But when your
name becomes Sor and Ara, when I change
your name from to Abraham, now your name
signifies,
you're going to be a father of nations.
You're going to be a princess of
nations. Now you're going to be able to
be the father and mother of the Jewish
people. A name impacted who they were,
what their life mission was, what they
stood for, and what their calling was.
You find it also, I'll give just one
more example. Hashem tells to the go to
the Jewish people and tell the Jewish
people
God has remembered you. He's going to
redeem you and take you out of Egypt,
out of Mit. So Misha says, "Very good,
very fine, but I have a problem." Hashem
says, "What's the problem?" He says,
"The Jewish people are going to ask me
one second.
What is God's name?" Very strange. I'm
coming to redeem the Jewish people.
Suddenly, they're going to ask, "What's
the name?" So God responds he says tell
them give them a name
etc. It doesn't mean we we we want to
know what God's name is. Like what they
wanted to know was tell us about the
nature of Hashem. What does Hashem stand
for? What does Hashem represent? What's
going on? They wanted to know the depth
of what Hashem is all about. That's what
it meant. What is Hashem's name? It's a
serious question.
And so now back to Rahul and what she
was trying to accomplish.
Rahul knew that her child was going to
be was destined to be one of theatim the
youngest of theatim of the Jewish people
to be a father
of the future of the Jewish people
and she knew that this child's going to
grow up in a cold dark world without a
mother's love without a mother's
education
without the inspiration that a mother
gives
and she was wondering how will my child
managed to grow up to be the the
wonderful human being he needs to be and
the wonderful Jew with all the Jewish
values and ideals of Abra and Saul
and Yak the transcendence the mitzvah
the everything Judaism stands without a
mother to share her stories and her
sacrifice
Raul grew up in the house of love and
she became a sutan and an incredible
kind and righteous person there was a
big story there. But Ben wasn't going to
hear the story from her. So she was
broken as she died. She was thinking,
"My child's going to be an orphan
without a mother. How is he going to be
educated? What's going to inspire him on
a daily basis?" She felt terrible. So
she figured, I'm going to give him a
name. And every time a person calls his
name, he's going to remember his mother.
I'm going to call him Beni, son of my
sorrow. And he's going to remember my
mother died so that I could live. He's
going to remember who I was, what I
stood for, and the suffering I went
through to bring him into the world. And
that will push him to grow into the
person God is calling him to be.
That was her intent.
We understand it. Special, beautiful.
And Yak understood that as well. He
understood why Raul is using her last
moments
to gift her child this name, son of
sorrow. He understood what she wanted to
achieve.
But because Yakiv loved her so much and
felt for her so much,
he said, he said like this, why should
your child always live in the shadow of
your death? Why should he grow up always
hearing about how you died in the pain
you went through? What would be much
more powerful is that he should
understand and feel every day not how
you died but how you lived. Let him
experience and feel the beautiful way
you lived every day. You lived a joyous
life, a life of of kindness, of great
faith in Hashem. That's what animated
your life. So let him know that he's a
child of strength and he comes
from a mother who lived an incredible
joyous life. So she said in her last
moments, "My child's name is Ben, child
of sorrow because she wanted him to live
that way. He should remember his past."
And Yaka said, "I also want him to
remember his past and I want him to grow
into the person he's capable of being."
And the best way to do that is you're a
child of strength. the child of our
right hand. You have the power, you have
the capacity, you have the braha, the
inner gifts that Hashem gave you to be a
wonderful Jew. So I want you every day
when anybody calls you, you should
remember how your mother lived, not how
she died.
And friends, this is not simply two
different names, two different ways that
Binyan remembers who his mother was.
But in a deeper sense, these are two
models of how you build a Jewish future.
These are two ways of how Jewish people
live throughout after in exile, after
pain and devastation, after death.
I am a kabad
for over 20 years at Stanford University
in Northern California. There are many
Jews at this campus. It's a prestigious
campus, but the vast majority of Jews
are good Jews, but they were educated to
the extent that they had Jewish
education. I would call it the Benini
education. So much of their Jewish
involvement and Jewishness comes
from Jewish sorrow and suffering.
Holocaust
today, what we call Jewish guilt,
anti-semitism, the new rise of
anti-semitism on the college campus, the
demonization of Israel. And so many Jews
are brought up with Benini. Why am I
Jewish? What makes me Jewish? The
sadness.
And because of that and because of it in
the western world so many of our young
Jews grew up with their primary identity
was on Holocaust education or evolved
around anti-semitism. You have record
numbers of Jews walking away because you
cannot nurture and nourish the next
generation of Jews through Jewish guilt
through the oi of Judaism so to speak.
What Judaism needs is
the beauty of Judaism, the mitzvah, the
sh of
the sim of so it's the joys of Judaism
and it's Gishmak and its profound depth
and moral grandeur that motivates and
inspires the next generation of Jews.
And that's what Yakv wanted.
There is an interesting episode I read
about where the Polish government
was celebrating
85 year anniversary of their air force,
the Polish Air Force and they invited
different European countries to send
some of their jets to have a great air
show on the 85th anniversary. They
reached out to Israel. Israel said
they'd be happy to participate sending a
quadrant of F15 jets, fighter jets.
Okay.
The Polish government thanked Israel.
Israel said, "But it's on one condition.
What's the condition?
We want to come a day early and we want
the
jets to fly over Awitz." The Polish
government wrote told Israel, "No. Why
no? Awitz is a sacred place. It's a
solemn place. We can't have military
aircrafts flying over Awitz. A
desecration. Could you imagine the
Polish government telling the Jewish
people how to respect
the dead Jews and Awitz? You can't make
this up.
This is actually what happened. So,
Israel told the Polish government, "It's
non-negotiable."
And the Polish government relented. And
the day before all the jets were flying.
You can see the video of this on
YouTube. They're flying slowly, as slow
as the jets can fly and as low to the
ground as possible on the tracks.
They're flying over those tracks, the
famous tracks that we all know, up to
Awitz, slow and low.
A whole group of the jets. And as they
get as close as possible to the entrance
of Awitz, suddenly
in unison, all the pilots
pulled back on their equipment in the
plane. And suddenly all the jets roared
with a tremendous thunder straight up
firing all engines, pistons, strong as
possible. And you see the jets fly up
into the air with a mighty roar. And
Ashwood shakes. You hear the thunder and
the crash.
And the next day,
the Polish newspaper, the biggest
newspaper, there interviewed the
ambassador
to Israel at the time in Poland. His
name was Sheweis. And they said, "Why
did you need to make so much noise,
break the silence, the solemn silence
over Ait? Why did you make the noise?"
So said the Jewish people felt that it's
time for the silence of Auititz to be
broken and it needs to be broken by F15s
from the Jewish defense forces from
Israel.
That's an image there. You have an
image, two approaches to Judaism, two
models. You can have a Judaism that's
quiet, that's intimidated, that's
defined by pain and suffering of the
past, ashawitz, anti-semitism, and it's
a living and quiet fear.
It's in pain.
That's it. Judaism. Or you can have a
Judaism that breaks forward with
tremendous energy that shakes up the
world that shakes up heaven that makes a
vast noise a noise of
mitzvah of all the great values that is
are embodied in every mitzvah and every
dra
and every page of that we learn and
teach. That's the element of Judaism.
And we know in the tra that the only
time is called Ben is that one time. But
Judaism determined so to speak that is
not called Ben child of pain or
suffering. But biny the name that stuck
that TRA embraced that Jewish history
embraced is to be a Jew is to be is to
understand and to teach that we are a
people of
of royalty of celebration and of joy of
optimism because we represent we're
ambassador of ambassadors of Hashem
and indeed there are moments
where we focus on the Beni there are
moments on the Jewish
We focus heavily on the Beni element. So
there that's part of too. There is the
Beni there is the the day and the hour
of morning 100%. But that doesn't define
Judaism going forward. That's not the
majority. There are moments. There are
days of but the primary thrust to move
out of the destruction and the pain is
for a Jew to know we are strong
powerful. Hashem is with us. And
therefore, as we know that when we raise
our children
with a positive optimistic Judaism, not
that they're victims of somebody else,
that the definition of a Jew is not
defined by somebody's hatred, but rather
love. You're a Jew because Hashem loves
you, not because a non-Jew hates you.
It's a different identity. Then we raise
children like Binyam raised Shaw, the
first king of the Jewish people. Malus,
you have royalty. That's Byam. Morai and
Esther, both Jews who knew how to live
in a non-Jewish environment with great
courage and faith without compromising
an inch. In fact, with changing hatred
into respect for the Jewish people that
comes from Binyam and the Bikdash that
we mourn for
will ultimately be rebuilt and whose
portion is the heart of the B mikdash
built
the
of the Bdash that's all built on the
territory of because when we live the
life of we are to build a royal Jewish
future. future and a future where that
mikdesh is rebuilt.
[Music]
Oh,
[Music]
says,
"Why was the first bet destroyed?
The three cardinal sins immorality,
idolatry and bloodshed. That's the first
bet. Second betash.
Why was that destroyed?
Because there was basis hatred. Now, was
there basis hatred in the second mdash
and it didn't have to move? They were
perfect people. They learned Torah. They
performed acts of kindness. They had
avot probably didn't even have
says the only sin that they had
an interpersonal sin basis hatred. But
how could it be says the to teach you
to teach you that this sin of basis
hatred is equal to the three other sins
the three cardinal sins. And I ask you
my friends, how could it be? How could
it be that one sin outweighs the three
cardinal sins?
So we have to understand exactly what is
what is basis hatred. People think I
don't hate him for no reason. He wronged
me. He embarrassed me. He cheated me. So
why do you call it basis hatred? The
reason why we call it basis hatred is
because we have
and I quote,
"Don't hate your brother in your heart.
You should love your friend like you
love yourself. I am Hashem." What's the
connection between I am Hashem and not
hating your brother? The answer is if
you really believe any Hashem, that
Hashem runs the world, you cannot hate.
Your friend didn't harm you. Hashem
allowed it for your good. He's only a
messenger. So if you hate him, you're
actually hating divine providence. So is
really a lack of when we forget
hatred grows. The lesson is when we
deepen our hatred dies. Let me tell you
a story.
Actually, just like a mother changes a
baby's diaper despite the mess because
love is greater than disgust, so does
Hashem. We dirty ourselves with sins,
but he forgives us because we are his
children. The message is our must be
like that mother's love knowing every
event comes from Hashem
in
not
in
judges. When Ball abandoned Hashem and
turned to idols, Hashem told them,
"Go and cry to the God you chose." Only
when they removed foreign gods and
return to to Hashem that Hashem save
them. So what's the lesson? Hashem
enters only when we remove false
beliefs, anger, ego, jealousy, desire. I
control my life. That's the ego
is a modern idol. It's a modern. It
replaces Hashem with self- worship.
That's the in our days. That's the ego
when I only care about myself. And who
cares what happens in the world? That is
basis hatred because you are forgetting
that everything that happens in the
world is run and governed by Hashem.
says
was only destroyed because they were
very adamant and diligent about the
about the law and they did not act
beyond the letter of the law. But why
such a severe punishment for following
the law? Says
they followed the law. So why such a
severe punishment? Because when you
insist on strict just justice, Hashem
judges you the same way. No mercy down
here, no mercy up there. What does that
mean? Why do people cling to strict
justice? Because there's a fear of
losing. There's a lack of faith. But one
who trusts Hashem can let go. Because
giving up for shalom never makes you
lose. I'll tell you a story. There was
an a that buzz an apartment with permits
to expand. His neighbors protest. you
blocking my light. I'll lay under the
bulldozer if you build. Legally, the is
100% right. His wife says, "Take him to
bed." But he says, "I don't want fights.
Let's wait." 6 months of suffocating in
a tiny home with six kids. Then a
wealthy man in his co offers, "Buy a
big, beautiful five room apartment. Sell
yours. I'll pay the difference." He
passed the test. That's the lesson. He
passed the test. He chose peace over
pride. He lived
beyond the letter of the law and Hashem
rewarded him beyond imagination. This is
how we bring the back by making space
for Hashem in our conflicts.
Says in
is not a single sin. It's proof of
foundation. It shows aren't for Hashem
but for ego. Now we're understanding why
it's equate. equates
with
because when you do those, you're only
doing it for your own ego. You're
forgetting Hashem at the moment. How do
we know? Because if your Torah was truly
for Hashem, your friend's success would
bring you joy. So, we have to ask
ourselves, do we rejoice in another
Jew's growth or we feel threatened? This
is the ultimate test of
if Torah is of our own ego.
I'll tell you a story in
when told that his translator was
greater than him
said
from me or from him as long as Hashem is
glorified. What what difference does it
make? That's the message. A heart that
beats for Hashem cannot hate the other
person. Tell you a story about the Rebi
of Panovich, Allah Shalom. The Rebi of
Palovich in America, he was a master
fundraiser. He met he meets aka
representative instead of collecting for
his own yeshiva he raises funds fork.
Why? If the goal is what difference does
it make which yes benefits this is the
opposite of this is in action. Let's
take some practical steps to change our
life around. Number one kill the grudge.
Call one person make peace. Number two
give beyond fairness. Let go of ego.
lesson number three practice
say if Hashem is honored I'm happy even
if I lose credit number four strengthen
your say all day
everything comes from Hashem the beta
mikdash fell because people serve
themselves not Hashem we can rebuild by
living for him if we love for no reason
if we love without reason we'll bring
redemption without limit
May this be the last of one of tears and
the first one of song.
[Music]
Thank you, Robert Glaston. We have this
to have have you again this year
and it's it's hard you know we're doing
this already a few years of
talking about tishov
doing it again
you know everybody is in a different
place
but um we need some I know you um put
out the book on the on the essay from
it's a piece of Yeshua so you put out
translation. If you can tell us about
that, that would be uh interesting.
>> Yes. So about a hundred years ago
about the year 1913
wrote an essay
to try to inspire Jews to yearn for the
gula. And had a hard time publishing it.
He wasn't able to publish it because of
censorship. He had to slip it in as a as
a supplement to a magazine that doesn't
exist although the name exists. Hamodia
that was the name of it at the time. It
was a magazine that existed between 1910
and 1915 was published by one of the
rabbon in Europe in Palaba.
And the the purpose of the essay was to
remind Yidden that you know we have to
do mitzvah. Of course we have to do
mitzvah. We have 613 mitzvah. But there
are certain things that are even more
fundamental than mitzv. There are six
questions we're all going to be asked
after 120. One of them is did you wait
the coming of Msiah? So the
wrote this essay to be people to make
yearning for Msiah part of a person's
day part of a person's
sed part of person's reality.
So you see on the cover we have a etch
of the third BA mikdash it's a beautiful
cover it's a beautiful safar but it has
to become part of us
and
Most Jews, if you speak to them about
the subject of
say, "Of course I dree times a day,
by the way." I don't know if we could
let the cat out of the bag. We're
recording this on. Is that okay that I'm
saying that?
>> Sure.
>> The truth is always good. Yeah. Right.
Um, hey is the yard site. This is
pre-recorded you know for those who
think it's live you know here we are
beforeh working on this preparing is the
yard site of the Arizal tonight is the
art of
and the Arizal said that after 120 the
question did you await the coming of
Msiah the designated spot to be able to
fulfill the obligation to await the
coming of Messiah and therefore or to be
able to answer in the affirmative that
we indeed awaited the coming of Msiah is
in the of when you say the words
for your salvation we awaited the whole
day. So during those words you need to
stop and focus and try to and to
engender
genuine yearning for for Msiah. You know
I remember when I was a Bak I had this
to
go to Victor Miller.
So his custom was that on uh onesh he
would put keys in his sid
so as not to forget yal
you know this way when you get to say
and you're wondering what's this big
thing of keys doing there you say oh
because it's uh because it's so we need
to make some kind of mark in our s
because three times a day we say these
words we need to take advantage of the
opportunity
but it's more than that you know the
para that we're going to read after
say what does the word van means I ded
say where does this word van come from
so the numerical value of is 515 what
did moshabu davin for so many times you
know he says he daved 515 times what was
he dabbing for parasa he was dinging for
a raise he was dinging for the a new
model of a car he was dinging for one
thing to be able to enter the land of
Israel to go into Israel. Moshenu
davened incessantly 515 time to the
point where Hashem said, "Stop it
already. No more. Don't you dare say one
more." But Moshenu,
the greatest
leader of Claus in our history, greatest
person who ever lived, think about how
much energy and time and emotion he
invested to Davin to be able to be to go
into Israel.
some Yeshua makes from the from the time
that Hashem told him you're not going in
until he passed away.
He did not let up again and again and
again and again. He'd have 515 fel. He
even said
the rishim say
let me go in 51 am the is 50 wide he
said let me go in one let me cross no 51
am just let me just step foot in the
medish says if I can't go in as a human
being let me go in as a behema or let me
be an o and fly through you know when
we're going to say who would make me
wings and I would float through Israel.
Where did he get such an idea that it
has any value to float through Israel?
He got it from Rabenu.
was the says was if I can't go in as a
let me go in as a sh let me go in as an
you know a from Jew who would make an
honest assessment of the state of
the Jewish people or even of of
themselves even someone who's a even
someone who learns
three sedar a day to make an honest
assessment. What is it like to be a from
Jew without the ability to live in
Israel?
It's completely missing. Moshenu, he had
Tory. I think I think we could say that
Moshenu had lambdos. He had amus
he had sat but he devoted all of his
just to walk to be able to put his feet
on the on the ground.
So if I could share with you an insight
I think this is not a but this is just a
simple observation that we're going to
have in the kinos. You know, the last 10
kos all begin with uh the word that
kinus composed by Alvi.
If you read them, they're not kinis.
They're not kinis. We're not mourning
anything. They're not mourning anything.
They're not mourning the destruction of
of Israel. They're not mourning the
destruction of Ba Mikdash. They're
poetic.
They're poetically
articulating longing for the land, for
the air, for the environment. How is
that a kina? Akina, I understand. You
want to say kennas for the crusades, for
the Jews who were massacred, for the
communities that were killed, for the
persecution, for the burning of the
shas. You want to say aka for
destruction of the bam mikdash, for the
those are kinos. We're we're lamenting
tragic events. But the last 10 kois,
they're not kinis. They're they're
poetry of love for. So what's it doing
in the kina? What's it doing in the
book?
And I think it it serves a very very
important function that the kino end
with these 10 kos that begin with the
word.
Let's think about why we had to go into
golas in the first place. Moral says
that on that fateful night when the
Moragum came back with the report about
the Pik says
the people cried and Hashem said you're
crying for nothing I'll give you good
reason to cry. The maral explains that
if you cry over something,
if you cry that you don't want
something, you don't just say I don't
want it, but you so deeply don't want
something that you cry, you're able to
shed a tear, not because you don't want
something, that means you are
fundamentally disconnected with that
thing. That mean that item and you have
no have no connection. You don't belong
together.
The fact that cried overem said okay you
crying that means it's not yours doesn't
belong to you you're not connected to it
I'm going to have to take you out of the
land it's not a punishment it's reality
if you're able to shed a tear that you
don't want to live here then you don't
belong there it's not shy to you it's
not connected to you
so therefore the gullus of 2 years is
because we cried over going to now you
know the nivos the nivos was wrote one
of the classic
because I don't want to be accused here
of uh of some ideology
that you're going to say I never heard
of such a hashkafa really you learned
the right
the wrote a
on the
tear is on your cheek tes and interprets
the tear of The moragle
is still on the cheek of the Jewish
people today. Meaning we're still crying
that we don't want to go back. We say,
"Why should we go back? We have motora.
We have yeshiva.
We have we have ldos. We have we don't
need it. What do we need for? We don't
need it. We're not missing anything.
We have we have to we have we have thera
we have the the tear of the moragum.
This is not what I'm saying. I'm telling
you what the voice says. He says the
tears of the moragum they're still on
our cheek. We still are telling we don't
need it. We have enough without it.
The tears still on our cheek.
The only way to go back is to show that
we really want it and we're really
missing and we have an ahava for Israel.
However, that expresses itself. The last
10 kin,
they're not kinis per se that were
mourning the tragedies of the last 10
kinos are trying to rectify what got us
into this mess in the first place. What
got us in the mess in the first place is
we don't need erit. So therefore,
composed 10 kos that we're longing just
to fly through the land.
were longing to step on the dirt like
Rav Zund of Salant would be walking
through say why are you walking so much
he says the garra says you have to spend
yes
say
the last 10 kos are rectifying the
problem that got us into this mess in
the first place and what really
substantiated this idea in the biography
of the cloenberba
says that when he was coming to Israel
finally to to make residence in Israel,
you know what he was doing on the plane?
He was saying the 10 kos of the seen
longing for Israel. So this is the if if
you notice in this week's paras
if there are many many things that um
emphasize the centrality of Israel
namely
that you go up says what do you mean you
go up because
is the highest of all the lands really
it's not higher than Switzerland how is
it the highest I don't even know if it's
higher than the catkills well what does
it
So explains that if you have a kador,
you have a ball any point that you focus
on and you turn it to the top will be
the highest point. When we say
it doesn't mean the altitude of is
higher than the Alps. It means because
in the mind of a Jew is the center point
of the universe. So we turn the whole
world with on top. So it's meaning in
our mind it's paramount
or the the par says
the great river. What's so great about
the Euphrates? I don't know. Is it is it
bigger than the Mississippi? Rashi says
because it's associated with Israel.
So sometimes in life people get carried
away with side reasons for whatever in
whatever hashkafa a person has why
perhaps they're not able yet to make
their permanent residence there. But at
least in their mind
has to be the center point. The ahava
has to be there and it has to be a
genuine aava. That's part part of part
of mitzv and part of rectifying the
according to the is we have to wipe away
that tear. And the way to wipe and it's
not enough to wipe away the tear. You
have to counteract the 2,000 years of
crying. You have to engender a deep love
for Israel.
When a person goes to sleep at night, do
they imagine
flying, gliding through the airspace of
like a bird like
said
that the ear of has spiritual lifegiving
properties.
We have to develop such an attitude so
that we could start to think
maybe one day maybe one day they would
have yeshivists there that are going to
work for my family. What maybe one day
they're going to have communities
because the first step is you have to
wipe away that tear of the morag and you
know there are many things in life we
daven for I'm sure people have a whole
laundry list of things they daven for
imagine if you could see what davenin
for maybe that would give us some
insight in what we should din for but we
don't have to look too far that's the
first thing we're going to learn after
said 515 times. Not for a raise, not for
Yeshua, not for not for
number one on the list.
So the thing the truth is we say these
our ding is replete. Actually, we made
like a bookmark.
If anybody wants it, any of your
listeners wants it, we could send you
the digital copy
of 14 times in that.
When you say the par you say that the
should
and when you say you sayd
when you say by the way the reveals
516 that's the 516th
and I'll let I'll let the audience if
they want to study the list you'll be
able to send it to them but our sid is
full of opportunities and tishabove it's
a wakeup to remind us of what our
priority should be, what should be
paramount in our eyes and we should all
be
says it's not enough to ask for it. You
have to be it like a debt like something
the owes us. You have to be
says do means to be the claim like
somebody owes you money.
So if we utilize the day properly, it's
not only one day in the year. It will
transform our entire year and we should
be z to really behing
understood
that without
the
I think this is something we have to
daven him for that we should understand
it so that we should d him for it
because many people are trying to figure
out
so we're missing something so Hashem
should help us we should this is what we
should for we should understand what he
is what is what is
it it's all of part of it
and we're in goalless we're forgetting
so glassing thank you very much Like you
said, I think the biggest golus, the
darkest golos is not realizing we're in
galas.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you for the opportunity.
[Music]
She
now
[Music]
[Applause]
she
[Applause]
know
Glor
[Music]
now she
[Applause]
now she
tell you
She
tell you