To a YESHIVA student | Letter #24 of 30 Letters in 30 Days

all right barem we are learning another letter from 30 letters in 30 days sorry again for the late start today is day number 24 the eve of hey niss the fifth day of Nissen we're uh less than a week away from our completion from our seum of 30 letters in 30 days and our big celebration of the Reb's birthday on yudal niss and uh as we mentioned we are having a live in-person class at the newly opened soulwords house the Hashem it's a women's event please RSVP seating is extremely limited there will be a link there is a link below if you're watching on YouTube other platforms I can't help you but if you're watching on YouTube there's a link below to RSVP for the women's live inperson y Olf Nissen 30th letter event at the soulwords house near the Ole going to give a little stock on the K pushka app all right give Valic made a br earlier you guys know all my lines let's do it shall we do it okay we're going to do it um this letter is fromn New York this is from that means the first year after the received officially the leadership um so I want to highlight that this is early early early like literally the first year of Theos and as such and I'm saying this as a li as a defense of the person to whom the letter is written because he was a great and illustrious and he did a lot of great work and when he wrote this letter A he was a young little pipsqueak he was I think 22 years old B it was really early in the rebes nus so if somebody would have written this letter you know in the 70s or 80s he'd be like dude like are you do do you not know yet have you not gotten the memo but in 1951 I think it's understandable that somebody might have been confused about the following matter what is it so intriguing yeah I know I'm trying to hook you in okay [Music] shom okay I received your letter [Music] from and you write in your letter that you are participating in the association of Torah activists what was the The Association of Torah activists it was a group that basically was saving new immigrants to a from assimilation um particularly uh from saric communities there was a lot of indoctrination secular secularization that was going on and um you know the whole culture war in a Isel at that time between the uh secular and the religious and uh unfortunately a lot of the new immigrants especially from the spartic countries who were very traditional um very traditional and and and wanted religion but um they were either forced or let astray into being secularized and yeah it's uh was a terrible thing and there was this group The and uh they were saving kids from this by uh educ ating them and informing them and uh connecting them to tradition and and faith and uh actually it became this movement was ultimately pivotal in um creating the foundations for the religious saric community H to a great extent in in ER at any rate so this bakar he was a Yeshiva bakar writes to the rabbi 20 I think he was 22 years old at the time and he says he's part of this uh group and and the Reb says and you write in your letter that you're seeing good fruits from your labor like you're involved in this group and you're accomplishing however the religious community in didn't really respond to this call and now the work is all upon you guys in other words they didn't have a lot of help the other religious communities were sort of like what can we do you know not our problem so there was a lot of work to be done and it kind of fell on this small group of guys so this is what the this shomit is writing and Reporting and it's causing you to lose out on Torah study he's a Yesa Bak he should be learning full-time he is learning full-time but now because of this activism he's not able to learn as much as he could could or should or would and so he's writing to the Deb and saying I got a problem here the this work is taking away from my full-time learning and he's asking me is is it worthwhile to continue that's why I say got to cut this kid some slack he's writing this in 1951 okay is it worthwhile to continue with this or to quote his own words is he obligated to abandon his own soul for The Souls of others now my good friends my good friends anyone who knows anything about the laab debba could already figure out basically the gist of the Reba's answer is it worthwhile to save these kids from assimilation even if it means I'm going to miss out on some of my Torah stuff should I abandon my soul to save other souls and yes yes yes you're right you know what the is goingon to answer but let's see how the deba answers it I was shocked by this question I hold and maybe I'm making stuff up that when the debba why would why does the deba use a language like I was shocked first of all that EB's got to know that that's sh shocking to us when we read that the debba is shocked that shocks Us and how and and not just the debba is shocked that I shocked the debba like how do you think I feel like if I just heard I shocked the what you know I'm making this up but you know you have to guess that that ebba in his boundless sensitivity doesn't want to make me feel bad so he tells me something I said to him was shocking like why is he even telling me that um and this is what I think that ebot is teaching us how to think and it's not enough just to say that no no that's not what we think other people think that but we don't think that there's that's one approach we have a different approach that is modeling for us that this is a shocking idea not because he's trying to make us feel bad that he was shocked but to teach us that it should be shocking to us okay that's that's how I understand it so the rebba says to this young man I was shocked by the question at the same time Hashem is giving you success and Hashem is giving you the opportunity to save Jewish boys and girls from from heresy God forbid [Music] and you are being given the opportunity to see to it that they should remain believing Jews Jews who believe in hasem and hisra remember these are kids coming largely from traditional backgrounds and we see this with our own physical eyes in other words you don't have to speculate and wonder oh is it actually accomplishing anything like you see for yourself these are kids who would have been pulled into the secularization you are literally taking them out of it and you see you see what you're accomplishing Along Comes the and he starts smooth talking you and he says he says who knows if this is the right thing to be involved in maybe it's better for you to be involved in Toto you could in to so the de says that's the yah you are succeeding in saving lives and you see that you're succeeding so it could only be the Y would come along and throw cold water on there and the way that he does it he says to you well maybe you should be learning Tyra okay do now I love the's answer here because this guy this is how I take it this this kid is like I don't want to say that he's holding himself out as such a but it cuz that sounds arrogant but it's more like he's expressing and and I'm giving him the the benefit of the doubt that he means it sincerely he's expressing this sincere desire to learn ti so that writes him back like a Riva we need to say that writes to this kid as if this kid were a Riva what I mean to say is the deba doesn't give him a pep talk doesn't like try to encourage him I he does but also but the but the the the style of the answer is the basically takes different garas and builds and explains and contrasts and makes an argument a talmudic argument it it's to me it's poetic because he's claiming he's not getting to learn enough like kid sit down and learn this letter you have enough learning here you have enough here to learn this is learning okay you want to see this is all right with with citations and everything cuton B that says very clearly we um literally nullify but we lose out on uh tah study in order to perform a mitzvah that cannot be performed by anyone else so first of all the gives him this G the G you want to know if you should be continuing this work even though you're being this gam says right here yeah you do you do lose out on Torah study in order to do this Mitzvah that who else is going to do it you just told me in a letter that the rest of the isn't doing it you told me that that I mean that was part of his argument all the work is on us cuz no one else will do it yeah right exactly no one else will do it so the gamar the same gar that you want to you claim you want to sit and learn G all day that same G is telling you sorry I'm getting a little excited but here okay now that gives him another G Al on the verse I think it's from michley but if you're real it's from the rich man and the poor man meet andem illuminates both of their eyes when the person who's wealthy in Torah knowledge assists the person who is poor in Torah knowledge what happens both of their eyes are illuminated The Giver also gains and increases in his Torah learning so the gamar inur says that when one person teaches another person to it's not just the recipient who gains obviously the recipient gains because he's the one who's being taught he gains the the knowledge that he's being taught but no even more than that may hasem illuminates both of their eyes meaning the teacher gains through teaching gains in TOA gains in in understanding of TOA so first [Music] the now you have the which is is it even really B because in the end you're actually gaining you're actually gaining from this and I don't mean gaining some other in some other area I mean in Toto itself you're gaining now we have another this is much more than the other G we have I learned much from my teachers I learned much from my colleagues but I learned the most from my students so theb is going to ju to post now the G with the G in Tinus remember we have three garas now with the G which says that Inus which [Music] says Okay so justos the Inus with the G in with I'm sorry the g with the G Inus what's the difference because they both say that the teacher gains to knowledge by teaching but one is saying a little something different a lot something different than the other okay okay they both say the teacher gains Torah knowledge by teaching but it's it's it's quite different let let's go inside okay um it's talking about the limits of the person's ability to learn okay meaning larti I learned I learned meaning okay where did I learn the most from from being a teacher I learned more from my students than I learned from my teachers but it's still I learned and therefore it's limited to my capacity as opposed to what limited to what ah as opposed to when it's coming from hasem and it's unlimited let's go [Music] V but says that illuminates both over their eyes now you're talking about the illumination of his eyes coming from Hashem not L I learned what I'm able to achieve okay so in the scal things that I can achieve I achieve the most by being a teacher but it's still only my achievement what I'm capable of achieving when and that's the gor in in in in in in Inus but the G says that it's Hashem who's Illuminating the eyes of the teacher so that it's unlimited because it's based on what Hashem is capable of giving Which is unlimited okay Gish very very Gish now that spells it out what is my point here not just that through his b through his missing out on learning for a certain amount of time that you are doing what the cotton tells you to do that's not my point my point is not okay so you have an excuse you have a you have an exemption you're allowed to no no my point is much more than that that you're B I'm putting it inqu in scare quotes if you're listening on the spot of her something you can't see my little air quote I'm making but um your B what you're calling B no that is because your heart and mind are being refined thousandfold which means that you're able to learn a thousand times faster you got the upgraded new uh processor the new chip whatever they call it meaning to say it's not just a toyra itself demands that you're M TOA so you got to be my what can you do Toyota self-d demand no no no you're not you're actually not losing actually because of what you're doing it is changing your brain and heart so that you will be more successful in learning than you would have been had you not been involved in this important life-saving work so you're not only are you not okay three levels one level is you're missing out but hey what can you do you got to miss out another level is no you're not even missing out the third level and this is what the rebba says you're gaining you're gaining in the precise area that you're afraid of missing out in you are actually becoming more of a by stepping out of the Bas Mage closing the step out of the Bas medage and go help these kids G alic and I've said this before during the 30 letters in 30 days I'll say it again the Reba never says I can't say never I never I I didn't see it that look you're going to miss out but Toyota tells you to do it so do the right thing follow what Toyota says to do no it's always when you do what to tells you to do you're going to gain and usually it's in the context of materially like you won't lose out materially by following hashem's will here it's even spiritually cuz you you could think all right you know like there are two spiritual obligations that that are upon me and I can only do one not the other so I'm gonna have to miss one in order to do the other and I'll let TOA guide to me you know I'm I'm not I'm not picking TOA is going to be the guide to me which one I have to pick but I'm going to lose out and the D saying you're not losing out you're not losing out in fact not only you're not losing you are gaining and and and not just gaining in the general sense like specific Al in the area of okay now from this from your whole situation we can see how true the sages are gives him another this is the craftsmanship of the today he tells you this and then he says to you this and then he says you know thus this whatever until he tells you go and worship idols explains like this what does it mean such or thus shall you do tells him yet heart is very conning he comes to each one with a with an argument that is tailor made to that person to what's going to work with that person he doesn't tell everyone the same thing he tells everyone a different thing depending on where that person's weaknesses and vulnerabilities are I will safe safe so in this case he knows thear knows what's the weak spot he's going to come and tell this B oh you're losing out on Torah learning because that might actually work okay but in the end he gets the person or at least he gets the person to into a place where the can even be so Brazen as to suggest to go serve Idols so like don't listen to the guy and you should look in the printed pamphlet of C which probably you already have and it speaks more about this teaching [Music] okay I'm gonna conclude my letter here with a blessing this is very interesting that AB is blessing watch this I'm concluding my lesson here Le my my my letter here with a blessing for success in your holy work meaning in your activism and saving these kids and that that will automatically bring success in your Torah study that you will do in in a spirit of awe of heaven and you will continue to grow in to and in Shay together um you hear what you get you caught that basically that that is like reinforcing it I'm going to give you AA that you that you should succeed in your activism in your work with these kids and that's it I don't even have to give AA now for success in Li because I just explained to you with all those garas that the more you work in helping those kids the more you succeed in that area automatically the more success you're going to have in your learning so it's like two bras in one the gives him the one which automatically brings the second galic by the way I'm interested to know what was your style of learning before you started this work with this group I'm not sure if the debbit is saying this because it's not explicit enough for me to decode it but like I'm wondering if theb is asking him maybe this is obvious to people but not to me but I I kind of suspect that this might be the meaning like by the way could you do a before and after could you do a comparison side by side how were you learning before for do you have now set learning for lanus I think it might be the implication that like because otherwise why is the up asking what was it what was your learning like before okay but it's not 100% clear to me remember this this is an L so with a with a blessing for being written and inscribed being written and sealed for good for Good Year a good sweet year say and is included here a um a uh a section of the talk of the from which I think may be of interest to you GIC what a gmak letter really honestly Okay so everyone we all knew that that EBA is not going to let this kid stop saving lives but the way that EBA did it just so powerful and dare I say enjoyable to study okay thanks a lot good night again sorry for the late start we got a few more nights of this tomorrow night's a double letter Thursday night then we'll have Mah shabis then we'll have Sunday Monday and then Tuesday is our final class that's a live stream you don't have to be there in person but you could be if you're a woman okay we have five more nights of this Hashem should help Hashem will help good night