KLM: The Journey of the Morning prayers: From Nothings to Nobility

Heat. Heat. [Music] Welcome back to Yet and Torren any time. I have a rhetorical question for you. No, actually I want to hear what you have to say. I'm laughing because the rhetorical question is is really a statement. Here's my question. Is it is there such a thing really as a get rich quick scheme? Meaning that easy quick and you become unbelievably wealthy. Do you think those are those things are real or are they just fakes? Ah yeah. Do can you true? It probably is. But can you give an example or explain why you think so? I've seen some technologies. Ah, that's right. Very good. That's a great point. In our world and maybe there's a spiritual message behind this these new technologies if you're in the right place, the right tech at the right time. Unbelievable. You're taken care of. Okay. Same thing the hav deal is true about her spirituality, right? I mentioned this last week. We're talking about prayer. If you dive in with the right mindset, you could accomplish 13 million mitzvah. Did you hear that? Get rich quick. 13 million mitzvos. Now, it sounds too good to be true. Maybe it's not true. Yes, I'll explain. But you're definitely asking that that I achieved my goal. Here's the thing. The Arisal says that you should begin your prayer with having intention to fulfill the mitzvah of the zisel says what that means is if you have love uh or do certain good things for for your fellow dues if you have in mind 13 million That's how many mitzvah you fulfill. It's not like one mitzvah. In other words, I asked someone last week, how many Jewish people are there? Now, I'm not talking about observant. That's actually an important point. Okay? There's unfortunately millions of Jews that are not observant. Okay? But they're still Jews. And the thing is this, if you have that in mind, right, when you start your schona sray, let's say 13 million mitzvah times every, you know, every time you're like focused like that. However, I want to say it's not is well, look, you could probably say like, you know, chick like that. Maybe there's some reward, but you're really supposed to be doing something for them. Okay. And here's the thing. What's that? There are some of them, right? Okay. Very good. So, here's the thing. It's harder than you think. Okay. Because when we pray when we we pray, let's say for Parnasa and Das, I I know I'm going to confess, you know, most of them I'm thinking about myself. Okay. Now, when it comes to sick people, of course, if thank god I'm okay, I'll think of, you know, Aunt Matilda and other people a bit, okay? But really to think about others while you're praying, to pray for others is not so simple. Okay? Yet, and I pointed out the teila, the Aris is on to something. The teila is in the plural language. It doesn't say uh um uh bare bless me with paras. It says alenu usanu us forgive us. Now when I if if I need to ask hashem for forgiveness I'm thinking for but I'm thinking right. So how do you get out of that? And let me let me actually make this deeper. Okay. It's before actually on my on my road to becoming connected to Hashem in Torah, the most amazing sentence came out of my mouth. Okay? And and I spoke to someone who's a professional writer and they really thought it was an amazing sentence. You know, just as an aside, when I I wrote a book on Ashray and I got so consumed with it and absorbed in it that I I I woke up and I I had I had these words that came out of my mouth and and they actually made the editor's cut, you know, if you just get into it so much. But listen to this. Uh, you know, I I even then I didn't know who to attribute to, but I didn't feel like this it was just I didn't feel like it came from me. But listen to this. It says I I said like this. How can I I get Now I was thinking of Hashem. Okay, listen to this. It's a great prayer in my humble opinion. Hashem, how can I get out of myself and into others so I can get through to you? Isn't that beautiful? Thank God. I repeat, how can I get out of myself and into others so I can get through to you? That's the $13 million question. Okay. So, what we said last week and it works. It works so good it creates a problem. That's what I'm going to talk about today. It what what works is to listen to this insight from Rev Steinman Zetal. He said that you know Cla we're all one entity. So there's many, many, many million that don't realize the power of prayer. They don't realize there's someone up there to thank and to connect to. Okay, guess what? We're standing in for them when we pray. We the Rev Steman says it's like you're, you know, you're leading the domining. You're you have behind you millions of Jews that don't that are suffering that have psychological problems and emotional problems and spiritual problems. There's all these people and they so much need Hashem's help. Hashem wants us to st step up there. And the metaphor I gave is like a king who uh there's a king and he has ministers and there is in different provinces. Okay. So each uh minister comes to the king and appeals for the needs of his province. You that's what you're doing. You if you have gavon for that you you could be praying for so many people who who need it. You're going to the king. You're a minister. What? But you hear this is a powerful role and it's real and I promise you it works. Okay. I was inspired from listening to myself so to speak to this year where the last time we did it. And I'm telling you, every time I go in that zone of imagining myself as a minister who's coming before the king to appeal for these millions that that I'm representing. Wow. I'm getting out of myself and into others. It's great. However, it could lead to a terrible problem. I could be undermining the beginning of the prayer service. Sounds interesting. I see that puzzled look. Good. I want you to have a puzzled look. Okay, let's go to the morning chakras. Uh I get I don't know if we have to say for the for the listeners. We're going to a section that is is after morning brahas and before corbonos. It's called kabasayan. In other words, it's a prayer we say to hashem uh uh before we start praying and and okay, it begins with lolay. Okay. So, and you who are following, it's really worth looking this up. Okay. Everyone found it in the class right here. Okay. Yeah. All right. So, I'm going to read this and I'm going to emphasize a particular part lo. Oh, by the way, um this is the Kaban Mitzvah Foundation and my uh my job these days is to make you aware of mitzvah that are right in front of you, but you may not realize they are. Okay? Or or they're mitzvah that you may think are much harder to do than they are. So, ready? Look at this one. Shamayer. Okay. You should have fear of Hashem when no one's around and when other people are around. Now that's ready. You can have in mind, let's say you woke up in the morning, other people are sleeping. So you're all by yourself, right? So you you could have in mind, I'm fulfilling the mitzvah of having your hashem where no one's around. How do you do it? One way to fulfill is merely Hashem is watching. Hashem's listening. He wants to see if I have kavana. Okay, you have that thought. You just fulfill the mitzvah of dicea. Okay. Or be moloy like, you know, here's one. And you can attribute to other mitz. I'm at the light and I look a little religious over here. And it's it's one of those things. The light's red and no one's around. Okay. But there's people in cars and they see this religious person. Am I gonna cross? So I I try to have fear of Hashem in front of others. I don't I try most of the time. I don't cross even if there's no one around because I want to see I I I care about what what he I know Hashem wants me to be a good representative. So that's fear of Hashem in front of others. Okay. So I just want to point out you're you said one line two mitzvah's dice of fear of hem but that's not we want to get to the the another thing and I just want to remind you it it is so powerful to feel like you're representing others you're needed. You're important. Millions of people depend on you. You're a minister. Okay. But that could lead to a problem coming up. So if we keep reading says mod doll emis let's go to the next paragraph. Rabonim, master of all the worlds. All right, listen carefully. Not based on our righteousness am I praying to you, but rather I'm begging you for mercy. Okay? In other words, if you're dominating and you're learning Torah and you do and you run a beautiful institution built on Torah and like right if you do that you can feel wow I'm kind of I'm fairly righteous right what right right exactly exactly that's where we're heading okay so just this is a mindset that's key. It's not because I'm It's because you're merciful. But now, ready? But this is the part that we have to be very careful about. Listen to the next words. What are we What's our life? What what kind of do we do? What kind of kindness? What's our righteousness? How are we helping people? What's our our ability, our strength? Where's our might, right? That's that's calling for outstanding humility. You hear it? That's what So, so I'm a minister coming up and so we got to be care what is me, who am I? What's my life? Right? That this is one of my favorites. uh there is a muser a shul in Europe very very early let's say about a hundred years ago very muser focused right so there's a guy and uh okay he's up in front of the aric kotes early for chakras okay he's like this he's like hashem I'm I'm nothing I'm nothing before you hashem I'm nothing so then the next two guys come into the sh and They see, you know, I'm nothing. They go, oh, look who thinks he's nothing before Hashem. Oh, look who thinks he's nothing before Hashem. That Yeah, it's very deep. Okay. It's It's not nothing to be a nothing before Hashem. That's a big accomplishment. But and we're afraid to feel like a nothing. Okay. I want to sell you on on feeling like a nothing. Hang in there. Hang in there. Stay till the end. Okay. It's very well. We'll see. We'll see. So, here's the thing. Um, there is a a very holy friend of mine named Moy. He's in the in the old city. Okay? And I I've had the merit that he's do in minions that I've davined in the yeshiva other places. I I when he's dabbing, he looks like he's like going into a trance and and he's he's shaking. Okay, but by the way, he's done. Davin is totally normal. Okay, but he goes to another place. I promise you. You know, a navua, the Rambam, the malb everybody explains when you rece when you get a experience of devus with Hashem, like a nva, your body shuts down. You're like this and then you stop moving because it's so intense your body can't handle it. Here's a person. He's he's younger than me. That's embarrassing. Here's a person. He's he gets like I'm not saying he's getting prophecy, but he's shaking and he's in a in another state. So finally I I figured out maybe I should ask him how he does that. So I went up to him. I said, "How do how do you do that? How do you get into that state? And and he just said it very matterof factly. He says, "Well, I guess you know it was after a few yum kippers where I realized I'm mamish nothing before Hashem." That's what happened. Hear that? So what are we af we're afraid though? Okay. We're afraid to feel like a nothing. Okay. And and in a certain sense, we should be we if if we think uh we're a nothing and therefore we make the equation we don't have selfworth, that's terrible. Okay, but let's let's let's actually what I want to do is teach you how to feel like you're nothing. You'll thank me. You'll thank me one day, Speed. Okay. All right. Here's how to feel like nothing and and it's just incredible. Okay, but first we have to understand something today. This is really uh I'm a psychologist by training and I've stayed up with the field. I mean, I got my doctorate 30 years ago, but I've stayed up with the field and the field has advanced a lot. It's just there's the whole field called positive psychology and of course you have neuroscience. It things are happening over there. Hashem's opening up wisdom with psychology. Okay. So, has anyone heard of this that there's something an ailment that a lot of people in this generation have? And not just people that are not successful, but successful people, doctors, rabbis, um healthcare worker. It's called the impostor syndrome. Have you heard of it? Is that No, you haven't heard of it. Maybe you can relate to this. Have you ever felt like, you know, I'm really an impostor? Meaning, everyone thinks I'm smart and intelligent and successful and reli. Maybe they're right. Exact. Oh, maybe they're right that that that you are. Yeah. Okay. But I know many people and I admit I felt it like if they only, you know, like it's a fear. It's a it's an it's an irrational fear at times, but it's a fear people have. If people only saw me or if I fail, they're going to realize I'm not such a blah blah blah. You hear? It's something that's plaguing people today. They feel like an impostor. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm glad it sounds like you don't have that issue. Wonderful. It's a blessing. What? Yeah. So, but there are those. But you want to hear something deep. Okay. So, what's an imposttor syndrome is people think you're more in intelligent or more successful or more X Y and Z and maybe they'll find out you're not. Okay. You're you're not you're wonderful with your kids, right? But but if they walk in at the wrong time, right? So, oh no. Oh, they found out I'm not really such a good You hear unique people you might have a realization of of of what like nothingness and like you feel distant like you can't like this is the I'll explain but I get a sense of what you're saying so here so that's called unhealthy imposttor syndrome right okay but ready so the um imposttor syndrome is a person feels like an imposttor they I'm not as nice as people think I'm not as and they're worried people will catch them, expose them. Okay, ready? Okay, listen to this. I'm going to bring out uh a a deeper angle on impostor syndrome. Okay, Gomorrah and Russia Shana says that if you will act like a poor person at the beginning of the year, Rashana, you'll be wealthy at the end of the year. Okay, now the dilemma. What if you're not a poor person? Okay. Now, Rashi is saying it's a stance you have where you uh feel like you're poor, right? You don't have anything. So, what is a what's a person who has a good job and and and other good things and they have a car and they eat well? How can they feel they're poor? Is it a fake? Okay, you hear the question. And and so here's the here's the answer. If you think you have um a good job and a car and a and good friends and all this, uh you really believe that you're an impostor. You're an impostor. I I'll try to explain. In other words, in other words, who where where did the job? Wait, sorry. Where did the job come from? Where did the food come from? Where did the friends come from? Really? What are we? Yeah, exactly. You're pointing upwards, right, to Hashem. Exactly. Okay. From your own self, we have nothing. Okay. And if we feel like I you know what do you mean I'm doing well I'm x y and z I'm right so we are uh we are imposters the real source of everything we have is hashem okay now uh and yeah may maybe at the end okay thank you thank so here's the thing Rabbi Mendel Kessen this is just such a a life-changing point is the harah uh is very good. Right? So what h what what do we know is the truth according to the Torah an ovado there's no one besides Hashem. Okay. But if you exert some strength, if you uh come up with a uh a good insight, if you uh x y and z, you know what you feel? What do you mean a ovo? There's no one besides him. Me. There's someone else besides him. There's me. We feel like we're a y. You hear that? And that's not correct. Okay, we're not the Yatesara wants you to see Rabbi Noah Weinberg Zets has such a solution to to how what do you do if you just had a tremendous success? It feels great, right? But what are you going to become arrogant? So, you know what he said? So beautiful. Take pleasure, not pride in your achievements. It's a pleasure that Hashem bestows you with that you can do that you can have a center of that's a pleasure take pleasure not pride because it's really Hashem you hear this now this is a healthy way to feel like nothing I'm nothing but he's something and it says Right. Okay. We say it in the morning. You that are attached to Hashem, you're all alive. You're all something meaning it's your deus. In other words, if you if you have the honesty to say what what am I? What's my life? What what kind of kindness do where is it? Where is that really coming from? Look, look. Arainu was uh like having a a a fierce debate with Hashem about how to run the world about whether to destroy uh Saddam and not right like and but what does he say? What am I? I'm just ashes and apher. I'm nothing. Right. But if you're if you're in touch with reality that everything is really coming from Hashem, right? and you're just the steward of it, then you you're connecting to Hashem. That recognition, you're attached to the to to something. And so even though you're nothing, you're attached to something. And that's a beautiful place to be. Okay. Now, this Okay. So now, oh, sorry. You're very patient. I just think it'd be better. Yes. Go ahead. Take pleasure. Does that mean it gets taken away from you because you're not that? No, I think Hashem is much more understand compassionate of our foibless and psychological chain and yeah, he'll wait till we take pleasure. Okay, so back to here. All right. Is it a hush of role? Is it a hush of role to be representing millions of people in Tila? Right. Yes. Okay. All right. But you have to realize it's just a role. Okay? We if who are we? What are we? We're just people that are our privilege to have the a recognition that Hashem is something. We're nothing. But he gives us things and it's a test. Am I I'm going to say it's me or it's him. Right? And then I step into Shimona Esray and I and and what do I do? I I I can step forward and say Hashem Hashem wants me to be a a minister and representing millions of people. He wants that. So I'm going to do it. I'm just not going to be you hear this. So in my humble opinion, this is the way to get out of yourself and into others so you can get through to Hashem. My mom [Music]