Two Ways of Dealing With the New World -- Nostalgia and Transformation - By Rabbi YY Jacobson

[Music] i [Music] i [Music] in this week's parsha torah portion the torah relates that dramatic story of how yaakov jacob blesses his two grandchildren menasha and ephraim prior to his passing in egypt the father of these two children the prime minister of egypt the ace of joseph brings the two boys menasha and ephraim to his father to their zadeh to their grandfather jacob to be blessed menasha is the oldest and ephraim is the younger brother so naturally yosef as we know places menasha to the right side of yaakov and ephraim to the left side of yaakov so that yakiv can bless menasha with his right hand and ephraim with his left hand and then the terrorist says crosses his hands yadav he crosses his hands he places his right hand on the head of ephraim he places his left hand on the head of menasha yosef protests joyce of their father tells his father loitain avi this is not the way it should be done my father kizab menasha is the oldest simya place your right hand on his head not on ephraim's head but yaakov refuses he says i know my son i know will be a great child he will develop into a nation he will become a great nation but his younger brother will be even greater and yaakov blesses them that day with the famous words israel in you and with you israel the nation of israel shall be shall be blessed telling each of their children yes may god designate you to become like ephraim and menashe this shall become the standard blessing for the jewish people when a jewish father or mother wants to bless his or her child the version that is used till today is yes may god designate you to be like ephraim and menasha but he places a frying before menachem efraim gets the right hand of yaakov even menasha gets the left hand of yaakov that's the story obviously the story has many questions discussed by the commentators throughout the generations but today we want to discuss a few of the questions number one joseph felt that the oldest boy the oldest son deserves to receive the right hand blessing he places menasha at yaakov his right side so that he can get the blessing with the right hand ephraim on the left so he will get the left hand blessed in other words yousef feels that the the oldest child in the family deserves the first blessing the blessing of the right hand yaakov avinu feels no that's not the case true menasha is the oldest but menasha gets the left hand blessing ephraim gets the right hand blessing and therefore yaakovino crosses his hands his right hand goes on the frame his left hand goes the question then is what was going on here from yosef's perspective from yaakov's perspective if yaisa fatzadek is right the oldest boy deserves the right hand blessing why did menasha not get the right hand blessing so you'll argue because yaakov said ephraim was greater but then what was joseph's perspective why did he feel that menasha ought to get the right iron blessing even though he's the oldest and ephraim because he's the oldest and if even though ephraim is greater or to put the question in other words in other terms if indeed ephraim is greater why was ephraim not the oldest why is menasha the oldest hence warranting yosef's protest he gets the right arm right-hand blessing so yaakov says no ephraim is greater but yosef believed that menache has to get the right-hand blessing because he is the oldest so if that's the case why wasn't ephraim the oldest and menasha should have been the second one and we wouldn't have had this whole issue in this whole problem now when we reflect on the story deeper it's clear that when joseph protests and says loy kane avi this is not the way it's supposed to be my father he is not just protesting an individual case who better than joseph understands the suffering that can result from the fact of placing and giving extra prominence to the younger brother over the older brother who better than joseph knew what were the consequences of the fact that he was selected to be the favorite the one whom yaakov loved more than his brothers despite the fact that he was one of the youngest in fact this is a theme that pervades the whole book of voracious the whole book of genesis cayenne murders his brother hevel because he feels that god accepts the offering of hevel rather than the offering of cayenne even though kain is older and then we have the story of yishmael and yitzhak ishmael being the older one we have the story of yaakov and ace of ace of being the older one and yaakov purchasing the right of bachaira the right of being the first son and ace of resenting yaakov to the point that he wants to kill him and then we have the story and the drama of yosef and his brothers and suddenly here in vaichi it's repeating itself yaakov once again is choosing ephraim over menasha youssef says no and yaakov says i know my son i know i know everything you're thinking i know everything that's transpiring in your heart i know my son i know and yet ephraim deserves the blessing that that comes from my right hand not menasha obviously the point yaakov is saying is that ephraim needs a particular blessing menasha requires a different type of blessing and yet joseph obviously knew who his two sons were but he felt menasha is the oldest the oldest one needs this blessing yaakov says no so why then is ephraim not the oldest why is menasha the oldest why do we need this drama this crossing of the hands this difficult exchange between yaakov and joseph which means that there is the issue of perspective there's the yak of perspective menasha must be the oldest boy warranting him from yosef's perspective the first blessing coming from the right hand and yet yaakov says ephraim is the youngest but he will get the right hand blessing what is the reason for this let's preface this with the nature of yaakov's blessing to these children something unique yakov is not giving them an ordinary blessing he is telling them that you shall become the axis you shall become the center point upon which all of the blessings throughout history will revolve when a jew wants to bless another jew when a jew wants to bless his child he will say yes may you become like ephraim a menacing in other words ephraim and menasha somehow capture and encapsulate the entire story of the jewish people ephraim and menashe represent the ultimate the paradigm of what the jew ought to become and therefore each of our children we bless and say may you become like ephraim a menace what was so unique about these two children why ephraim and menasha more than any other jewish child which lived at the time including yaakov avinu's own twelve children indeed till today when jewish parents bless their children whether it's friday night whether it's before you kipper they placed their hands on the heads of their beautiful angelic children and they say these words is you become like afraid what was unique about these two children now when yaakov speaks to joseph as he is introducing the blessing he tells the isis of these words your two children who were born to you in the land of egypt before i came to you to egypt they are mine ephraim and yuli ephraim and menasha shall become from me like ruvain and shima reuven and shimon of course the two oldest first sons of yaakov himself born from his wife leia born from lia so yaakov tells joseph the two children that you had before i came to egypt because menasha and ephraim were born in egypt before yaakov and his family came to egypt they were born after joseph married asnas as the terrorist says in parishes me cates asthnas the daughter of potiphara and they had two children together menasha and ephraim these children were born years before yaakov would be reunited with his long-lost son jacob says these two children are mine they are considered like one of the twelve tribes of israel they are like rooven and shim and they're not just grandchildren like many other grandchildren they are like children themselves indeed we count ephraim and menasha in the list of the 12 tribes because of these words of yaakov as rashi explains it on these words in parishes and the question is what is the meaning of this statement of yaakov he keeps on emphasizing these two sons which were born to you in the land of egypt before i came to egypt they are mine somehow the fact that they were born in egypt prior to yaakov avinu's arrival to egypt placed them into another category they were replaced on a pedestal jacob says lee heim they're mine they're like mamish my own children they're like roovin and shemin why what is the meaning of this i'm going to share with you an explanation of the lubavitcher rebbe on this episode on this story the rebel presented this explanation at the shabbos fabregan the shabbos gathering of parshas valleji to understand this story we have to understand who ephraim and menasha were what did they represent and of course we go to their names in parshasmikets yosef has two children menasha and ephraim he gives them these names menasha and ephraim why so the hummus tells us joseph names the oldest boy menasha kinashaniya kim is kalamali vs kolbesovi god made me forget all of my toil and the home of my father the second boy he names ephraim kimber it's on you god made me fruitful in the land of my poverty menace means forgetfulness i have forgotten i have moved away a certain reality has been taken from me i forgot about it god made me forget all of my toil the home of my father ephraim comes from the idea of fruitfulness multiplicity god made me fruitful he made me successful in the land of my poverty but eric's onion the state of my property from a child thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery and then plunged into a prison cell in egypt he is now the prime minister he's now the viceroy of one of the superpowers of the time god made me fruitful in the land of my poverty so the al-shaikh al-shrift asks a great question i can understand he says the meaning behind the second name what is the symbolism behind the first name in ash what is the celebration of the fact that yasif is commemorating and expressing gratitude for the fact that god made him forget the home of his father yahushua was deeply connected to his father yes was deeply bound up with his father we see how his father mourned his departure separation from yosef for 22 years with a special relationship joseph yet names his first son menasha because god made me forget all of my toil and the home of my father so the al-shah gives his explanation other commentators give different explanations this is a story as i said that is abundant with dozens of explanations on different levels and different perspectives and different explanations but here is one of them here is the explanation that the rebel presented that shabbos efraim and nasha are not just two children they are not just two individual children they represent two types of jews they represent two paradigms within the jewish experiences and for this we have to understand the uniqueness of ephraim and menasha's birth and education rooven shimon levy uh they all grew up in a jewish environment not only in a jewish environment they grew up in the home of yaakov avinu of the third of our patriarchs upon whom the madrid described the madrid describes him as bakur shabiyavas the one who was chosen among the patriarchs they grew up in the home in the four cubits in the environment in the society which was molded and crafted by yaakovino they learned torah from the mouth of yaakov they were inspired by his lifestyle by his faith by his commitment by his righteousness yaakov as well as his wives leia and rahul and so forth the first jewish children to be raised in exile to be raised in an environment of assimilation in an environment of worse an environment of moral depravity the first jewish children to grow up in a climate which was not jewish were ephraim and menacing joseph was 17 years old when he left his father's home joseph knew very well who his father was he internalized the teachings of his father profoundly the first experiment of jewish existence in a foreign culture a foreign civilization a foreign society not only geographically but existentially conceptually spiritually emotionally the context was not jewish the context was egyptian and they grew up on the high end in the high end of egypt their father was the prime minister under pharaoh he was the man he was in control growing up in such a home surrounded by non-jews and surrounded by an ethic and a lifestyle and a code that was totally alienate alienated from the jewish veltan xiaomi from naidu chevelle from the jewish world this was afraid and that's why yaakov cherished these children so deeply these children he sells to yosef who were born in egypt before i came there before egypt was transformed into another stettle before yaakov and yehuda had a yeshiva which we discussed in the previous class of aigas the yeshiva that yehudah built before goshen became another stable where jews dealt lived and learned and david and prayed and meditated and fabring then and socialized and created an environment of jewishness before i came to egypt these children who were raised and were now jews internally and externally this was a great achievement this was a revolutionary achievement these two children would set the course they would show the path of how jews throughout the next few millennia through thick and thin sometimes in circumstances of total detachment from a jewish structure and a powerful jewish life can maintain their jewishness with pride and dignity and deep understanding resolve commitment and dedication they represent the possibility of the jews surviving and thriving within an environment that easily invites assimilation estrangement and alienation can our children can we remain fully jewish in a modern world in a modern climate in a modern environment not in the home of yaakov but in exile between the nations of the world and part of that experience this is the great question of jewish history and there are two answers there is the path of menasha and there is the path of ephraim the answer they both give is a resounding yes but the way the methodology the mechanism is different menasha means forgetfulness menasha is the child representing one method in which joseph held on to the legacy to the tradition to the faith of his home of his father's home while being in egypt and that is by constantly explaining to his family by constantly articulating to himself to his wife to menasha to the people close to him how essentially he has forgotten how even though he is a son of yaakov this is a place where god made me forget he made me forget the home of my father but when you constantly remind yourself that this is a place that's causing you to forget that itself allows you not to forget by remembering the danger by remembering the fact that this is a place which is causing you not to remember that in itself helps you remind yourself not to become completely detached in other words menasha represents that jewish approach where yahushua sadik inculcates in his family and himself and his children look what has happened to us this is not what jewish life is like this is not bay savi this is not the home of my father we have forgotten the home of my father he described the memories of the old home he described what they forgot and by constantly remembering that this is a place of forgetfulness that this is a place where you can easily become detached that itself allows you to hold on to the memories so that you should not forget ephraim on the other hand represents a different paradigm not the idea of constantly remembering the gulf constantly reminding ourselves how far the two universe are the two universes are separated from each other ephraim represents a new model is on ye god made me fruitful in the land of my poverty ephraim represents joseph's attempt to reveal the truths and ideals and values of judaism and of toron of monotheism within the reality the culture and the society of egypt both children are in exile both children are being raised in a novel new environment unprecedented in jewish history detached from the patriarch and matriarchs of the family for menasha the way of dealing with this reality is to try to escape from the present contemporary reality and connect to the past for ephraim the way of dealing with it is to try to redefine the present reality practically menasha turns to his children menasha turns to himself he educates his children he tells them stories about the altain the old home he inculcates them with the nostalgia what it used to be like he sings the songs he gives them the he presents the he sings the lullabies he relates to stories he captures some of the sentiments some of the values some of the paradigms that defined jewish life in the past names his son menasha to always remember that we're forgetting because with this son what he is trying to do is educate him with the values that once existed and have now been forgotten ephraim's approach is a different approach here joseph attempts to reveal how one can relate to the presence of a living god within the contemporary reality to find godliness spirituality and holiness within exile which approach is more effective which approach is superior is one approach superior which one works the menasha is the oldest menasha comes first you cannot begin the process of ephraim if you don't have menashe but once you have the process of menasha now you can advance and progress to ephraim menasha must come first but ephraim represents something deeper and greater there are two great advantages that exist in the path in the philosophy of ephraim versus menashe number one the path of menasha works effectively for the child who remembers or for the child who could be moved by memories for the child who can be touched by what happened in the past for a child who can be affected emotionally and psychologically and existentially by a life that is not here but he or she can remember and connect to and re-experience this child is then infused with something of the past that has been forgotten but sometimes there is a youth there's a child who doesn't even relate to the past as rashi puts it when your child will ask you tomorrow so rashi says in parties when i say tomorrow there is a tomorrow that comes now tomorrow and then there's a tomorrow which is after a long time when your child asks you tomorrow it doesn't only mean tomorrow next day tomorrow also means the distant future the tomorrow but the rabbi explained it on a homolytical level a bit deeper there is a child who lives tomorrow but he or she lives in a tomorrow which is a continuum of the today there is a tomorrow which is a continuation of the today our children represent our future but it's a future that is a continuation of the present these are children who are interested in the past and they want to continue that path yes there is our child who lives in tomorrow in the distant future totally severed from the past the past doesn't move any cords within his or her solar psyche when you're going to turn to this child and sing songs of the past and tell stories of the past and explain the past and try to relive the past it doesn't touch him it doesn't affect him let's take our present-day culture in the united states of america this is the difference between jewish life a few decades ago and jewish life today there were jews who lived here in the united states of america or in other countries of the world they may have become somewhat assimilated they may have left the jewish tradition or jewish observance but the past meant something to them when they heard afin perpetra tears would stream down from their eyes they can read the yiddish language in fact many of the great yiddish writers were people who came from their stettle who lived in the states who were infused with the spirit of the stettel then they chose to leave it but they still wrote about it they remembered it they spoke about it and it brought back memories and people can relate to it in that sense jewish culture yiddish culture was alive and well they may have embraced some of it they may have rejected some of it they may have rejected a lot of it but it can speak to them they can understand it they can relate to it then there is a new generation they don't know the language they don't understand the lifestyle they're totally alienated from the very paradigms from the very values that define their lives not by their fault it's a tomorrow that's totally distant from the today if judaism is going to have only the menasha paradigm which means the power of judaism is nostalgia memories tradition this is the way it was it can speak sometimes to the child to the boy or the girl who remembers or at least cares to remember but what about the child growing up who doesn't have any memories and if you try to share those memories those memories don't mean anything can you still inspire this child this is the value of ephraim approach joseph understood that for judaism to survive and thrive in egypt it's not just enough to tell his children oh look how much we have forgotten look at the difference how do you compare look at this world look of the altaveld let me tell you what real jews were like let me tell you what a real yid was let me tell you how eden used to davin now they used to say amine shmiraba how they used to come to school or they used to give charity or they used to celebrate shabbos let me tell you about saturday night if there was no saturday night let me tell you about mitsuo let me tell you how they milked their cows let me tell you what rosh hashanah is let me describe to you what the basmatis looked like at night let me tell you what jews looked like in the month of elul let me tell you what simple jewish women and men when they opened the prayer book how they spoke to god how they experienced god when they opened the book of tehillim how they shed tears in their intimate relationship with god let me share this with you and now look at us look at them and that itself creates a connection that itself creates a certain sense of inspiration you have a context you have a standard you have something to aspire to but what about a child who doesn't relate to this so yosef understands that if egypt is go if judaism is going to survive in egypt you must embrace ultimately a second model ifrani ali kimber it's on you it can't only be based on nostalgia of reminding the past rather you have to be able to explore and reveal godliness in the present you have to be able to show the timeless relevance of judaism here and now you have to be able to show that is eternal and timeless that the mitzvahs of torah that the ideals of torah that the values of torah that the rituals of torah that the wisdom of torah is relevant to contemporary life that terrorist speaks to us today in our own vernacular to our own psyches to the contemporary modern man and woman that torah helps you suck the marrow out of your own life in your present condition that terror contains the infinite timeless truths that can help you love better love deeper that can help you love a more live a more meaningful inspired wholesome life of deeper integrity morality and ethics there is also another element that makes the ephraim paradigm more prominent and that is what is ultimately the objective of exile what is ultimately the purpose why god allowed for the jewish people and judaism to travel the world and to become subjected to forces and trends that can pull them away it's not just that they should hold on strong and remember there's a deeper objective the objective is as the posix says in coyotes in ecclesiastes to transform darkness into light to show the darkness to show the light within the darkness to reveal the sparks of holiness within the earthly reality to reveal the unity of god within a fragmented society and within the exiled individual and exiled society to create an ephraim you need to invest much more energy ephraim requires much more strength much more inspiration because he does not escape the present to connect and hold on to the past he rather reveals the nets israel the eternity of israel the eternity of terror within the present ephraim reveals to quote about the boshemtow says that har sinai never seized what happened at sinai continues constantly called god over yousef velayasav the voice of the god that i never stopped the differences we stopped hearing it to be able to reveal the sign i hear and now to be able to show that terror is alive in the present day reality to be able to speak that language that's revolutionary that's novel it's also dangerous it's difficult it's a challenge challenging task if you don't know what you're doing you don't know what you're doing if you don't know what you're doing you can actually become detrimental joseph has somebody who serves as an interpreter hamel it's bainissam the shevatim spoke in hebrew yahushua spoke egyptian who translated hamelitz it was menasha was fluent in the language menasha spoke the old language ephraim represents a different world ephraim represents the ability to take judaism and redress it in a new language but without losing its soul its essence its truth you must have a freya and ephraim represents a deeper objective to reveal the light here and now not just to escape to another reality but on the other hand if you don't have menasha as the genesis as the progenitor as the beginning ultimately ephraim will become a meaningless experiment of translating judaism into the here and now but often losing its soul losing its essence this explains the story the oldest son must be menasha because if you want to succeed with ephraim you first have to have menashe you have to be attached to history you have to have a sense of the past you have to know what a jew was you have to understand jewish experiences you have to know what jews went through you have to relate to that world of menasha nashani ali khimas kalamali vs kolbesovi if you immediately enter into the world of ephraim if your objective and your mission statement is we're going to demonstrate the relevance of judaism today but you don't have a gesture you don't have an appreciation you don't have an understanding of a blood gemara of apparent is of apost if you don't have an appreciation for the literature for the culture for the faith for the tradition for the energy and for the tragedy of the jewish past then often what happens is your translation of judaism is often hollow or shallow or meaningless because it's not grounded in the roots it's not grounded in the tradition it doesn't have that authenticity it doesn't have that ms it doesn't have that integrity menasha always must come first and therefore menasha is the oldest must come first and therefore menasha is the oldest and yet yaakov says menasha is the oldest but ephraim needs a special blessing ephraim needs a special dose of energy ephraim requires a deeper flow of consciousness in order to be able to succeed this is not about making menashe feel bad this is not about making menasha feel inferior it's what everybody needs in order to be able to fulfill their mission in order to be able to maximize their potential no two brothers have to be the same every person must be true to themselves the question you have to ask is not how you become like somebody else the question is how do you become yourself menasha needs the blessing that goes through the left arm ephraim needs the blessing that goes through the right arm menasha represents surme ra staying away from evil not letting madhur modernity of egypt to overtake you to remain sheltered to remain connected ephraim comes through menasha comes to the left arm representing discipline strength ephraim represents assaytov transforming the negativity into positivity redefining the light as a catalyst the darkness as a catalyst for light redefining fragmentation as a source for a deeper unity rediscovering the oneness of god within the colorfulness and diversity of the secular society of egypt ephraim needs the casa the right on the nayama malach of lejansk explains on parish valley menasha's idea was he wanted madregis menasha would always strive to reach higher spiritual levels and potentials ephraim was a person who was much more involved with people ephraim believed in affecting people menasha was a spiritualist he was involved in meditation and transcendence he just wanted to reach higher levels and detach himself from the society segregate himself ephraim on the contrary his mission statement was to influence people to be part of the environment to be a source of inspiration it reflects these two ideas that we're discussing before the naam ali malek says yahushua believed this was greater yaakov says i know the greatness of menasha but what we need ultimately in exile what we need is ephraim and it's fascinating that throughout jewish history we see that different great sages different leaders different rabbis represented these two names they were the there was the menasha type and the ephraim type there's that famous line that the satmirov of women where to go follow go out and follow the footsteps of the sheep shepherd your goats on the dwelling places of the shepherds sometimes in history sadie look you don't know where to go you don't know how to navigate how to negotiate a new new circumstances go follow the footsteps of the flock place your goats on the dwelling places of the shepherds the old dwelling places the old just follow the footsteps don't try to invent a new path great but what happens when you're traveling not on dry land you're traveling in water if i'm traveling on dry land and you travel travel the forest first you leave your foot marks and i could follow those marks but what happens if we're traveling in water you may be in a boat you may be in a jet ski you may be in a motor boat and you're driving fast and you make lots of waves but after a few seconds they're gone and i have to carve out my own individualistic path in the water for this child menasha will not speak he doesn't recognize the footsteps he doesn't appreciate he doesn't understand the footsteps in the world of chabad i think and this is my own explanation that this perhaps captures one of the differences that we see quite blatantly in the approach of the previous laboratory rabbi yosevich in the sixth lubavitcher and the rabbit the seventh laboratory the previous rabbit passed away in 1950 on the 10th of shavat yuchabat of shinyut if you read his talks if you read his letters you'll constantly be overtaken by the depth of nostalgia of craving of yearning for the past the previous laboratory often describes with so much drama and feeling how life used to be how life used to be in the little town of lobavich in the time of his father and his grandfather and his great grandfather and his great great great grandfather the altered the rapper the previous rabbit once said i've said bitter in the video when the present is bitter you have to remember the past the previous often describes in his letters and in his talks the hasidim their lifestyle their feelings the way they daven the way they learned the way they danced the way they told a story he would describe constantly his childhood years how he grew up when we read his talks we are taken by our hand at a stroll and a straw he takes us on a stroll on a walk into a world that doesn't exist anymore and he discusses often he says the avira of america the atmosphere of america is a different atmosphere where are those days where are those experiences divine providence makes us forget the home of our father and it makes us forget the tremendous amount of work we need to be connected to the home of our father but by remembering that it's by divine providence we know that god wants us to inculcate within our children and within ourselves those memories and those traditions so that we can inspire ourselves even in a contemporary reality that is so alien that is so detached the previous rabbit was succeeded by the rabbi when you read his talks you read his letters you'll almost never find a description of the past very seldom will you encounter even a bit of nostalgia even when the rabbit tells stories and he would not frequently tell stories like his father-in-law it's usually to derive a clear lesson for contemporary society for our condition today i don't think it's because the rebbe did not yearn for the past i don't think that they ever lacked nostalgia i don't think that the rebel lacked the emotional experiences of his father-in-law about a world that was and was destroyed by stalin by hitler ymcam and many other forces i think what was being expressed is captured in this talk of the rebbe about afraima menasha knowing that the objective of exile ultimately is ephraim ifrani ali kimbered's god made me mult god made me successful in the land of my power of poverty the rebels talks letters discourses conversations are always permeated with this point the torah is alive here and now in america in europe and australia of course in the land of israel the living god is a present reality in this place and in this time in this situation democracy should not inculcate us with a fear and a sense that judaism cannot succeed on the contrary as he once put it in a letter the fact that people can choose their own life in a democratic society allows them to become deeper jews allows them to experience judaism in an unprecedented way because it's coming internally it's coming from within the river would often discuss the fact how every new development in modern technology coma shabbat is whatever god created in the world he created ultimately with the purpose to bring more godliness and holiness into the world the rabbi would often to describe the chutzpah of our generation to be used as a catalyst for holy chutzpah he would discuss when he discussed the hippie revolution in the 60s he said what underlies this revolution is a search for spirituality he didn't just say let's write off this horrible generation which doesn't care as apathetic he said look into their hearts look into their eyes and you'll see they may be running away from the dogma of their parents what they're looking for is a deep spirituality the same as with feminism the revolution of feminism he believed can be utilized and redefined how logically to create a new consciousness for the woman in this generation as a preparation for the great moment of asia's kaila teres baila of a positive revolution in feminine energy which can influence the world and i can give so many more examples but the rebels tyra the rebbe's wisdom is always permeated with this point which he repeats again and again in a different way and in a different fashion and that is torah is the blueprint of the world of the world today if you want to understand the world today if you want to live in the world today in the deepest healthiest most effective wholesome way go to toyota because terra is the blueprint for life today god is here and now in this reality there's a spark of holiness in every situation which you can liberate and elevate one of the historians who wrote a lot about hasidis writes in one of his books the following story whether it's true or it's legend is irrelevant i want to bring out the point it was gershwin shalom who writes the story that the baal shem tov before rosh hashanah used to go out to the forest and in the forest he would light a fire and sing a song and draw down all the blessings that were necessary for the new year and when the balshamtev passes away the maggot of ms rich his successor goes to the forest and says i can't light a fire like the balchemtev but at least we can sing the song and he sings the song and draws down the blessings and the energy and when he passes away the holy martial life sausage goes to the forest and says i can't light a fire like the bashamtif i can't even sing a song like the magic like my master the maggot of mizritch but at least we can come here to the forest and that will have to do it that will have to be enough the balsamic needed the fire and the song the maggot had a song we don't have the fire we don't have the song but we're here and that will have to do it and it didn't the blessings came down and then by shalap sasebo passes away and your best says this i can't light a fire like the balshemptiv i can't sing a song like my grandfather the margaret of miss rich i don't even know where the forest is i don't know where to go but at least i can tell the story and that will have to be enough and what he tries to bring out i believe is that sometimes you can't light a fire you can't sing the song you don't even know where to go but at least you can tell the story came the rebbe and said perhaps for the one who remembers the story or even menasha who wasn't born by yaakov he was born in egypt he doesn't remember the story but he can appreciate the story but what about those who don't remember the story and they don't even understand the story is it hopeless is the fire gone is the song gone is the location gone it's not enough to tell the story he said we have to recreate this story we can't just tell a story of the past kobe in the land of poverty in the land of darkness in the land of exodus we can recreate the relevance of torah of hasidis of godliness here ephraim without menasha is hollow it's empty you need the foundations but the objective ultimately is ephraim and that is why we bless every jewish child till today may god allow you to become like ephraim and like menacing may god allow you in exile in a physical world in a world often [Music] very challenging and living within yourself often the person is an exile the person is alienated from his or her own soul from his or her own holiness from his or her own purity may god give you the fortitude the inspiration the strength the courage and the understanding to be like ephraim and nausea to be able to connect to your own soul to be able to connect to your own past to be able to connect to your own history and kephram to be able to revolutionize and reveal the truth of godliness and the oneness of godliness in the here and now have a wonderful evening [Music] oh [Music] [Laughter] [Music] i am [Music] my [Music] i [Music]