Why People Are Drawn to Sports?

There was a certain Yeshiva Bakr in a story that goes back about 40 years ago that had a certain baseball player. That was his hero. It was his victor. It was the person that he was amammano. He loved this person. He never missed a game that he played. And one time he decided he was going to buy box ticket. He's going to play pay a pretty penny in order to be able to get as close up to him as he can in order that after the game he can get a signature, exchange a few words with him. And it was able to work out at the end of the game when the player was on his way back into the locker room. He was able to stop him, ask him for an autograph, say, "You should know I'm a big fan of yours." The player looked him up and down and he said to him, "I don't give signatures to Jewish boys. I'm sorry." And with that, he continued on into his locker room. This boy was broken. He was destroyed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. his whole entire dream world, everything that his she his whole entire shif all his drive suddenly came to an incredible full halt at once. From there he actually made an incredible turnaround. He realized the he of the stupidity of this whole entire baseball game and what he was doing and from there he made a credible turnaround and he ended up becoming a rebi and moving on in a totally different direction. But from here I want to try to bring out a question that has always intrigued me and an incredible phenomenon something that we are so used to about something that we're so surrounded by in society especially for those of us who I'm talking to in America and that is this incredible idea of chasing after sports head over heels. This has become completely enveloped inside of society. People do it left and right. And it became such a standard of life that people don't even see it as something unusual. If you're in America, what's with a football game, a baseball game, basketball? We live and worship those games. I still remember when I was a young child that we used to always go on Sunday to my grandparents, all the cousins and the uncles and aunts used to go to my grandparents who had a big TV set and we used to all everybody used to kind of, you know, smoo a little bit. But of course, of course, sit around and watch all the football games with a lot of screaming and chanting and yelling and etc, etc. what goes on in the famous football Sundays that we are familiar with in America and I'm far away from that until and I always thought I was crazy until I actually moved to the other side of the world over here in Israel and I and introduced to different Europeaners if it's from Spain, France, England and especially South America and of course we know by them it has to do with what we call soccer what they call football but now he was taken to a different level. If you think that in America they cherish sports, you have never seen what these people do when it comes to football. It become it's mash literally probably close to vodara. I can't see much less of it. It's an absolutely incredible thing. Re Victor Miller reported that one time he was walking through the street and it was right after the Pittsburgh Pirates won the penance. I assume that it's a very big sa because it never happens. And he was walking by the street and suddenly there was a very large muscular man who was waving his finger. Number one, number one. Like that. And came up to this nice elderly man that we know is River Victor Miller. And he started waving his finger to him. Number one. Number one. So Victor Miller obviously having another story to tell maybe at his drushes tried to continue walking. But this person blockaded his way from walking and said he's not letting him move until Victor Miller himself number one pick up your finger. Number one, I want to see it and he didn't know what to do. Suddenly he realized this could be a question of Pikesh. This is dangerous situation. I guess I should be picking up his finger my finger. But on the other hand, this is probably a vodara. This is probably idolatry. And if it's idolatry, then it's something you have to get killed for. or it's one of the three cardinal mitzvot that a person has to get killed for. What else is this if it's not au someone focusing and this is his own life to go ahead and do such a thing and he quickly made a dash for to try to get away from this person. Is it not? Does it make any sense when you see an intelligent, mature adult? Okay, in this case, maybe that guy wasn't intelligent or mature. Maybe it was an adult, but in and they're going ahead and chasing after sports as if there's anything that is in it for them. The people who are making the money are the sports teams. They're the ones who are happy when they succeed. They get twice the amount of the salary that they're getting for that they're going to get and they're the ones who get to carry the trophy. What do the fans get out of this thing that they go so incredibly crazy? Why when I was in Los Angeles and I saw a Dodger game after they won the World Series did I go outside and I saw not far from the stadium that there was a car that was turned upside down in sim and glee and a certain type of incredible euphoria for the sake that they won. No one cares about you. They don't care about you. They don't know the difference. You should know what do you care to make such a big deal deal out of it. And on the contrary, what happens if shalom baran we shouldn't say such a things? Your team loses the penant. Oh my gosh, you said Shiva baby Shiva. You say 14 days. They said over and over. They're in despair and sadness, depression, mal melancholy. They're so upset about the whole entire situ. They lost. They lost. Who cares? What's the difference? First of all, next year's another year. It has nothing to do with you. You're to have tens of thousands of people that are sitting in this competition and who are watching this competition and you're just a little ant pile. If you're not here tomorrow, they don't make a difference. Why does it matter so much to everybody? And the answer is an incredible yod which we have to know. And that is it's not the ball and it's not even the sport that is the reason for them chasing this this uh this this ideal. The answer is it's the power of the tabore. It's the power of being part of a bigger body. It's part of being a team out of a group of a corporation or if I can even say a congregation. When a person has a natural inclination to be part of something that's greater than myself as an individual, I can't I'm I'm very very limited in how far I can go in my capabilities where I can get to. But when you're part of a massive body, when you're part of a thing of a of a cult of a of a of a of a race, of a certain connection of where you're going to. So then suddenly you become incredibly large. Your capabilities become much more expanded. You're you have a tremendous amount of power, of greatness, of growth that comes as a result of being connected to this type this body of people to be able to be in such a in such a scenario. And that's why people are willing to pay literally in my time thousands if I'm not mistaken these days tens of thousands of dollars for season tickets to not miss a game to make sure you go to buy season tickets to make sure you're wearing these funny t-shirts that go ahead and say the name of your sports team or caps or all the other jargon that they make you do in order to advertise their team in order that they can make more money on you. But all of it has to do is because of this idea that you have a natural incidation to go bigger. What's the source of that? So says the to the beginning very clearly that it's because we have a nama that is connected to that is a much higher source. That nishama wants to go out of our body and expand and go to something bigger. It is it's the one that gives us our drives, our interests, our desires to be able to go ahead and do something that's bigger. All I and and therefore that is what has caused all man in all the in all history during all of history to go ahead and do unbelievable things for good and for bad mo most and probably all wars comes from this nikuda that people have wanted to expand their land make themselves bigger express their their strength to show their greatness by going ahead and causing wars and showing absolute dominance to be able to do that that is the Mccor that is the source for all ideologies which we are oh so familiar with that has surrounded the world that has surrounded the world in history have taken hundreds and hundreds and literally millions of lives over these ideologies which if you would ask the people themselves they wouldn't even know what it means the ideology what is socialism which the Nazis were so much into what is Marxism what exactly is the meaning of communism we know where it comes from from Russia. But what is the definition of that? People died. They shed blood. They were willing to kill themselves over this ideology which they can barely understand what they're doing it for. They fought for a person named Stalin and Lenin and Marx and all these horrible, horrible people. And they didn't even realize the mistakes and the faults that they were going to, but they're willing to do it in order to chase after these ideologies what's known as the isms. And if you don't mind me ending with it, the Zionism also Zionism also in the amount of energy that was put when people came to this land is incredible. They worked 18 hours a day digging up swamps, building the kibbutim, trying to rebuild the land and incredible herculean feats. And they never went to social security to the lumi to ask for reprimands because they had a goal. They had something in mind. They had a dedication and they were all part of one massive group. Something great, something above now, something that goes beyond. They needed a mish and some type of codependency. And that's what all the meaning behind all these ideologies are. It's a point of unity of power of strength and that is where the drive comes from from our nama and that's where all the chase in an atheistic world such as America. So they go ahead and chase the sports because that's where they feel that source of power and connection. And that's why it is oh so depressing and oh so sad when you see a Jew who leaves his own religion in order to chase one of these funny ideologies to go ahead and chase after looking around the world or chasing after sports and replacing something that's right under their nose because the kadosha the fact that we are all one Israel we are one B Israel under who gave us the power of unity that is the strength that is in a that is undefeable that you cannot everything that we spoke about until now is an age-old concept by the Jews. It is us the power of us the power of Israel because we've always had a Torah that has kept us backed up and that has given us the focus to have one motive one mat to be a light onto the nations. We had one goal to be the expression of aeshbu in this world. The idea of unity of a god of one hashem that is there. Hashem is our team. He's our team leader. He's our captain. And that's what's always kept us together. And it's such a kava when people run away from this religion and start looking for some gurus in India or some sports team in America or some or some type of other you know in Japan trying to be able to find out some type of aar over there that they can find as a solution to this type of need that your nish has to be able to go over and beyond to do more to extract yourself from where it is and that's why a person should realize this incredible k and it's incredibly connected to parse because over there in the co as we know would go ahead and be with a par on himself. He would bring another par for his family. He would bring another corbana a sacrifice for his family and third he would bring the zazel which would be which would be and do vid on it. you a do confession on it and that would be the atonement for all of kai Israel asks of neansol an obvious and p in in kasha that should bother us how in heaven's name is the cohen gudul allowed to do chuva for me you know I understand he can make a bra for me and I'll answer and say amen etc but voy vidi's confession I'm sorry I did something wrong you say vidy I can't say duchuva for you that's such a great copout kipper I'll just ask someone, can you do a f do me a favor and get to Schuler? I just can't handle the long hours. Can you do it for me? I'll slip you a bill after after Yum Kipper and just do the chuva for me. What? You can't do that. The chu has to be very individualized as the zor writes has to come from you. How is the god in all his greatness as he was especially arro over here in the parha able to go ahead and be do give a atonement for the whole entire nation. Where does that come from? So he says a very important which is reiterated in his introduction to and that is because the god was not an individual. His individuality encompassed as you understand his family but all of Israel. He encompassed all of so. So when he did an atonement when he did vido like we say it in plural he was doing it for everyone. He felt all of Israel underneath his fingernails. It was part of him. He was part of a bigger hole of a body. He was greater than himself because he is the cohenado. And who's greater than the shalom and shalom the man of peace who gave it over to his lineage of that were the ones that loved Israel. That's why was always referred to as the he was the cohen and we knew that if mikdash would be he would have been the man who loved Israel. Everything was for Israel. It's in the kishkas. It's in the DNA of the kud go ahead and care for Israel. That's what they say in the bra. And that's what they say in the when they make the for that they say with love. If they don't love Israel if you don't love don't get on that stage. Don't go in the front and give a we don't want to hear it. It's it's a problem because the is one who is connected to he can do vi for he goes ahead and he's an east. He's one of the public not the politicians who only care about me myself and I. They could care about anyone else. They ku represent. They're presenting us. But in true in our true Judaism where we come from the kudul is incredible. He encompasses all of Israel. Mosher Rabenu comes and he's worried that is going to be jealous. No way. I love Clyrael. I want them out of here. Anybody that does it, I'm after them. I'll do anything. I'll kiss her shoes. Just get CL out of it. I don't need the cover. I don't need the attention. I just want to be the one who's able to be accompany them when they go out and he was so happy to see Mosher Rabenu to bring the gula and that's why Arn Cohen reached this dar that no we don't need sports we don't need ideologies we don't need any of what the outside world is searching and yearning for to be able to find this incredible co to be able to connect to something greater than thou because we are greater than thou kai Israel is bigger than the individual we are one part of one body that is a tremendous kak and that's the idea behind loving one another that's the beautiful compassion that we have you know like there's color war up in the camps and they have all of a sudden when people are all on the same team I'm the blue team or the red team suddenly they're hugging each other working together scheming up together doing everything together because we know I all have one goal and we have one mat one focus and that puts us hand in hand together when a person believes understands and replicates everything that we're speaking about today. There's no room for hating Claw Israel. How could you hate another individual? We are all part of that same team. We're on the same team. I don't need to watch teams. I'm on the team itself's team. And that's what gives us a tremendous end with the famous that happened in 1913 when we all know there was a person named Mendo Bis. He grew up actually religious but he ended up not being religious. and his when he grew up in Russian, he was a Russian Jew that was accused of killing a child. There was a child that was killed ruthlessly and held and uh and found in a cave somewhere in some corner. And of course, immediately they put the finger on Manakimis. Why? Because he was a Jew. Came along the Christians. Unbelievably, this is literally a hundred years ago. And still they came along and accused them. Why did they kill this child? Because they wanted their blood for Passover. The whole entire trial for a month and a half was almost a lot of Torah going back and forth. The Christians uh saying how in history the Jews have always hated everybody except for themselves and they take the bloods of other people in order to eat it on Passover etc etc and you had rabbis there who are helping out and backing up and proving methodically how blood is us or to be eaten. And I don't have to get into all the details but it was an incredible famous trial that happened and showed that even in Ku a modern day and age these types of things can still occur and he became a very famous person this menis one accusation that was thrown out there is one of the Christian priests over there mentioned and they said don't you guys have a statement and it is a garam it's coming soon by this is that said We say it in the song. You're called an So you see, you think that you're the only ones that are people and we're not people. And the rabbi responded incredibly. He said that when a person is going on trial by the Christians, by the we know that he's on his own. No pe nobody else cares. Nobody's overlooking. They might watch it to be interested what happened on the news. Oh, wow. Look, he's hanging up on a tree there. Whoa. I guess he didn't make it. And that's it. But we all know when this ba Mr. Bisakhim Balis over here is standing up on trial, every Jew's eyes are peered toward this trial. Everyone's trying to find out on the news and all looking for their papers to see what's happening, how's it going, and they're all sending letters and trying to back him up because all of Israel are one. We're and that's why we are called because we are one body made of different facets. Some people are arms, some people legs, some people hold us up. Some people are the head, the brains behind the tummy. Some people are the arms, the ones that stretch out and do kiru who connect us and are able to do we all have different facets to this incredible one big body which is known as appreciate it. Don't go looking outside of us because everything is within us. Part of our congregations, part of our being of Ben Israel. We are all there and it's all focused because we are all part of this one connection that taught us that and we should always have this capabilities to love our fellow Jew and never see sin in their eyes because that is what's happening during this time of that it all happened only because during this very sensitive time that we have to realize that we're one bum and therefore to appreciate everyone for his each individual talents.