Why Judaism Begins With Uncertainty - Rabbi Avraham Willig

Some of the simplest things in Judaism are some of the deepest things. It's too hard for me to explain that and express that in full, but when a Jew says Shema Yisrael, it's such a simple thing. It's actually the deepest deepest words. When a little Jewish child sings Torah [clears throat] tziva lanu Moshe, it seems so simple, but it's so powerful. Right? Uh some of the like almost like the nursery nursery school uh s- uh melodies that little children learn in Jewish primary school. In my heart, th- they're they're not they're so much more they're so much bigger and and and and and and more poignant than than just that. I know what to say there. We sing Kaddish, Urchatz, Karpas, Yachatz, and it's just a list of things, but for me, it's very moving. Right? And there And there are many such There are many such There are many such principles. There are many such things. So, and reflecting upon this, I would like to introduce I would like to introduce the first message, the first mitzvah in Judaism. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for this. We've arrived We're arriving at the first mitzvah in Judaism. The first mitzvah in Judaism is Exodus presented to the Jewish people in Exodus chapter 12 verse 1. Rashi, the opening Rashi in the Chumash, literally the father of all commentators Rashi, his opening comment in all of Tanakh is in the The first this first sentence, his first words out of his pen, right? In his commentary explaining Torah in the Torah is why the Torah should have started from Exodus chapter 12. Why are we starting from the beginning of the story of Genesis? The real mitzvahs the mitz- the first mitzvahs begin Exodus chapter 12. This is true. Now, I'm going to say this quickly because I need to give you background in order to get to my the talk that I want to share with you, okay? So, because because of the siren, we lost time. So, I'm going to try to try to say this quickly and briefly. You'll forgive me if I'm sure you'll have questions that I probably won't be able to answer. Right? So, here it is. Okay, the first mitzvah in Judaism is called Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem Rosh Chodesh. Translation, it means that the the Jewish people are obligated to follow God introduces the Jewish calendar. We're obligated to follow the moon as the calendar. Do you Do you appreciate that? In the big world, they follow the Gregorian calendar. They They follow the sun. You know what I'm talking about? January, February, right? They follow the sun, the sun. The Gregorian calendar. We Jews are presented by God here in Egypt the very very first literally number one mitzvah number one to the Jewish nation, want you to follow not the sun, not the Gregorian calendar, but rather follow the moon. Follow the moon, what we call the lunar calendar, or what I might call the mooner calendar. That's just the world according to me. Okay? It was just a joke. The lunar calendar, which is the mooner calendar, which is the the the months. >> [laughter] >> Now, that means the calendar begins as as God has as Hashem presents it, it begins in the in the in the Chodesh of Nisan, the month of Nisan, on the first day of Nisan. Okay? The first month of the 12 months in the year, the first month is Nisan. And the beginning of the beginning of the way Jewish the the Jewish people keep time is from the like any like any year, the first month of the year, the first day of that month that's called Rosh Chodesh. What does Rosh mean? Head, like the head of the year is like Rosh Hashanah, right? Rosh is the beginning of the year, and Rosh Chodesh is the beginning of the month. So, the first day and the and the of the first month is called The first month is Rosh Chodesh Nisan is Nisan, and the first day of that month is Rosh Chodesh. Okay? Rosh Chodesh. Now, let's just look at our calendar. When is the first month? When is the first day of Chodesh Nisan? It's actually in 2 days from now, okay? On Wednesday night, this Wednesday night is actually the first day biblically biblically the first day of the year. Okay? I know you can ask me questions about Rosh Hashanah. I know I'm waiting for those questions. I don't have the time to talk about them right now, but biblically, according to Torah itself, you look in the Torah, it refers to the months of the years here as numbers. Okay, the first month is this month, Chodesh Nisan. The second month, the third month, the fourth month, the fifth month, it's in in Judaism the the the the the months of the year are counted according to number in the Bible in the Torah. And the first month is the Chodesh of Nisan. David, you're a great listener. Okay? So, what I want to show you is as follows. Listen carefully. This is all presented in the first mitzvah. Now, you guys might not realize this because you have you might have seen a Jewish calendar. Now, I'm going to make a statement that might disturb you. You might have to like study this a little bit more after after the class, but I'm telling you that the Jewish calendars that you have you have that you and I look at, you can buy in the store, look at look you know, they're on the wall, the calendar this month, when is Pesach this year, when is Sukkot, when is Chanukah, when is Shavuot, it's not the real it's not the real way Jewish people tell time. I know you're going to have questions that I won't be able to answer. I'm I'm telling you. Okay, we're going to discuss it later. That that calendar is a it's kind of like a uh it's a stand-in. It's a it's a uh It's a plan B. Uh uh makeshift makeshift calendar that the rabbis put together, but it's not the actual way. It's not the [clears throat] actual way the Jewish people keep time. How do the Jewish people keep time? Listen to this. You can only learn this in books today and learn about it in the Beit Midrash cuz we don't practice this today. But the way it works is when the new moon arrives, this is true every month. When the new moon arrives, how how long does it How long is the lunar cycle for a for a does it take for the sun for the moon to go around the sun the moon to go around the Earth? Right? The answer is 29 and a and 29 days and 12 hours and and something minutes, right? And basically, when is that going to fall out what we call day or night? When can you see the moon when when when it emerges the new crescent? It is complex. Okay? It's It's even till today, right? How when exactly can you see it? But certainly those days when they didn't have any advanced uh mathematical tools and seeing, right? And and right? So, when is the new month? The new month is when two Jews see the new crescent, they come to the Jewish court, it's called the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin grills them and analyzes them and challenges them and asks them if they're to to to ascertain that they actually saw the new moon, and then they announce if their testimony is accepted, they announce it's the new moon. Today is Rosh Chodesh. Okay? Which just technically would actually mean that Rosh Chodesh started when the sun went down. In other words, the new month the month changes when the sun went down. When the sun went down, it's the new month. Now, the sun went down could be 7 hours ago, 8 hours ago, 9 hours, 10 11 12 13 14 hours ago. So what? That was the beginning of the new month. And it's amazing how they lived because they didn't know when the new month would be. Do you Do you appreciate what I'm saying? Now, this is the theme of my class. This is the theme of my class. Okay? What I've just shown you is actually a an incredible incredible observation. It's an It's an insight into the Jewish experience. How is it that a Jew can can knows what day it is? What week it is? The answer is it's fluid. The answer is only when we figure it out. Only when the Beit Din announces it. Only when the high court announces what day it is and therefore what month it is. So, is today going to be Is tonight going to be, you know, Rosh Hashanah or not? Like And when it's before Rosh Hashanah, which is the you know, Is tonight going to be Rosh Hashanah? Is tonight not going to be Rosh Hashanah? The Jewish people didn't know. Could you believe that? Is Is Are we going to synagogue tomorrow for the holidays? Uh we're not sure yet. We we either will or we won't, or maybe it'll be the next day, you know? How crazy is that? The Jewish people had no way of knowing when the holidays are going to be. Do you Do you Do you appreciate what I'm saying? Now, that puts us in a position of imbalance. It puts It It It puts It puts the Jew in the position of per- the perpetual unknown. There's no way to know when something will happen. So, for example, let's put this into practice, okay? A Jew A Jew decides he's getting married on the There's actually a Is there Is there a girl here? My friend's daughter uh my dear friend's daughter is getting married on the fifth day of Nisan. Okay? Now, because of this crazy war and and and restrictions and sirens and and and everything is so up in the air and confusing. I'm like, "Ah, this is exactly I told her, "This is exactly like the Jewish experience." Right? Imagine someone go calls a caterer and says, "I want to get married on the fifth day of Nisan." Okay? Well, he's like, "Well, well, when when is that?" Well, that should be uh you know, uh uh next week. What day next week? I need to book a hall. I need to book a caterer. And and I and and and the caterer's like, "Okay, so what day is that?" And the Jew says, um "I don't know." >> [laughter] >> So the So the caterer starts laughing. "You don't know? You don't know what day you're getting married?" Well, I'm getting married next next week sometime. Well, what day is it? "Well, I I don't know. It might be Tuesday. It might be Wednesday. Maybe it'll be Thursday." Like, "Are you joking? You want me to book a hall? How are you supposed to send out invitations? How are you supposed to book a hall? I don't You don't know if it's Tuesday or Wednesday?" What? "What are you talking about?" Yeah, I don't know. I I actually don't know. The Okay, fine. Forget this guy's crazy. Okay, call the caterer. Call the band. Call the photographer. What day? I don't know what day. I'm getting Like, the Jew makes a fool of himself. He doesn't A Jew never knows and this is This is even next week. Certainly next month or in two months or in five months or in 10 months. I have no idea. A Jew cannot express A Jew doesn't know when something will happen. A Jew cannot actually plan in advance. Do you appreciate what I'm saying? You It's impossible to plan in advance. God builds into the system of Judaism. It's impossible to plan in advance, to know what day will be. What day will be a specific date? Now, that's very unnerving. You say that's very unsettling. You know what? It is. It It is actually. It is. It is unsettling. A Jew actually has no way of that. That's exactly. And this is the first commandment of Judaism. It's almost like there's messaging there. It's the first mitzvah cuz it's the first message. The first message of Judaism is Get ready for this. You're not going to like this. The first message, the first mitzvah, and the first message of Judaism is You, Mr. Jew, don't get too comfortable. Don't think you're going to know everything and have everything worked out. You will be perpetually imbalanced. The only thing that you you you're going to You're going to need to be forced to rely on Hashem. You're going to be forced to rely on the way Hashem runs the world. You don't have any money in the bank that you can sleep so easily that everything's worked out. It's always going to be exciting. Judaism is always going to be exciting. And let me show this to you in a myriad of ways. Okay, I'm going to go to actually read to you from the Torah. Now, I'm telling you now that it's going to sound a little silly. I'm not trying to make fun of God, obviously we're not making fun of the Torah. But what I'm The passage I'm about to read to you is a passage from the Torah that describes the Jewish people's journey in the desert. Okay? Does anybody know how long the Jewish people in the desert for? 40 years. And how did they travel in the desert? Right? They They walked and Where did they go and when did they go? The answer is it depended on the Anybody know? The cloud. Very good. Wherever the cloud moved, they moved. Wherever the cloud moved, they moved. Now, listen to this description in the Torah. I'm reading from Parshat Beha'alotcha. The book of uh Devarim uh The book of Bamidbar, perek tes, pasuk uh tes vav. Okay? Now, I want everyone to pay attention. What's your name again? Ethan, I want you to pay attention to the repetition. Okay? Listen carefully. On the day On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle. Tabernacle is the Mishkan. Okay? And in the evening, there would be a uh fire on the Tabernacle. And so it would be. The cloud would cover it and an appearance of fire at night. And whenever the cloud was lifted from atop the tent, afterwards it Children of Israel would journey. And in the place where the cloud would rest, there the Jewish people would camp. Does everyone appreciate it? Okay, we're on page 781 if you want to follow me. Okay? I'm up to verse 18. Everyone appreciate Everyone understand what what God said so far? Wherever the cloud would go, when the cloud would go, they would go. When the cloud would stop, they would stop. Now, watch. Watch. According to the word of Hashem, would the Children of Israel journey. And according to the word of Hashem, would they encamp. All the days that the cloud would rest upon the Tabernacle, they would encamp. When the cloud lingered upon the Tabernacle many days, the Children of Israel would maintain the charge of Hashem and would not journey. Sometimes the cloud would be upon the Tabernacle for a number of days. According to the word of Hashem, they would encamp. And according to the word of Hashem, they would journey. And sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning, and the cloud would be lifted in the morning, and they would journey. Or for a day and a night, and the cloud or for a day [clears throat] and a night, and the cloud would be lifted, and they would journey. Or for two days or a month or a year. When the cloud would linger over the Tabernacle, resting upon it, the Children of Israel would encamp, and they would not journey. And when it was lifted, they would journey. I mean, is anyone ready to shoot themselves? What's the I mean, IT'S LIKE, "OKAY, OKAY." LIKE, we're not done. According to the word of Hashem, they would encamp. And according to the word of Hashem, they would journey. At the charge of Hashem, they would safeguard. According to the word of Hashem, through Moses. Now, what in the world is going on here? I mean, is this a joke? This is comical. Like, again and again and again, same thing. Like, what what what's what's what's this about? What what is this? Right? The Ramban explains. Consider the Consider the imagery. Guys, stick with me. Consider the imagery, okay? Let's You had a guy, let's call him uh I don't know. Uh you know, a nice little Jew we'll call him Label. Okay, of course he had an English name. Larry. Let's call him Larry, all right? Little Larry, a Jewish Larry, Jewish kid, okay? He would go with the Jewish people and the cloud would go He left Egypt, the clouds were going, and then they were traveling and traveling, the cloud stops. The cloud stops. And what happens? Aha! We know what that means. We They announced it. It means that Here's where we're going to camp. And he unpacks his suitcases and he takes out his, you know, closet and pitches his tent. He packs his underwear, you know, and unpacks and he puts everything neatly on the shelf. He takes a shower. He's relaxed. His slippers are all set up and and the guy's like his shirts are here and he unpacks. He has his his kids and everything is all the tents are every It's Wow, finally, you know, like he's ready to relax. And then, you won't believe it. You just won't believe it. It's just a couple of hours later and then, the cloud moves. The cloud moved. The cloud starts going. HE'S LIKE, "WHAT? IS THAT A JOKE? I JUST I just unpacked I just took me hours and hours. I just like This is crazy." So, he's like, "WE GOT TO GO." AND HE LIKE GRABS ALL THE SUITCASES AND HE quickly packs and everyone and undoes all the tents and pushes everything together and gets in the truck and they're like, "We're leaving. We're leaving." That's like so like intensity and they start going. And they travel and travel. It's a couple of days, a couple more days, and then the cloud stops. Now, this time Larry's like, >> [laughter] >> "I'm not a fool. I'm not even going to I'm I'm not going to make the same mistake." So, Larry is living with his wonderful, you know, wife, Linda. And uh they're living out of suitcases because you never know. So, they're sitting there. It's a week, you know, a few days and then a week and then two weeks and then three weeks. Then it's a month and then it's two months and three months and then five It's a year. A year has passed. They're living out of suitcases. It's like This is not right. This is not This is not good for us. Like, come on. This is We're going to unpack. So, he goes through the whole thing again. He unpacks. And guess what happens, you you know, the next day? It starts to go. Right? That's what the Ramban is showing us is that basically God was like, you know, you never knew The Jewish people never knew when they were going. They had no idea. For 40 years, they had no idea what would be tomorrow. Where are we meeting tomorrow? I don't know. I'm not sure. Depends. Is the cloud going to go? Is it not going to go? If it goes, it They had no idea. And then suddenly one day, it would go and then they were off. They would go with it. Okay. So, the Jew didn't know when he was ever leaving. Okay, but but finally when he did leave, where was he actually going? We're up to the next stage. Okay, so finally the the cloud started to move. Okay, and when the cloud moved, where was the Jew going? He had no idea. He went this way. He went that way. He just The cloud goes this way. The cloud goes this way. The cloud goes this way. It goes around. Whatever the He has no idea. God's like, you know, it's like It's like football, you know, basketball. Like, it's like pump fake. The cloud goes this way, this way, this way, this [laughter] way. Whatever the cloud goes, that's where he's going. The Jew has no idea where he's going. The Jewish people for 40 years had no idea where they were going. Had no idea when they were going. Do you appreciate this? This is very unnerving, very like a little bit unsettling. I literally have no idea where I'm going. So, right? And and consider. I want to share an imagery, Ethan, with you, which is so Again, powerful and a little bit comical. Consider. This isn't This is not the first time that the Jewish people have this experience. Who remembers? Not Exodus chapter 12, but rather Genesis chapter 12. When Hashem came to Avram, his first conversation, and he says, "Lech lecha, me artzecha, u'mimoladetecha, el ha'aretz asher arecha." What are the first sentence, the first words that God spoke to to Avram? Do you know what they were? Go. Remember? Go. Leave and go to the land that I will show you. Go to the land that I will show you. And Avram was like, "Uh Okay, where is that?" God's like, "I'll Don't worry. Go." So, he starts traveling. And Avram didn't travel alone. He had many students and many followers. They all packed up, but they all were going. And they were like traveling through the desert and they were like You would ask them, "Where where where where Where are they going?" They're like, "We don't know." Could you imagine just picture the imagery there's a whole nation. Okay? You want to turn that AC on, please? Um there's a whole nation and the nation is traveling and they're like nomads and they would meet people in the desert. Right? And people like, "Hey, you're a desert. Here's a whole group of people. Who are you?" Like, "Oh, we're the Abraham group." "Well, where are you going?" Uh we don't know. >> [laughter] >> People would like They would just They would laugh at them. Like, "Well, well, well, well, who's leading you?" "Our leader, that you know, the guy with the beard in the front, you know, with the white beard." So, they would go to Oh, they would walk up to the leader. "What's your name?" "Abraham." Right? And they're like, "Oh, okay. And uh Mr. Abraham, nice to meet you." "Are you the leader of this group?" "Yes, I am." "Well, where where are you leading them? Where where are you going?" And Abraham would be like, uh "I don't know." And people would like >> [laughter] >> "You don't know?" They would sneer and jeer and snicker and and and snort at Abraham. Like, "Yeah, what a fool. Like, what a buffoon, right? What an idiot. He has no idea where he's going." And that's the truth. The Jewish people actually did Avram actually did not know where he was going. It's it's it's from the very beginning of Judaism, the Jewish could a little bit He doesn't know. And that's exactly what God wants cuz what what does God want? What does God want? God wants that the Jewish people should be should have trust in him, should have faith in him, should be should be turning to God and and and being dependent upon and reliant upon God. I I'll I'll You know, I shared this with my brother >> [clears throat] >> and he added, my brother Simcha, and he added, it's also true that Abraham didn't even know his own name because he thought he said, "My name is Avram." Abraham. And God's like, "That's not your name. Your name is Abraham." >> [laughter] >> That's he The first Jew doesn't He doesn't even know his own name. He thought his name was Avram. Abraham, right? And God's like, "That's not your name. Your name is Abraham." >> [clears throat] >> In other words, Avraham. It it it just it completes this it completes this imagery, it completes this picture of of the Jew uh of of you know, the Jew being not knowing. So, what do what do we have so far? We're almost done, right? Basically, essentially, on any given day, the Jewish people they don't know where they're going. And they don't know when they're going. They don't know when they're They don't know what day it is. They don't know what they don't know what direction they're going. And there's more, gentlemen. There's more. Because the Jewish people also traveled into the desert, the Torah says in in uh The Torah says in in Exodus um in the second in the Again, in chapter 12, that that when the Jewish people left Parshat Bo says possible in that Exodus 12:39, when the Jewish people left, they left without food. That means 3 million Jews left Egypt with no food, with no plans. They had no They didn't take any food with them and they had no lunch plans or dinner plans. Now, I mean, this room is full of Jews. Have you ever seen a Jew go anywhere without food? I mean, what do Jews think about besides food? Jews don't go If there's one thing about Jews, I mean, they don't go They travel everywhere they go, they travel with food. Is there no such thing like 3 million people and they left with nothing to eat and they didn't know where they had dinner? "What are your lunch plans?" "We don't know." "What do you What do you mean? What Well, what are you eating for dinner?" "I I don't know." "Okay. Where are you eating dinner?" "I don't know." "When are you eating dinner?" "I don't know." "What about lunch? What about breakfast? What about tomorrow?" And the next thing, the Jewish people didn't know. Could you believe that? THAT'S THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE. THAT'S the Exodus experience. This is all part of the opening act of Judaism. Here, "A chodesh zeh lachem, rosh chadashim." This is the beginning of This is the beginning of time. This is the beginning of the Jewish experience. So, what do WE HAVE? WHAT DO WE HAVE? Let's let's let's just summarize. Essentially, the Jewish people on any given day did not know if they'd eat. They didn't know what they'd eat. And what happens? And God made a miracle. He opened the skies and suddenly it starts raining salami sandwiches and steak sandwiches and and and turkey sandwiches. True story. True story. I know, you had nothing to eat. Don't worry. It'll work out. It'll work out. Like, "What do you mean it'll work out? Like, where's the water? Where's the bread? Where Is there a food truck? Are are you going to fly in helicopters? Like, HOW DO I KNOW? I GOT A WIFE AND KIDS." "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Don't worry." And the Jewish people actually didn't know. Any day, any given time, the Jewish people did not know They did not know if they'd eat. They didn't know when they'd eat. They didn't know what they'd eat. Any given day, the Jewish people didn't know if they'd travel. They didn't know when they'd travel. They didn't know where they'd travel. Their whole existence was an existence of I don't know. In other words, the And this is the beginning of Judaism. This is the first mitzvah in Judaism. I can't You can A Jew can never know what time it is. Can never really know exactly where he's supposed to be or where he's supposed to go or Just don't worry. Just rely on Hashem. Wherever the cloud goes, wherever Hashem takes you, wherever Hashem gives you, Hashem's going to take care of you. That's the message. It's the first mitzvah of Judaism because it's the first message of Judaism that a Jew can basically can never plan for the future. He's forced to live in the present, forced to rely upon God for everything in the here and now. So, a Jew doesn't know where he's going. A Jew doesn't know when he's going. A Jew doesn't know how he's going. "How are you going to get there? Where are you going?" "Oh, I don't know. We're supposed to go to Israel? I don't know. How are you going to get there?" "I don't know. Maybe through the ocean." We're going to walk through the desert. What kind of crazy people walk through a desert? What kind of crazy people walk through an ocean? Don't you think it's crazy? This all of Judaism doesn't make Exactly, it doesn't make sense. You're right. It's a You're right. And And a Jew can never know what he's going to eat, if he's going to eat, how he's going to eat. A Jew A Jew doesn't know his schedule, what day it is, or what time it is. The Jew doesn't even know what his name is. The Jew DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING. ALL HE KNOWS IS ONE THING. There's one thing that a Jew knows and that is there's one God and he's going to take care of me. That he knows. He knows that Hashem is in charge. Yesh Every Jew knows that Hashem is in charge. He knows that Hashem is running the show. Every Jew knows that that Hashem knows. Maybe I don't know, but Hashem knows. This is the message. This is the the lesson. This is the This is the the the the the lifestyle of "A chodesh zeh lachem, rosh chadashim." This is the beginning. Whenever you see the moon, that's it. But that means that you're not going to know next week. I'm not going to know what's going to happen next week. Next week's a long time. What about right now? Don't think about next week. We can't think about next week because it doesn't help. So, therefore, a Jew is forced to think of just about this week. Right now, how can I serve God right now? That is That is the lifestyle of a Jew. That is the experience of being Jewish, right? And I'm just going to end with one uh with one very cute story about uh they say about about Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschutz. Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschutz was a brilliant brilliant uh scholar and sage in uh um in in in Europe. He must have lived must have lived maybe in uh I don't know, 1700s, 1800s, maybe. Okay? And what Maybe he lived in in Russia. I don't even I don't even know. And uh He was He was a bright brilliant a person even as a child. And one day he was walking to school and some policeman comes over to him, some Russian policeman and says, "Hey!" You know, he just like walked up to him and said, "Hey, who who you know, what what are you doing? Where Where are you going?" He's like, "I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I don't know." And And this sold And this policeman was like, "Hey, you're you're you're being fresh, you know? What You're being What What are you doing? You're up to trouble." He's like, "I'm not to trouble." He's like, "Well, well, where are you going?" He's like, "I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I don't So, he says he thinks that he smells like this kid's up to no good. So, he he brings him to the police station and he questions him and then challenges him. And finally, his his parents have to come and save him and and and he's going to leave the station. He's like, "What's wrong with you?" You know, he's It It emerges that he was just on his way to school. And the policeman says, "Well, well, why didn't you just tell me that you were on the way to school? What are you What are you being suspicious for?" And little Yonasan responded. He said, "I I wasn't trying to I wasn't trying to be I was I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. A A person doesn't doesn't ever really know where they're going. That's the truth." And he says, "What proof?" "I left this morning. I thought I was going to school and here I ended up at the at the police station." >> [laughter] >> Right? That's the proof. A JEW DOESN'T KNOW WHERE HE'S GOING. AND THAT especially for us here today. There are so many students who are kind of uncomfortable and they they're like, "Where are you going to be for Pesach?" Right? And And then my students say, "I I don't know. I'm supposed to be in New York, but I might end up being in Athens or maybe I'm supposed to I I I I can't get there. I'm going to be in in in I'm going to be in Israel." And one guy says, "Listen, I think I might be in Egypt. I'm trying to get to I'm trying to leave Egypt to try to go to Egypt to get out of the country." And like, the poor guy's going in the opposite direction. Most people, you know, I'm like, "Hey, Passover's about leaving Egypt to Israel, not leaving Israel to Egypt." "I don't know where I'm going. I don't know." And that's exactly You know what? And I like when they told me that, I kind of got excited. I'm like, "Yeah, this is the Jewish experience of Passover. I don't know where I'm going to be for Passover. Exactly. We're actually reliving, reenacting the the Passover story. I said to this girl, I said, "People are asking, where are you getting married?" It sounds so silly, but I I I so I heard it with my own ears. She's like, "I actually don't I don't actually don't know." But you're supposed to get married next week. Yeah, I'm just not sure exactly. Okay, so where are you getting married? I don't know. I was supposed to get married in this hall, it closed. That hall kicked me out. Now I'm waiting for this. I don't know. I might get married in my backyard this Friday. I don't know where I'm getting married. I don't know where I'm getting married. I'M LIKE, "AH!" >> [laughter] >> THIS IS A HOLY SHABBAT, A HOLY SHABBAT, Rosh Chodesh. And this is the experience of Judaism. At its best. I bless you and bless me back. I bless you and bless me back to be able to to be able to fall into the embrace, the trusted embrace, the warm embrace of Hashem, and let him carry us where we need to go. Let's just do our job of trusting in him and believing in him and hoping in him and hoping for his salvation for us personally and all the Jewish people. Thank you for listening. So what's the message? The message here is is that Hashem, God, is leading us, directing us, caring for us. He has our backs. He has our fronts. He's showing us where to go. He's going to He's not going to disappoint us. He's going to give us food to eat and he's going to get us to where we need to go and he's going to help us and he's going to support us. Don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged by by this by this lesson that we're learning. Right? A Jew is never lost. A Jew is never abandoned. God forbid. It's just that a Jew sometimes has to recognize that he's not in total control. Hashem is in total control. Hashem is going to take us and protect us and and bring us to the right place and lead us to the right moments and and and care for us and feed us. But some people they get so micro You know, they they focused on the details of their of their every moment of their future life and they have to work every last detail out of their like the retirement plans or like you know, they're speaking to the bank and they're only like they're only like 30, you know. So that's that's discouraged. We shouldn't rely on Hashem, rely on God and and know that he has our back. So a Jew is is never lost. A Jew is never is never abandoned, but it's just that God doesn't reveal to us exactly what the plan is. The reason for that is so that we should reach out to Hashem and ask for his help and trust in God, which is so good and healthy for our own spiritual nourishment. Thanks for listening.