Special Series - The Talking Parrot | Rabbi Ari Neuwirth

My Rebbe, R’ Avrohom Chaim Levin zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe Chicago, would often say that a person has in his lifetime moments. He would call them, in Americanized Yiddish, Momentin. Moments in his life that could be the turning point of the rest of his life. As an example he would tell over the story of Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen. The Ribono shel Olam said that Pinchas, because of his act, was zoche to ברית כהונת עולם. And Chazal tell us that even though Pinchas’s father was Elazar HaKohen, his grandfather was Aharon HaKohen, Pinchas was not a Kohen, because he was born before his father, Elazar, and before his grandfather, Aharon, became Kohanim. So when they became Kohanim, he was not made into a Kohen. But when he stood up and he was מקנא קנאת השם, he took Nekama for HaKadosh Baruch Hu, at that point, his life changed. He was zoche when he was עומד in that Nisayon, he was zoche not just for himself, but for his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, עד סוף כל הדורות. The truth is that it said on the word וימאן, when Yosef withstood the תאוה of Eishes Potiphar, Mefarshim say that the Shalsheles is the Trop on top of the word וימאן, because Yosef realized that he is connected to the past and he's connected to the future. What he does right at this moment could change the destiny of his future generations. We could take advantage. There's no drumroll, we don't know when the moment is coming, but who knows if this coming Nisayon is the one that could change our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren לנצח נצחים.