(Way#1) TALMUD: 48 Ways with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

Hey, good afternoon everybody. Welcome back to Beyond the Seven live from Jerusalem with Rabbi Aaron David Poston. I have so enjoyed getting to know Rabbi Poston and hearing him share profound Torah with us. It's been exciting to this point and today is a benchmark. We're starting a new class series, the 48 Ways. For me, this is something that grows and grows and grows and grows and grows. My jaw hits the floor every time a lesson mounts higher and higher with this class. I look forward to hearing how Rabbi Poston begins to deal with it. So, I'm not going to be eager anymore. We're going to jump right back jump right in. Say hello to the Rabbi. Rabbi Poston, we're so glad to be back with you and hear Torah out of Jerusalem. Thank you so much for returning with Beyond the Seven and now the 48 Ways, sir. Thank you, Dan, and thank you for all those that have joined now and later on in the recorded session. You know, we're recording now live and I welcome you all and it's great to see you. It was a great vacation I had. I know there's a lot of pandemic and panic and worry in the world. And the truth is when this first came out, I passed a Rabbi Akiva Eiger around to my students meaning a a source sheet that was several hundred years ago from several hundred years ago that one of the one of the things that this rabbi concluded was that we should make our minyanim smaller when we get together and pray. But most importantly, he said one should not be atzuv. One should not be despondent or depressed. It is so bad for the whatever virus it was then and whatever virus could be around at any given time. It's like a magnet. And so therefore um I just have to remind everybody to be joyful, no matter what comes down. Uh even we just have to know that Hashem loves us and that what we call isurim me'avin that the trials and tribulations are from love and we have to know it like really deep inside. And uh b'ezrat Hashem, this too shall pass as King Solomon one of the I guess the wisest man who ever lived. Yeah. So I'll tell you the truth. This particular series really falls in line with Beyond the Seven because one of the main themes was meaning behind the whole series is yes, minimally minimally a Ben Noach and a non-Jew should in my mind, right, accept the seven laws or seven principles, overreaching principles. Uh minimally What does that mean minimally? I mean maybe not with his whole heart. Uh minimally, we discussed there's two types of Bnei Noach. One is called righteous gentile. We'll call them pious. Um what call in Hebrew Hasidei Umot Ha'Olam, the righteous amongst or the pious amongst the nations and they're the ones that have accepted that the Torah is from heaven. And that there is a obviously if you accept the Torah is from heaven, you accept there's a place for the Jews as the teachers, uh the role models, the leaders. And there's another type and that would be someone who on his own wisdom just through I don't know how, you know, through studies of nature, through pure logic that this is good for mankind. And call it a vote. So I don't I don't I don't want to insult anyone here, but I think that this type of class is geared mainly for the first type, the the one who wants to be righteous. And I'll I'll preface it. I'll I'll go over one of the that the Rambam uses in the laws of Yovel. I want to use that as a I guess a good introduction to what we're about to do. And because this is 48 ways to wisdom. That is going to be the and it's going to be a long series. So this is the title of the book. However, Rabbi Noah Weinberg, Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, my rebbe at some point cuz he passed on, still my rebbe, wrote that book, but he developed a whole series of uh lectures for beginners. Now the truth is he didn't make any of this up. This is in Pirkei Avot, right? Ethics of our fathers. You'll find it in chapter six. It's a Mishna. And it depends on the version you have. It could be it could be Mishna five, it could be Mishna six. I always remembered it being Mishna six, but in the safer that sorry, that I have here, it's in Mishna five. But the printed version that he has, it says in it's in Mishna six. So, if you're looking for it, don't uh don't despair. It's either five or six. You'll find it because it's quite a large missioner that delineates 48 ways to acquire wisdom. Question is, why am I speaking? I'm really speaking to the whole world, right? I know there are Jews watching, and I know there are righteous gentiles watching, and I know there are gentiles who have abandoned idolatry and have accepted the seven Noahide laws from pure logic, right? But as I mentioned, I think that this this class is for everyone. Don't don't get me wrong, but I'm saying in terms of relating to it and feeling as I'm talking to you, I think the person I'm talking to maybe I'm wrong is the one who really wants to grow in spirituality, okay? So, that is I just wanted to get that off my chest. Whoever wants to grow spiritually, obviously, that that really includes everybody, but I think it'll it'll touch those people that have decided that they want to go call beyond the seven, right? And that doesn't mean taking on more mitzvahs per se. It just means going deeper and deeper and understanding your your your purpose and role in life. However, that being said, I wanted to now read as I guess this is like the introduction. So, anybody who will tune in later, meaning throughout the next 47 ways cuz we're going to deal with one of them tonight, they should come back to this little introduction to understand why I am presenting this particular series on the 48 ways. So, in the in in the Rambam's magnum opus that called the missioner Torah, there's a book called the laws of shmita and yovel, which is the sabbatical year and the jubilee year. And he He like this, "Not only the tribe of Levi Lo shavat Levi bilvad. What he's about to tell you and what he already spoke about previously, cuz this is chapter 13, Mishnah 13. He says, "But anyone of the inhabitants of the world Ela kol ish va'ish mikol ba'ei olam. That includes non-Jews. Okay? They can actually reach or choose to devote their lives to the study of Torah, to being a servant of Hashem, to serve God. And I would assume like everyone's different, right? Some people need to work more than they learn. Okay, but then some people they can remove the yoke of having to work and make a decision to learn a lot more. And everyone is going to have a different um mixture, right? Even the Rambam tells a Jew that he should really be learning 9 hours a day and and working 3 hours a day, right? But Reb Weinberger's brother of Yaakov Weinberger, zatzal, also said to me personally, he says, "Today's different. Today, halavai, if it only be that a Jew would learn 3 hours a day and work 9 hours a day. Like minimum 3 hours." Okay, so some people are lucky. I'm not going to use the word lucky in the sense that we all use it, but in terms of having a a relationship with Hashem and a lot of emunah, perhaps they can even work a lot less than 9 hours and study a lot more. Okay, let me continue with the shmita and yovel. So, not only the tribe of Levi, but anyone of the inhabitants of the world whose spirit gen- generously motivates him, and he understands with his wisdom to set himself aside and stand before God to serve him and minister to him and to know God proceeding justly as God made him removing from his neck the yoke of the many reckoning reckonings which people seek. That is referring to having to work, having set aside, let's say a high a high standard of living. Perhaps choosing a lower standard of living in order not to have to work so much and not paying so many taxes either. Let's see. And he says to removing from his neck the yoke of many reckonings which people seek he is sanctified as holy of holies. He's considered Kadosh Kadoshim, holy of holies. God will be his portion and inheritance forever and provide what is sufficient for him in this world like he provides for the priests and the Levites. So imagine what the Rambam is saying. It's mind-boggling. So not only a a Jew like me who's maybe not Levi happens to be my Both Both of my mother's parents are Kohanim and my father's mother is a Bat Levi. We don't know what tribe my father's father's from but um okay, so let's say I'm not a Kohan but I can decide I want to live my life like a Levi meaning dedicate myself to God and that's what the Rambam is prescribing. It's not only for a Jew but for anybody and I again that's why it's called Beyond the Seven, okay? So it says like this, King David himself declared in Psalms 16:5 God is the lot of my portion. You are my cup. You support my lot. I mean it's much more beautiful in Hebrew but we'll we'll stick like this, right? I'll read in Hebrew. Hashem right Hashem manat chelki, Hashem is my portion v'chosi and my cup. Atah tomech gorali, you support my fate. You support my portion. So, I just wanted to get that off my chest. This is something that is I discussed in the very beginning when we started the series, and I think it's fundamental to to not only what we discussed for the last almost a year now. I think we started after Pesach. Uh half a year, but especially for this part of the series as well. I'm going to speak a little bit about my relationship with Rav Nachman Weinberg. Uh I came to Aish HaTorah Yeshiva in Jerusalem in 1988. But uh I had met Rav Nachman before. Uh I was I stayed up one night. I was in Yeshiva in Miami Beach. I was I'm a newcomer, so it's not a Yeshiva that was geared towards newcomers, but I had a friend I'm going to It's a long story. I'll just tell you. A very good dear friend who now runs a 12-step halfway house in Miami Beach. His name is Yisroel Burns, and uh we had a fantastic relationship when we were younger, and it continued, and we went to Yeshiva together. Um I don't know I was 21, 22 first time. A black hat Yeshiva, like one of those, you know, black hat Yeshivas was the most amazing experience I ever had. And uh we decided we were going to go to Israel and learn. And he had been to Israel, and he had been to Ohr Somayach, and I was not familiar with the Yeshiva scene, but uh I studied a little bit about it, and I decided I think I'm going to try out Aish HaTorah. But the truth is, we stayed up till 4:30 in the morning discussing the pros and cons of the different Yeshivas, and uh I made my final decision 4:30 in the morning I'm going to go to Aish HaTorah. He's going to go to Ohr Somayach, and we went to sleep I think for about an hour, and we got up to go to our prayers, and I always was the first one in the Beit Midrash, and I opened the doors and who is standing there? Rav Nachman Weinberg visiting from Israel. All by himself. And I walked over I kind of ran over to him like with my hands wide open. My gosh, Rebbe! It was like a miracle. You have to understand I never met the man in my life. I saw his pictures. I've listened to his shiurim. Um he was he's a statue, he's a giant. And he's just standing there all by himself and he's preparing his tallis to put on. And I just went over and I said, "Rabbi, can I come and learn in your yeshiva?" And you can just imagine the smile, the grin, the he was glowing. It was like an angel was standing there. And he put his arm around me and he said, "Sign him up. Of course. Of course." That was like unbelievable and I was I merited to be able to be his a personal secretary on Friday mornings. Um and I got to see the who goes into his office, what they talk about, you know. I just want to just give you a little bit of an idea. So in 19 I think it was 1988, 1999, 89 just I know a lot of people watching this will have no idea what I'm talking about. But we had a fax machine. Since I was the secretary on Fridays, they gave me a bunch of other jobs to do. So one of my jobs was at midnight to go into the office and fax, you know, they had I don't know several branches all over the world in Russia, right in America, several branches to fax important documents across the world because the rates for the you know, basically a fax machine back then was a phone call. I don't know today if it's the same thing. But it was like making a phone call. Believe it or not the rates dropped at midnight. So I used to go there every like I was the first one in the Beit Midrash and the last one to leave and my last job before I went to sleep was basically sending all these facts. I just remember so that was like the old days, you know. Anyway, here happens to be a new safer a new book about his life and it's I'm just reading it now. I'm still somewhere in the middle and then flipping through other pages. Just a giant a giant and so he took this mission and he developed a whole series that made it much more like down-to-earth. Now I cannot fill his position. So I will encourage everyone who's watching this series if they really want to hear him personally with his jovial voice and all his antidotes and his analogies and real life drama. You know, he brings it down to these college students. That's who he spoke to almost every single day college Jewish college students who were on their way to India and then somehow veered off or on their way back came to the Western Wall and were picked up and asked if they want to learn something from a wise man and they came to his classes and this is something that he developed that was that was his genius. He could take anything from what we call ancient ancient wisdom and bring it down. So I don't have that. I have to rely on sources that I hopefully digest and understand for myself and would like to pass it on. And that's going to be my introduction. It's an idea. Exciting. We look forward to it, Rabbi. So the mission actually begins even though we're not going to discuss so much about malchut which has to do with Yehuda being from the seed of King David or Solomon and kehuna meaning the priesthood that comes from the seed of Aaron. But the mission begins by telling us the Torah is even greater than priesthood or royalty. Why? Cuz royalty is acquired with 30 prerogatives and the I'm sorry. Kingship, that is a royalty, is acquired with 30 prerogatives and whereas priesthood with 24. But the Torah is acquired by means of 48 qualities and they are. So, in other words, anybody that wants to make a kinyan, wants to acquire Torah, should understand there's a path, there's a way to change your either attitudes or behavior that will assist you to acquire wisdom. And I I I'm going to just break it to you now. What all human beings We just got finished reading Bereshit. Genesis, right? The the first the chapter in in the in the Bible. And it's um you understand that what God did was he placed within man what we call a Nishmat Chaim. Nishmat Chaim. I can't find the the verse. It would be you could find it in chapter verse 7 in Genesis. And God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. The Yipach b'apav Nishmat Chaim. God breathed into Now, the Onkelos Targum Onkelos, the um the Aramaic translation of Nishmat Nishmat Chaim is a speaking spi- a speaking spirit, okay? A ruach m'mal'la, a speaking spirit. So, we'll have to talk We're going to discuss discuss this. What does it mean speaking? And the rest of the verse says v'hi Adam l'nefesh chaya. We're talking about all of mankind became a living being. Now, the Kli Yakar, which I give classes in, he goes through a very nice explanation. It can't really be that a nefesh chaya is as Rashi does say that Rashi says that even though a behema, even though all the animals are called, they're actually called nefesh chaya. You can see it. I'll just give you the verses all in chapter 1 uh verse 20 chapter 1 verse 24 Right. chapter 1 verse 30. It speaks about all the animals being nefesh chaya, living being. So, what is so unique about this fact that we have a nishmas chaya? So, Rashi says that the difference between us and them, meaning human beings. That's why I'm talking to you guys, right? The difference between human being is that God added de'ah v'dibbur. Intellect and speech. Again, this We're going to focus a lot on both of these ideas when it comes to wisdom. Okay? Wisdom is meant to be shared. Okay? If you don't know that, you will you will hopefully understand that by not the end of tonight. Hopefully by the end of tonight that this this is a But uh throughout the series Okay, so I just wanted to read up again what did I pretty much explained that Rashi. Right, I'll just say it in English. So, Rashi basically said, "What is this living soul? Cattle and beasts were also called living souls. But this one of man is the most alive of them all because he was given additionally intelligence and speech. Okay? So the very first thing that it mentions in the Mishnah Remember, there's 48 ways. I just want to give you another bit of bit of background. Our process of leaving Egypt, as everyone knows took 49 days right? From the leaving of the day after, right? Pesach, the next morning until we stood at Mount Sinai, We count 49 days and on the 50th day that's when the revelation took place. So, we count the Omer. It's one of the 613 mitzvahs. We do count the Omer. Um, but the whole idea, I shouldn't say the whole One of the main ideas behind counting the Omer is to prepare oneself to receive the Torah. Now, how should this apply to a non-Jew? Because as I mentioned, the righteous gentile understands that the Torah is from heaven, that it was given to the Jewish people, and that part of it, and I'm going to say significant part still applies to to mankind. Okay, you have to listen to which parts. Okay, so we're not going to go into that tonight. That's Right. Right. We covered it. Go back to the previous ideas. But in order to even receive your part, in order to make a kinyan, to make a real true acquisition, to internalize whatever it is you need to internalize, these are the 48 ways that we went through, meaning the 48 days. Remember I said there was 49 because the last one is a complete review. And we were just talking about it in the beginning. What how important is review? So, you have steps, right? Each one of the days is a way to acquire um let's say clarity, a cleanliness, right? A purity, because we were steeped in I don't know exactly a polluted nonsense in in Egypt. And many of the people watching I know have come out of uh different religions and have I pardon the expression, you know, but uh the truth is the truth. Um polluted nonsense, okay? Just that's the way it is. Call it what it is. It going to hurt to if you're not a fully committed, you know, like we just discussed in in Jubilee, you know, the the the Rambam Schmi'ta in Jubilee, you're not going to You don't You don't choose. You don't have to choose to be like a priest, okay? You don't have to. And we're not talking about full conversion. We're talking about as a non-Jew, right, who's dedicated his life to God. But you have dedicated on whatever level you're on, that's perfectly fine. You will find jewels. You will find riches of Jewish wisdom that will help you on whatever level and however far you want to take it. Okay? And that's how I wanted to um introduce society as well. About the 48 Ways being in step with the leaving of Egypt towards freedom, towards, you know, leaving bondage. And everybody has some kind of bondage in their life. It could be addictions. It could be whatever it is, you know, uh childhood memories that have uh haunted you and have caused um disturbance, dysfunctionality in one's life. It's It's a good thing. It's not a bad thing to uh to acquire Jewish wisdom along the way. So, as I mentioned, so far, the first Okay, so the very first The very first of the 48 Ways is called study. In Hebrew, it's called Talmud. Now, what is Talmud? Talmud is Yes, it it's a It's a book like this, right? That's true. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the process of analyzing. And I'm going to go into some of a lot of sources. I just also want to warn those watching. I try to use as many sources as I I Um I don't, you know, and you'll see why. I mean, this is there's so much to say about it. And in terms of studying, it's great to have a rabbi and a study partner. Okay, discuss that. And not just And not just to study on your own. So, one of the things, hopefully through through learning about study, is we're going to learn about how important it is to have a rabbi, even if you're not Jewish, you know, someone more learned than you that you can ask questions to. Someone who's qualified to provide answers. Excellent. Yeah, excellent. I agree. The first thing I want to read to you is a comment on the Mishna that just describes the difference between what we discussed already, the difference between the priesthood and the kingship having to do with with um the acquisition of Torah. So, he says like this. That even though we find these these qualities, these attributes by Kohuna, by priesthood, we find there are several different opinions. Um but he's going to mention um he's going to mention them in short. So, it's clear in the in the what we call Brisa, it's a Tanaic source, that the intent in this is that the 24 gifts for the Kohanim um that were given when we had the Beis Hamikdash, they were actually um So, he says 24. So, 1 second. He says, "Eser Bamikdash, eser bigvulin, v'arba Yerushalayim." Okay, I'm not sure if this is the comment. I thought this was the comment, fine. So, truth is, there were 10 that were given in the temple, 10 that were given in outside of the outside of Jerusalem and four that were given specifically while in Jerusalem, right? This is not the comment I wanted to read. I'm sorry. It's the one Good good point to know though. Yeah. Okay. I I don't know where it is, so I'm just going to sum it up. Oh, here it is. Here it is. I I'll I I think I just should sum it up. Basically, he's trying to tell us that those attributes that we're discussing with priesthood and Kohane are external. They're riches, they're gifts, they're maybe it's honor, maybe it's um power. And that's external, but the Kinyan of Torah is personal. And the difference is I'm just reading Hebrew. Einam Kinyanim Atzma'im BaNefesh Adam. The gifts or the the qualities given over to kingship or to the Kohane are not ac- personal acquisitions that affect the soul of the person. Ach, Ma'alot HaTorah Devarim Kinyanim Atzma'im SheNa'asu BaNafsho. But these qualities of Torah, they're things they're acquisitions that in and of themselves, they actually are making and creating the soul of the person. And BaNafsho K'Chelek Mimeno, it becomes part of you. Can you imagine who wouldn't want to be have the Torah like engraved on their hearts, right? To have it internalized. And that is why the Torah is not only more, cuz that's how we started off. It says the Torah is greater. It's greater in Kamut, in quantity, because we said one was 24, one was 30, this one's 48. So, yes, in kamut, in quantity, but really also in quality. It's about affecting the person internally. Okay, so I'm glad I found that comment cuz I think that was key to what we want to accomplish here as well. To have it written on our hearts. That would just beautiful, wouldn't it? Yeah, it's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Okay, let me just I have so many papers here. I just want to shove them away. And where do I want to go with this? Okay, we're going to put this away, too. Cuz I have copies what I want to read. Okay, so we said that the first of the 48 ways of acquiring wisdom is called Talmud. Now, I mentioned that it's not We're not talking about the physical book called the Talmud, which has Mishna and Gemara. So, having a one particular safer book, we're discussing the concept, okay? So, the concept of Mishna, which is in the Talmud, is like, let's say, um, concise halakhot, concise laws, uh, without real depth and meaning behind them. And then, following that within this book called the Talmud, then you have what we call the Gemara. And the Gemara is, and I want to actually read it to you what it is, but, um, it's the ins and outs. It's the reasons behind It's the reasons behind the halakhot. I think it's in Sanhedrin. Let me just find it. I have a lot of stuff here. I'm getting there. All good, Rabbi. We're so, uh, overjoyed to be with you. Yeah, thank you. So, maybe before we get to that, I just want to mention in the Mission of Torah, so the Rambam writes in chapter two of Hilchos De'os, which is the laws of character traits. He mentions a lot of different character traits, but one particular one similarly, so it's like in the middle of number seven, chapter two, law seven. Similarly, he should not be greedy, rushing for wealth and possessions, nor lazy, and an idler from work. Rather, he should be of a goodly eye and limit his business endeavors so that he may occupy himself with Torah study. He should be happy with the little which is his lot. So, this is in and goes on and on and describes other character traits. But this is if you're you're searching for wisdom. That's what I'm going to really describe uh this idea of Talmud study, trying to understand the reasons behind because this is really as I mentioned, this is what we were created for. And we're going to discuss other verses, but this is what man was created to toil. Not necessarily toil the field, and I'm not, you know, look, people have to work. Making a parnassah, making a living is also a mitzvah. But when you make that living, when you're out there, whether you're college, university, trying to find uh a career and putting that time and energy, the idea is I only want to be a servant of Hashem and I want to be able to provide obviously for my family, provide a nice home, uh nutritious meals, clean clothing, a good education. Don't let it own us. I'll be able to study myself. I want to I want to be eved Hashem. I want to serve Hashem properly. And if you don't study Torah, if you're not studying, and you're not you're not going to pay attention at least in Talmud, what we're trying to say is the reasons behind things, so then you're you're you're wasting your time. You're wasting your time in this world. Yeah. It's pretty clear. But it happens to so many people in this day and age, Rabbi. And even, you know, with this pandemic and lockdown, a lot of people have been squeezed without jobs. It's causing them to refocus. And I think what, you know, it's perfect timing to share this course. Very good. I'll just read some of the comments on that particular Mishna Torah that I read already. And Rambam mentions in Hilchos Talmud Torah, "Anyone who comes to the conclusion that he should involve himself in Torah study without doing work and derive his livelihood from charity is desecrating God's name. He dis- honors the Torah, extinguishes the light of faith, brings evil upon himself, and forfeits the life in in the world to come. It's a tremendous advantage for a person to derive his livelihood from his own affairs. So, we know someone should work. That's for no problem. In Halacha 7 of the same chapter, he writes, "Perhaps one will say, I'm going to interrupt my studies until until after I gather money, and then I'll return and study. I'll interrupt my studies until after that. I'll buy what I need, and then I when I can divert my attention from my business, I'll return to my study. If you consider such thoughts, you will never merit the crown of Torah, the ketzer Torah. If you're always finding excuses, you have to live your life like I need to know Torah. So, whatever little, and we're going to talk about this, spare time that you have, you should be learning. So, if it's only 5 minutes a day, spend that 5 minutes a day. Don't say I can't learn at all I have to just work. You have to know that looking for wisdom, searching for wisdom is is a necessity. Rather, he says make your work secondary. We're still talking about someone who's working full-time, maybe even has two jobs. Your work is called secondary and your Torah study is a fixed matter. Do not say when I have free time, I will study. For perhaps you will never have or find that free time. Similarly, in Halakha 9, he describes the path of students who will be successful in the pursuit of Torah. So, if you want to know how to be successful, listen to this. They do only the minimum amount of work each day to earn their livelihood. Look, if it's 10 hours, it's 10 hours. If it's 1 hour, it's 1 hour. Depends how much what your needs are. I'll read again. They do only the minimum amount of work each day to earn their livelihood if they have nothing else to eat. The rest of their days and nights are involved in Torah study. All right, so we have to understand at least from a Jewish point of view and I hope there are Jews listening, they should know this should be the absolute top priority. For the non-Jews again, those who want to dedicate themselves like we discussed in Hilkhot Shemita, they can also do the same. And for those who are whatever, they they're not as dedicated, they should still try their best to dedicate themselves to as much as they need as a Ben Noach needs to to learn. Wow, okay. Yeah, it's so necessary and yet we can get so distracted. You know, Rabbi K, can I ask a quick question, sir? Yes. It's just I find I'm getting older, okay, And sometimes it tired. Work during the day and then you get worn down, especially the older I get. I mean, I find, you know, even the time off that we've had together. Torah is like it's like it's like life to our bones or so, and I missed some of the your classes in the sense that even though some of it was reviewed, you brought it out in such a new fashion in a way that, you know, rejuvenated. Give give a sense of of But I find the older I get I the the more tired I get, but there's still no excuse to just cut it out and rest, is there? I mean, I like how you just mentioned claw back a little on the work if you're a capable and We will discuss it. Maybe I'll just jump to it now. In other words, what about vacationing? What about relaxing? Yeah. So, if I tell you there's no such thing, you're going to beat me up. You're going to say, "No, no, no." Well, we got to recharge. So, if you need that vacation to recharge the batteries, then your vacation is actually counted towards your learning the Torah. That's the mindset. Perfect. words, just the downtime. How much downtime, if you're into Torah, you're just chilling, you're actually thinking about what you learned yesterday or what you learned that morning? So, it's it's it's in your heart. So, it's all it's it is your mind frame. Am I relaxing so that I can get back into the game, right? That's why Yeshivas have what they call Bain Hazmanim. Bain Hazmanim means between the times, but it really means between the semesters. So, they used to have Yarchei Kallah. They used to have in Nissan and in Tishrei. So, they they would learn all year, but there were two months of the year they would take off and that was so they can go home from Babylon or from wherever they were whatever Yeshiva they were in so they could see the fields in the spring and harvest in the in the in the in the fall. So this is this is otherwise they would okay so basically everyone needs a break, right? And you go home and you make you make a living, but you don't need to work the fields all year round. Okay, let me just get back to this idea cuz we will discuss more about using your breaks as a um as a way to get back in the game. Okay, so he mentions and this is the way is very classic from Noah. He calls them the five C's. He breaks things down so that you should remember them so they become real. Right? If he's going to now his his lecture on Talmud has five C's. When you when you hear them, it's not going to make a whole lot of sense until he goes into each and every one of them. So one is called constant, one is called consistent, one is called continuous, one is called cyclical, and the last one is called comprehensive. There are sources for all these ideas. He just wanted to put them into bite-size pieces so that you could comprehend. Digest, yeah. The first thing he talks about is wasting time, constant. You it's perfect that you asked the question about breaks. I mean so imagine you're stuck in traffic or you're on a bus. Let's say you're on a bus and someone opens the window and every 5 minutes he throws a dollar bill out the window. So you think the guy's crazy. What is he doing? You got to hear of Noah give to the example, but so you think the guy's crazy, but how many of us waste our time just thinking of nothing. Right? Now, um how does he put it? He says, "Daydreaming and staring at nothing." That's how he puts it. We're killing time. We're throwing minutes out the window that can never be And that's, you know, time is money. It's like throwing money out the window. So, he claims that truly living means using your mind constantly. Now, I'm going to tell you how deep he this man, this rabbi, was. He told me, he told us, told the yeshiva, "Go to sleep with question on your mind. Don't even waste the time you're sleeping. Before you go to sleep, make sure you have a question that's recognizable. Be conscious of this question." Now, he guaranteed us that we would be answered through the angels, through by going to sleep, our soul somewhat released. It leaves the, let's say, the this five levels of the soul, the upper, the highest level of the soul, which is always connected with the sham, has less resistance, right? Because there's a sleeping pattern, and your question will be, let's say, communicated on whatever level that means, and you may not be conscious of the answer, but you will have an answer. Mhm. And I can just tell you that I I I still do it to this day because I think it's a So, he claims truly living means using your mind constantly. Whatever you're doing at any given moment, whether it's listening to the news, you're working on a business deal, you're talking to a friend, or you're reading this book, whatever it is, give it your full attention. Now, he knows that so many people are uh and this is going back I don't know exactly when this you know, these notes are written from his classes, but there's ADD, ADHD, there's a million and one attention deficit disorders that exist today. People don't have I don't know if it's because of the iPhone or because of TV or because of just the mass uh opportunity to uh surf the web. I don't know. But, we do know that over the last 50, 30, 20 years, it's just increased, increased unbelievably. So, how can you you know, try to concentrate and be aware all day long? So, he asks the question and this is your question, Dan. What about relaxing? You might ask. Won't constantly using my mind inevitably lead to burnout? I mean, this is I think this is your question. He claims it's okay to relax. But, relaxing doesn't mean spacing out. You don't have to space out. It's just changing gears. Changing gears. I think I used that before in the past. You know, Rabbi, Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, sir. I just you know, my spouse, my wife, she she has a tendency to say to me, you blanked right out, you zoned right out. And she doesn't realize that I'm actually meditating on Torah or I'm you know, rehearsing something. And I'm thinking about it and it's like, yeah, I might have checked out over here, but I know I'm trying to plug into what really matters. Very very good. So, anyway, so he says that you're just changing gears. Your relaxation should be purposeful and directed. For example, shift your focus to nature, music, or art. Do some exercise, which is essential for the body and also good for the mind. Sometimes a simple change of scenery or breath of fresh air is enough to recharge your batteries. Life is precious. Use your time. Don't kill it. So, I I I use this term because it's out in the world. That's called I I I'm not using it the way they use it. They're using the term called woke. But, I like that term, but I'm going to just I have a different meaning behind it. I have no idea what they mean. I really I I can't figure it out. I'm aggressive, right? To be woke. But, I think we should be woke. The Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok always spoke about that the Jewish people are sleeping giants. We have so much potential, but we're not using it. We're not even close because we're in a slumber. You know, could have been after 2,000 years of exile, right? For whatever reason, we're being brainwashed through the media, through the the the secular or pagan cultures that we're involved with, and we stop questioning things. I think fake news is is another very popular term. But, to be able to read the news properly takes a lot of skill, a lot of focus. And it's a great exercise. I I have to tell you, I I pass certain articles to my students, nothing to do with Torah, uh but something that's relevant in the world, and I ask them to read it critically and tell me at the end, "Where do you see the fake, the inconsistencies, you know, and what do you think the truth is? Even though the headline says this, what do you think?" I ask them to use their minds. This is like a way to like a a quick break from the Torah, but it's not a quick break from the the use of the mind. It's something enjoyable and challenging. And um okay, so that is what we call constant. In other words, constant in spirit Okay, as a as a um how do I say this? As a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, okay? I'm aware of the fact that in Alcoholics Anonymous, they say there's no vacations from spirituality. You have to be on constant um guard, right? You can imagine someone who has to not pick up that drink or say just say no, right? Here's the or she has to be on constant vigil- constantly vigilant. So, here constant. So, too, if you realize spirituality, then you you you can't Okay, I'm going to go to the beach today. You have to think which beach, right? There are actually I don't know if there are in where you live, but a Baruch Hashem at least here in Israel, there's at least five, maybe six, maybe more uh public beaches that are separated by gender. And of course you're going to have some secular people say, "Oh, but they say, "Listen, you have to know there are even some women who are conscious about their bodies and they're not religious and they prefer not to have men gawking at them, right?" Besides that the men who don't want to look at the naked women, you also have women who don't want men gawking at them and therefore Baruch Hashem, there is um it's legal. It's not like I don't know what they call it racist or whatever these terms are. I don't know is Huh? What's the word? Sexist? Sexist or you know, segregation, like you're segregating by gender. And of course you're going to find somebody far left progressive, too woke that is going to have a you know, they would go to court and try to say that it's sexist. But there's so many other beaches they can go to. So, what why why pound on the religious that prefer, you know, anyway. So, you have to understand that there is a reason to be constant constantly vigilant at least with your mind. Remember we said, what was the purpose of man's creation? Right? That he separate got a nishmas chaim. He has this um and I'll I'm going to translate nishmas chaim as a rational spiritual spiritual intellect that is eternal. That's what we were given to the animals don't have. So, what else do you want us to use with our our our minds and brain for other than constantly thinking? And maybe this is what separates, you know, the Jews are accused of a lot of things, right? Accused of being Marxist and capitalist, right? They're accused of so many things, of being very rich, of being very poor and parasitic. But, you know, what one thing they're never accused of as far as I know, except maybe the I shouldn't say this one. You know, political left, some Jews are so far politically they're never accused of being stupid, of being dumb, right? But, I gave you an example, perhaps some some are, but okay. Hope we don't get the taken off YouTube for that one. So, you have you have the Jews are not stupid. So, if you have already attached yourself to God's Torah and to the the one creator of the universe and you know, so, this is wisdom. We're going to share with you, you know, divine wisdom of how to even acquire more, right? I see how exactly huh. Okay, someone just wrote. Okay, the next thing is called consistency. This is also key to spiritual growth and learning Torah. Okay, now this is something I think psychologists talk about. Children, they're actually looking for borders, right? I don't know if you heard of Jordan Peterson, he's Canadian, right? Yes. Heard he's a little controversial, but not in my mind, but okay. Um, he would talk about this as well. First of all, we all have the yetzer hara. The yetzer hara was created by Hashem, right? It's and it's a challenge. But it itself, right? The Listen, he gives an example. Children would crave structure. They actually crave it. And sometimes when they act out, they're only begging their parents for guidance. Boundaries, yeah. My mother the limits. I don't know if she's listening now, but hopefully she's listening later. She um, I cut school one day and I was in the house and I heard her come home and I quickly tried to clean up and hide. I was kind of a little wild kid, I don't know if you know that. So anyway, um, later in the day when I supposedly came home from school, she asked me if I was there in the house. And I said, "Me? No, I was in school, you know, what else am I going to be?" So, she said cuz it was one little drop of orange juice on the counter and she knows the fact that that was clean before she left. So, she convinced me that what children do, as I was a child at the time, is they leave hints cuz they're really screaming out for help. Now, I don't know. But it it it I internalized this idea that mankind really wants to do the right thing. And when we ourselves are going off the path, there are ways of alerting others. I mean, we may not be conscious some it, But, subconsciously, we do want guidance, and we want help, and we want structure, and we want um borders. Cuz that's true freedom, as we discussed in other classes, as well. Clarity. Yeah. So, he's talking about consistency. He says, "Even though the kids will kick and scream at bed time, the yetzer hara behaves best when you give it structure and a consistent routine. So, the yetzer hara itself will be in check. Otherwise, it will be throwing a temper tantrum, bouncing off the walls, making it next to impossible for you to focus on the mitzvah at hand. Whatever mitzvah you have, as the yetzer hara wants to, but you have the opportunity to put it in check." So, he says, "Select your goal, commit to carrying it out, and reach your goal at the same time, in the same place, the same way, in the same way as much as reasonably possible." So, one of the halachas by Jews, always try to pray in the same exact place. Obviously, the same time, cuz you go to the same minyan. It creates so so many avenues for growth. But, one of them, just on a simple level, that if you're going to pray in the same place, you have less distractions, cuz you already know where the nicks are on the wall that you're facing, right? There's nothing new, right? So, that's just one idea. Another idea is that you're building up a spiritual um well, a fountain, uh uh spiritual energy in the same place. But, the idea is that if you do something the same time, same place, like obviously, if you're one of those paranoid people who have to take a different route every single day, cuz you might be followed, okay. So, there's help for you. But, basically, the concept is consistency, trying to get in a routine, cuz routine can be good. Obviously, routine can also uh take a negative side, too, because we need hitkashrus. We need something we knew. But at least for many of the patterns that we do, one should try to have consistency. He says, "For example, if you want to learn all of Shas." So, if you are people are aware of Daf Yomi, it takes like 7 1/2 years if you learn one page a day. It's like 7,500 pages, something like that. And um so, you have to set aside, maybe get a maybe get a a Havruta, that means a study partner, and make that time as holy as possible. There's another concept in the in the Chumash in the in the scripture where it says that it has to do with um in spiritual purity, that if a man would die in a tent, so the truth is, even though it's talking about the acquired impurity by someone else, like a Kohen or someone else in the same room or same building, same tent, it's also has another meaning, that one should strive to die in the tents of Torah. That one has to commit themselves, turn off your phone. Right? You tell your wife, "This is 1 hour or 1/2 hour or 10 minutes, what just do not disturb me. I am dead to the world." Right? And this is like your test. You know, you have a I don't know, you could be having a phone call. So, you know, don't answer it. You know, it could be worth a lot of money. But what's the big deal? You know, we have this ADD act thing, but what's the big deal? I will answer it in 10 minutes. The person will respect me and understand. Okay? And so, you make that time, no matter what, rain or shine, sickness or health. Just show up. You have to show up at the the time you designated. This is the power of commitment. Hammering away day in and day out carves the path to change. Now, in Judaism, there are a thing called Segulot. Segulot, I don't like the translation I'm going to give you, but this is how people do it. They would say um if you do the same thing over and over again so you'll have a positive outcome. Like a little bit on the superstitious side. It's not superstitious at all. It's like a It's not a good luck charm. It's You do something, the outcome will be favorable. I don't really have a translation, but So here's an example of one. If you go to the Western Wall for 40 days straight, you hopefully will get a a partner, right? Or you know, if you're looking forward to get married. Or uh someone is ill, so you go 40 days straight and pray 40 days straight at the Western Wall so the person will get better. That's not what it means and that's not what It's too superficial and phony. Rebberkowitz, who was the present Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Torah, explained it like this. It's through being consistent that you are becoming a different person and therefore your prayers will be more meaningful or you'll be ready to accept even the answer of no. So by every single day showing up at the Western Wall to pray your your afternoon prayer, your mincha, or your your your maariv, or your your shacharit, you're becoming a changed person and now you are, let's say, more likely to be acceptable for that mate. In other words, you want to marry somebody but you're not holding You're not I don't know if you understood what that means. You're not holding to on her level. So you have to improve your being by having more consistency in your life and by the end of 40 days you have become a different person and now you've risen to the level that you're more acceptable for that shidduch, for that match made in heaven, so to speak. So that gets rid of the superstitious oh, if I just do this, the magical outcome will be that. That's not at all what we're referring to. We're referring to change in inner inner change, Growth. Yeah, thanks for clarifying. Okay, so now continuous. That's the third C. So, I'll give you an example before we start. Rabbi Akiva famously went away for 12 years to learn Torah. And he was coming back after 12 years. I mean, he committed himself to 12 years, and he came back, and he overheard his wife having a discussion with one of the neighbors. Now, they were making fun of her, ah, your husband, he's away, he doesn't care, he doesn't love you, whatever whatever a yenta would say to make uh Rachel, Rochel feel not so good. And she responded, and Rabbi Akiva overheard, he he wasn't even in her presence, so to speak, that she could turn around she would turn around and see him, she didn't. She said to her neighbor, are you kidding me? I'm so proud of my husband. If he went for another 12 years, it wouldn't bother me one bit. He turned around, didn't even say hello to her, and went back to learn another 12 years. So, when you're in Yeshiva, the rabbis explain, that can you imagine if he would have he was already there. He was just meters away. He could have just I don't know, spent the night, gave her a hug, gave her a kiss, you know, eaten one of her meals that she had prepared for him. No, he turned around and went back. And why? This isn't And that's what the Gemara tells us. It sounds so cruel, but the truth is, that's why Rabbi Akiva became Rabbi Akiva, because he studied 24 years on a uninterrupted. If he would have interrupted those 12 years with that whatever uh involvement with his wife, he would not have spent 24 years. He would have spent 12 years and 12 years. And there's a huge difference. So, let's talk about continuous. Whenever you pursue a specific goal, strive to do it without interruption. It's more effective to study for 1 hour straight than 2 hours with interruptions. The interruption break interruptions break your train of thought and limit your ability to retain information. Just push it further, right? You know that you could do it. Don't interrupt with the coffee break. You end up speaking to somebody, then you get a phone call, right? Push yourself. The example he gives, if you put a pot It's a very simple. You put a pot on the stove. You want to bring it to a boil. Let's say it takes It's Let's say it takes 12 minutes. Whatever, just say. Depends on the heat, depends on how much water, but so if you take it off every 3 minutes, it's never going to boil, right? Even if you take it off for just what, half a minute, right? I don't know exactly the ratio, but every 3 minutes stop for half a minute, it's never going to boil. But if you leave it on for the full 12 minutes, it'll it'll boil in 12 minutes. That's just uh real simple math. Yeah, logically. But in life, you so often uh we can get distracted, uh but that is so so necessary to stay focused, isn't it? Look, I don't know if I have ADD. Uh my wife claims I probably do, you know, but I think and I believe that one can overcome. I mean, the amount of time that if I'm committed to sit and be uninterrupted, I could do it. Okay, so if I could do it, anybody could do it. That's how I feel. And um look, there's a lot of um I'm not going to tell people not to take medication. Medication may help. It also has some negative what do you call side effects. So Okay, you know, I'm not nobody came to me and asked me advice. I believe that one could with enough effort and let's say guidance from a doctor come off a certain amount of medicine and it would be better for them. The main thing is it's here. It's it's about building this is a muscle. Building the muscle. It can be it there's a lot of evidence coming out through science plasticity that the brain actually rewires itself and you can rewire especially for those who were involved in Christianity know more than ever how how I'm not going to say easy but that it can be done and it can be done in one area. Wow, like the light goes off and you just say wow. I can't believe that I believed that my whole life and now I see the light. So guess what? If that could be true in one particular point, it could be true in other points as well and you could focus and change your life. Okay, the brain focus is very difficult for today's attention attention deficit multi-tasking generation. But if you concentrate for 20 minutes with no interruptions, no mails, no emails, no phone calls. Now I when I first started, I shouldn't say before I became religious, I was already searching and I did a lot of meditation and one of the things that I maybe I shared this before but I would sit down for 20 minutes and just stare at a candle and then when I closed my eyes, I still saw the candle. Of course. And I did this for years and that was just the most simplest thing for me to do until this day when I pray, when I close my eyes, I still see that candle to this day. Okay, that's like 30, 40 45 years later. Wow. So, you can do it. Set aside a certain time when you block everything else out. Where you will not budge from the activity you're focusing on. Don't worry, you're not going to die. It's not endangering your life. So, he explains how you can practice it. Basically, start first with 15 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 1 hour, then 2 hours. He claims, and this is later we'll we'll see, the Vilna Gaon Wow. I see that we're 1 hour and I did not even touch any of the sources that I prepared. So, I just want to tell you we'll finish I we'll have to carry on next next week. But, the Vilna Gaon said the first 3 hours and 59 minutes of Torah learning is just stroking the furnace furnace, stoking the furnace. You're just getting ready. By the fourth hour, the pot is boiling. So, it's to be immersed in Torah. You've probably heard these words, to be immersed in Torah. To I don't know if you ever any of your what your listeners, your watchers, your your viewers have seen a bait midrash where for 4 hours two men are standing and arguing the minutiae of one point back and forth trying to get to the truth. They really want to understand and they're totally hyper-focused. Can you imagine, right? It doesn't have to be 4 hours and it doesn't have to be totally totally hyper-focused, but at least whatever you're learning to be focused. Now, all we did all we did was two of three of the C's, three three of the five C's. So, we still have to go over cyclical and comprehensive. And that's where all of the sources that I prepared. So, I just want to go I don't know what I should do. There's just too much. There's no way I can accomplish this certainly in the next 15 minutes to half an hour. Um If you need more time, Rabbi, take it. Let's just start with cyclical, right? We said that the last two are four and five, cyclical and comprehensive. So, let's start with one particular Gamorah. It's in Sanhedrin 99A. The basic point that I want to discuss here is whoever learns but does not review, review means to go over and over, is like a person who sows but does not reap. Now, who is who's wasting their time? The person who sowed Mhm. took out time. Like I say, plowed, then he put the seeds in the ground, maybe he watered them. So, he used money for the seeds, for the water, for the fertilizer. But it's time. And now it's time to reap. He didn't reap. Now, maybe there's still time to reap. So, don't despair. But someone who doesn't review is likened to someone who sows and does not reap. He claims the first time you learn something. Now, I just want to show you something else. And I tell my students this. This is what a page of Gamorah looks like. Now, believe it or not, so you have the main Gamorah is in the middle, and there are four lines that you find in Rashi and in Tosfos that I tell my students, before you can even come back and have a discussion with me about what we learned, you have to learn it four times. Okay? Minimally. But, uh we're going to find out that according to the Gemara, you have to learn something a hundred and one times. Now, that's maybe asking too much for today's society, but if you really want we're going to delve into the concepts behind it, and you're going to find them absolutely fascinating. So, what I'm trying to do is give a a promotion for next week. We're going to Yes. Um all, let's say, the mashal, the analogies uh that the Gemara gives, and try to plug them into our own lives. Um but basically, you have to prepare the ground. That's the whole idea, right? You want to s- you want to have a nice output of produce, there's a lot of work that goes into it. So, this is an introduction to the 48 Ways of Wisdom, right? And we didn't even cover the first, so I invite you all to come back next week. Um I don't even Okay, let me let me let me continue with this idea. Reish Lakish, he would prepare a lesson 40 times before delivering it. And that corresponds to the 40 days that Moshe Rabbeinu was up on Mount Sinai in order to receive the Torah. Um just the It's just very simple that every time you review a piece of learning, so you're going to dig deeper and get more clarity. It's simple. Mhm. So, isn't that what we want? Remember, what was the point of creation? Right? God separated us from the animals. He gave us a nishma a nishmat chayim, a spiritual intellect, a speaking spirit. And we're we're going to talk about this whole idea of speaking in learning the next week. Awesome. Learn Are you getting tired, Rabbi? Did you need to wind it down for today? No, but I I I imagine I only have like another 20 minutes, and there's no way I'm going to cover all this cuz this is so deep and and wonderful. Um but I will just continue a little bit longer. Learn with the goal of remembering your learning. Maybe I give you a little bit of an idea. I don't know. Gosh, this is This is just fascinating. Yeah, it's got to stick, right? It's got to stick to you, or what good is it? It's like you said, a harvest that's not been picked, right? You've planted, but you didn't pick it. We Yes, we discussed in the past that in Judaism, right? There's a a verse in the Torah that explains each one of the 613 mitzvahs. So, if learning is such an important mitzvah, where is the source? The Rambam and everyone else explain the verse says, "And you shall teach your son." Now, the question asked to have What does it mean, "You shall teach your son"? Your sons, your children. I thought it I thought we asked him, "What's the source for learning?" So, everyone knows as a prerequisite to teaching, you have to learn. So, Rav Nachman Waeber taught us that when you're learning, and you don't have to be a teacher, you don't have to have students, but whatever you're learning, learn in order to teach. Right. That is doing it lishma. That's doing it on the highest level. But that means you're learning in order to remember it, cuz if you're going to teach it, you have to What do you mean? it. Yeah. Don't be like me, relying on papers. You You want to You want to outgrow me. I want all my students to outgrow me. Right? Go beyond. But in the meantime, this is the idea, he says, right? Every time you learn, I'm I'm sorry. Learn with the goal of remembering your learning. How many times has an insta- struck you with astonishing clarity and then it slipped out of your mind the next day. I actually make it an an exercise. I don't let people I say oh, I know your name. I mean I run into people. They know me. They say, "Oh, you're Rabbi so-and-so." Yeah. Don't move. I'm going to remember your name. And I I ask them with a lot of patience and I I I I'm going to say 98% of the time I remember their name exactly. And part of the time I remember partially, which is pretty big cuz people are actually quite I don't know. Astonished. I don't know. It's It's It's a gift, but I want to keep that gift, so I practice it. And I have one guy in Asia who became one of the biggest rabbis over there. He was on one of these Birthright trips and I was in charge of the program and I think he saw me he only introduced himself once and I saw him a few weeks later and I remembered his name. And he says he says that that was You made an impact. that I only mentioned my name once. The truth is I had all the lists. Oh, my connection was lost. No, I still got you, Rabbi. Are you still there? I'm still here. Can you hear me? Okay. No, my thing said a connection was lost. Okay. Uh somehow it hit him that somebody could care so much and I'll tell you the truth also that impacted me too when I first became religious that people were interested in in who I was and they remembered the details. You know, the brains were very active. You know, in in in secular or whatever society unless you're in business and you wanted something from somebody, people didn't care who you were, right? But all of a sudden you're involved with this group of this tight-knit religious group and they find out oh, you're the stranger coming along, but you have no background, but you're Jewish. They really reached out to the point where they knew so much detail about my life, asking questions, and they were really truly interested, and they remembered. They remembered, "Oh, yeah, but you're the guy from Philadelphia. Oh, you're the guy you know, uh Jews play a lot of It makes all the difference, doesn't it? Has meaning. It just It's connection. We call Jewish geography. So, if you ever two Jews meet, "Oh, you're from this city? Oh, you Do you know this family? Or did you go to that school? Or did you" It's right away, and I'm sure that other people do it as well, but there's something more about such a small nation as we are. There's something certain camaraderie that we call Jewish geography. When a Jew meets another Jew for the first time, and they Most people they they seem to remember. Look, the older you get, I have to say, the the younger you are, if you practice this, it will help you in your old age and your older age, but it's never too late. The brain is still very much uh creating um connections, and and you could practice it, and you could Look, I I don't know that much about dementia. My wife works with the patients in dementia and Alzheimer's, but I think, and I've seen it, the people who've been learning Talmud their entire lives very rarely come down until they're really old, you know, until the very end. Uh we with these uh But again, a lot of it is also hereditary. So, there's some things you cannot help or prevent, but I do think that it does help and prevent uh to great extent, but it's not 100% guaranteed. I think you got to be You got to be right, Rabbi. I mean, it's just Yeah, if they say if you don't use it, you lose it, uh which we know that, say, dementia really affects people negatively, but doing all that you can is going to go a long way. So, the last thing he said, right? Something slipped slipped out of your mind the next day even though it was like great insight. The insight is fleeting if you don't capture it and the way to capture it is through review, which allows it to sink into your bones and permeate your mind. Constant review is essential for retention. And this is the last piece of this one that constant review is the difference between 100 times and 101 times. And I really wanted to speak about this next week cuz I just don't have the time right now, but I want to do the last piece about comprehensive. Be a student of life, right? Someone asked uh what do you do? I said, "I'm a learner. I'm a seeker." Yes. I mean, have you found it? Yes, but I'm still getting more. This is what life's about. It's it's amazing. So, the Rambam writes, we read it already, make your way make your work secondary and your Torah study a fixed matter. Right? What does that mean to you? If you're a seeker, if you're a you're looking. Your profession does not define who you are, right? I mean, there are people oh my god, you have to call me doctor, you have to call me this. I mean, come on. This is not who you are. You know, I I agree you spent a lot of money, you help a lot of people and you deserve the credit and you should be called that, but people gets quite insulted to certain extent. This just happens to be how you make a living, but you're a student of life. A life a truth seeker, learner. You may have to spend more hours working than learning. That's just the reality of today's world, but don't let that confuse your self-definition, right? I'll tell you I'll tell you I was um I was working for the National Football League. My my cousin was a um a photog cameraman and he uh he worked on the on the 50-yard line, he worked in the press box. And that was in Philadelphia? Actually, Fellowship, New Jersey, right across um the bridge from Philadelphia. Yeah, NFL Films. So, I was um in charge of uh the processing machine and uh all the films that come out Sunday, you know, whatever, Monday, the whole you know, all the all the football stuff, and then the editing, and a part of my hours were spent in the library just retrieving uh films so they could be edited or re-edited. Yeah. And uh I just remember when if I had a break, I would just sit I was in charge of the library, so nobody was there, it was just me. I just was bringing uh original films, you know, the the the negatives. So, I had hours hours to spend just meditating and reading and I just read in this way before I became religious. I was just reading all these religious books, so that's all I did, cuz I was a searcher. So, when I had time to do that, that's what I did. And I I think that many people are are searchers. Mhm. When you view yourself as a learner using your mind and being fascinated with life becomes a priority. You're always looking for opportunities to acquire wisdom. What does it say in Pirkei Avot? Who is wise? One who learns from everyone. Right? That means you're looking for opportunities. Everyone everyone there's nobody even learn what not to do sometimes, but you can still learn from everyone. The Torah says that Avram was old and he came with his days. So, what does mean came with his days? That means that he used every single day for growth. That's Abraham, he's our role model. He wasted no time, no money that was thrown out the window. Life is too precious to waste. Make the commitment to use your mind to discover life's deepest wisdom. This is what Talmud is. And let me just end with quoting the Gemara. It's really Rashi. He describes what exactly is learning limud or Talmud. So, we already discussed the idea of Mishnah are simple halachot. I could say simple, but straightforward, seemingly straightforward halachot without any reason or rhyme. So, he says, "Shalmei da'at hakhamim." This is Gemara in Bava Metzia uh 33a. It's just a Rashi explaining what is this. I should give you a little bit of insight what it's talking about, but I'm going to save that for next week. So, he just says, "What is this learning wisdom? The s'varas ta'amei hamishnah." It's the reasoning behind the taste of the Mishnah. The the reasoning behind the reasons of the mitzvah. Ulehavin, and to understand shelo yishnu s'varos zeh az zeh. So, that you would understand that this Mishnah here does not contradict that Mishnah there. In other words, there's so many laws that they seem some seem to contradict each other, but when you understand the reasoning, the principles behind them, then you understand this is talking about this particular scenario or um details. And this is talking about a different scenario and different details. This will help you understand the principles behind it. Many people walk away confused and not willing to delve deeply into number one, the reasons behind it, or perhaps even who said it. It's so important if you know in Judaism all these sources, this rabbi said that, that rabbi said that, because his words are always consistent with his thoughts, and therefore it will help us understand where he's coming from when he said this, and the other rabbi who said that where he's coming from, because there really may not even be a contradiction. And the ultimate goal is to bring everything together and to understand it. So, for example, if someone says this is forbidden and this one is permissible or this one you're liable or this one you're exempt. Right. That's That's called Gamorah. That's called learning. Understanding the deepest reasons behind the principles behind it. That is what we're going to discuss a little bit more in depth. What does that mean? Um another Rashi on the word Gamorah, he explains "Kvar Perashy Lemala", I already explained above, which I just read to you. "Lemala Shehu Leteit Leiv Lehavin". You're allowing your heart, you're placing your heart to try to understand. "Stimitz Ta'amei Mishna", the hidden things in the reasons behind the Mishna, which we describe described as the laws. "Mah Heim", what are they? What are the the the principles? "Kushtayim Sheshum Shezeh", when two thing two Mishnas seem to contradict each other. "Zeh" Yeah, so "Yavein Letareitz Sheyu Shteiham Kayu Kayamot" "O Ledat Divrei Hatana'im" um "Chalukin Bedavar". So, basically, you're allowing yourself to be able to understand in order to answer that there's two things that exist, but they're written by two different people with different ideas. And then "Zeh Name Aha Manei Peloni Chacham Lo", you're able to attribute this statement to that particular rabbi and the other statement to that particular rabbi that have different views on the matter. And you're able to process and resolve and come to a deeper understanding. I know we have certain people that we're aware of that like to fight and just want to you know, maybe even call the and say that their own Torah. But if they studied Gamorah, they truly studied, they would understand that there's no real fight, there's no real battle. It's not like these people say, "I'm right and everyone else is wrong." Right? I'm talking about certain people that maybe in the Benei Noach movement that are not really around anymore. But this causes a lot of headache. You can see they're lacking in this particular area. They're not able to I don't know if the word is synthesize but to resolve the issues between two legitimate sides of an argument. And that's what Talmud that what study is going to bring somebody to that point of really understanding the unity of Hashem. That's the ultimate goal of of study. Okay, so I really want to go into a lot of these these I I I I prepared a lot of stuff, man. A lot of good stuff and I think it's worthwhile. So, study meaning this topic will continue next week. And uh Be'ezrat Hashem, I'm looking forward to seeing you all. Rabbi, I want to thank you so much. There's so much beauty there. There's so much depth there. You know, the the 24 ways to priesthood, 30 ways to to to to kingship and the 48 ways to wisdom. I mean, the crown of Torah I'm just excited to to hear you bring this out. I mean, you were a student of of the rabbi who wrote that work. It's just it's a it's a joy to be with you and I'm so glad you're back. But unfortunately, Rabbi, with my new position, I actually am on call next weekend. So, I may not be able to do our time and I hate to do this but it's a little bit beyond my control and it's a responsibility. It'll be two weeks from now then, okay? It'll definitively be two weeks and just know I would and if I did and got an emergency call I would have and I would never ever ever want to do that especially to somebody who's prepared so much. It's a joy to see how much you've prepared and every word you're sharing out of Jerusalem you know to us is Torah and I just hope that people grasp this. Share it out there on social media folks. Rabbi Postern taking the time to share with us something beautiful and this is only going to get better and better and better. So any final words before we close Rabbi? I'm so glad to be back and I'm glad that we had some activity here. And I'm just going to click now that I like the video. There you go. I guess two weeks will give me a little bit more time to prepare. What we want to talk about. Once again just to review my own review it's going to benefit me. And you'll hear why next two weeks from now. Well I look forward. So till then folks have a wonderful wonderful wonderful day.