On the Netilat Yadayim Prayer with Rabbi Kalman Flaks

Heat. Heat. [Music] Okay, we're going to dedicate our Torah for the protection of all of Israel, in particular all of our should only hear good tidings for all the whole Jewish people. Let's sing a little niggan and get ourselves in the zone and then start learning some strong Torah. I N I N I N [Laughter] I am hal A [Music] I I I am I I am I I na Nana [Music] [Applause] I hana [Music] I am n [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I'm [Music] okay everyone in this very very special night. I think it's is of the yard site of the ishes unless it's tonight. I think it was last night and who I'm named after the ishes. So his light is still shining into the world. His his love the greatest thing in the world is to teach is to do something good for another person. So this should be and for the whole Jewish people. So we're continuing our explorations of we're up to the of we're going deep deep into understanding the first mitzvah that we do every single day. So we'll start with a story. The story goes that it's deep somewhere in Bashento land where is me and it's shall and all the are singing the holiest time of the year and suddenly the BMTO goes kind of into his own world. He's flying and he's in a different world and then he wakes up and they continue singing. After Shabas goes out, they ask the what happened and he says, "The light of the west has been extinguished. The holy has passed away." And indeed that was it that the holy or passed away. They asked the how did you know? He said that the secret of yadim was revealed to me at that moment at shalashidis. You see in every generation there is one sadic who knows the secret of and was that sadic when he passed away the secret was revealed to me. Um and that's the story and now I'm about to reveal to you the secret of natil. No not I don't know sorry but we will definitely uh explore it together and based on the teachings of our holy sages we're gonna go some and it should be great. Okay. So let's reveal one beautiful teaching from that is a pre that we do before every mitzvah except it's not really true. If you think about it, there's certain mitzvah that we do that don't merit a bra. Okay? For example, we have a mitzvah every day to remember morning and night. We fulfill it in our but ain't nobody saying before you dab in uh before you do that mitzvah, right? Mitzvah that are done with our speech and with our with our brain with our don't merit a bra but mitzvah that are done with actions with physical actions like washing of hands so they get a bra. Yeah. So says the roshuwab in his beautiful teachings beautiful uh safer on which we always quote rashwab on prayer often my students ask if there's one saper that you want me to open to learn on my own they're not to come to a like this I recommend on prayer very often because it goes through the whole feel and not just the amid unbelievable explanations so explains that all like this that our bodies are holy Okay. And how do I know that? Every mitzvah that we do, we bring kadusha into our body. Okay. And we infuse holiness with every action. And that's why even after we die, the body of aid is on a hold is still holy because it's been sanctified through the mitzvah. A gentile, as amazing as they are, they're going to lift up their souls through every good deed that they do. But their body is just a shell so to speak which is encasing the soul. But a Jew's body retains holiness even after the soul has gone to the next world. That's and that that that's what speaks at length about is the secret of a Jew has holiness and that's why a Jew has the laws of washing hands and not washing hands. A gentile is holy as beautiful as a person. His body is still a gentile body, but his soul is is is can be lifted very high. The Gmorra says beyond the high highest level, but his body does not get uplifted. Maybe that's why we care so much about these 13 bodies that are still stuck in Aza logically. Okay, their souls on a different world. What does it really matter? No, but the body is still holy and it needs to get a Israel, you know, and that's why we still go to some of the holiness of that saddic is still infused in the body which has been uplifted through the mitzvot that we do. That's why we care so much about the way that we're buried. I just heard a really beautiful story at Aza 24 just came through me that uh there was a yid and uh he was he was he died and uh when the kadisha saw that he was buried in the wrong spot. He was buried in where his wife's plot was supposed to be and the man is not supposed to be buried next to a woman. So they had to dig up a whole new plot. These guys, normally they have the Arab guys dig the the big spot and they just do the finishing touches, but they quickly realized that they had no choice. They quickly quickly dug a whole spot and put the the body in the right place. So they went and they told this to the stu to those children of uh of this person who passed away and they were in shock. They were totally blown away. Why? Because that person had been dabbing for months. He asked his children that a Jew should bury his body, should build the whole the whole burial spot should be dug by a Jew. And they went and they asked the Kadisha and he refused. He said, "No, if he's going to ask, then everyone's going to ask and soon we're going to be having to dig all of the the graves." And he refused to do it, but he wouldn't give up and he kept dabbing and diving. He never gave up. And unbelievable. Uh God arranged it that Jews should be the ones burying digging the burial spot. And again we might think who cares the soul's in heaven but no the body is holy and we remind ourselves of the holiness not just of the soul of the body when we do every time we do a we're reminding ourselves of the holiness of the gof not just of the nama. So that's one secret that Rwab reveals to us. But I want to go kind of start from the beginning and ask yourself as we try to do every year where did this whole thing come from? what is the history of okay so the truth is in the garra it's not completely clear it's not explicit uh where it comes from but putting the pieces together we can come up with a little bit of a story the mhammed my u who I learned so much from in his way succinctly sums up the evolution of but not starting actually from in the morning but starting from uh before eating bread so basically it started with The whole body, the whole body is one unit according to Judaism, right? Let's say you became impure from biblical times. How do you purify yourself? You got to immerse your entire body in a mikvah, right? If even one, you know, little inch is out, then you're not pure. The body is all one unit. But comes in Shabas and he teaches us that made a specific decree that the hands should be spec considered their own unit. hands are different than the rest of the body. That started with Schlommo. Schlommo decreed that if I touch um a corban with my impure hands and a regular hand is considered impure. If I just touch a corban, it's a pussle corban. You can't use that as a sacrifice. Based on that decree of Shomik came and they decreed that Cohen who touches um Truma holy coen food and his hands were not purified were not washed beforehand. So then it's possible you have to burn it and based on that says comes and decreed I think it's that all food is considered impure until we wash our hands and purify ourselves before we eat bread. Okay. Okay. So it was a decree that led to another decree that led to another decree in the time of kazal which is why we have to wash our hands before we eat bread because and this is really whole difference here because all of us are really mini kani right every time we sit down to have dinner we have to remind oursel that we're kani based on that of time for breadal also enacted says the um to wash our hands in the morning. Okay. And now in the braos in two separate places and discuss it in but does not give the exact history that the exact evolution that I'm expelling it out to you but putting the pieces of the puzzle together Rashi kind of puts this story together. Okay. So that's a little bit of the history, but let's step a take a take a step back and ask ourselves before made all these decrees, is there any biblical precedent? Something I always like to ask myself when I'm learning where did get these ideas from to make these decrees and it's always starting of course from so do we have any precedent a of the hands and b of water insh okay or no so let's start with the hands where do we see this the uniqueness the specialness of the hands in the Torah itself where the hands are being used in a different level. >> Oh, beautiful. So, the first thing that comes to mind is the cure, the lav, which is the big washing vessel. If you want to see a live one, you go to Mikdash. They built a whole big one. Or if you're lazy, go on YouTube and write, you know, labyrin. You can see their Google images version. Um, but it's worth it's definitely could die at some point to see that one that the temple institute built. It's really big and cool. But back in the day, the kanim were obligated to wash their hands and their feet before they did the holy service in the beta mdash. So we see that the the kanim were doing holy things, washing their hands, purifying their hands and their feet before they did their holy service. So certainly that was in the background when khazal made this decree of us washing our hands in the morning. Are there any other ideas which come to mind? Yeah, Larry. >> No, but I'm just trying to I was thinking when the strangers the came to Ara. >> Excellent. >> But he washed their feet. >> Yeah. Fat. So you and Romo think similarly. Exactly. There we go. Great minds think alike. Right. So Abrau is looking outside in the desert and he sees a bunch of holy Arabs as says it or idoltors or desert desert dwellers. We don't really know but they're wandering around and he brings them in and Torah says he washes their feet. Why did he wash their feet? So it says he's washing away their okay. They had idolatrous practices. They may have been using their feet for bad stuff and he didn't want to bring that into his tent. So he washes their feet. Okay. Says that's also that's also the idea behind when we wash our hands. We're mimicking that energy of we're washing the aodor off of our um off of our hands before we start going into a meal or before we start our day. We're washing away all those thoughts of oh look at me. I'm in charge of the world or all of that anim animalistic uh energy that may have come into me that when I'm about to jump into my steak and I wash it away and then I'm able to go into my uh my day and my food in the right uh in the right state of mind. So in other words, it all really began with Abrau washing the feet of those holy idolattors. Now Larry's going to ask me, okay, so then we should wash our feet. Why? Why? Why are we Why don't we wash our feet every morning like Abrau? And the answer is I don't know. It's a good question. Um but I do have a a custom that I made up that on uh the first night of sukus, I wash my guests feet. I take water and I I pour it over them. We have a water fight. It's a lot of fun. >> But you're always talking now about washing our hands in the morning. >> Correct. They're they're related concepts >> because there are other times like when you're entering uh to pray, >> right? So I'm going to have to clarify on the hikic level like all the different situations of washing your hands if we have time for that because meant to really just do I just want to understand but if we have time I definitely want to explain the difference between the different times but on the simplest level there was value in washing our feet in fact the kin used to wash their feet but we are washing our hands because our hands are dealing with the world we'll get back to that that's what the rush says the hands are the things that are interacting with the world the most. And therefore, it's most important that we wash our hands and purify our hands because our hands are the things that, you know, nowadays that's what we're typing with. That's what we're checking our phones with. We probably use our hands nowadays more than in any other time. And so, since our hands are interacting with the world, that's what needs to be purified and sanctified. But the original energy goes back to Abrainu purifying those uh angels back in the desert. Perhaps we can suggest. Okay, there is another famous story that comes to mind. There's there's a few, but there's one that comes to my mind when I think of hands. Hands in the Torah being used in a holy type of way. Now that I think maybe another idea comes. Any any ideas come to mind? So, I'm thinking of the story of when Mosherenu and Yeshua are fighting Amalecch and they raise their hands to the sky and the Torah says their hands were loyalty. Their hands were faith. Their hands reaching to the heavens is that connection point between Hashem and and the Jewish people. So, we see the power of the hands. In fact, that brings me back to another hands. Who else is using their hands? >> The kohanim raising their hands to bring the chef of interestingly enough says a coen. He was he's on the of a cohen. So maybe that's why he was washing the hands of those, you know, angels. But the coen are using their hands to to bring the blessing of God to the world. What about Elijah? >> Yeah. What did he use his hands for? >> I have maybe I have to study the story, but I thought that he put his hands up and and the fire of Hashem came out of the sky. >> It could be. You're right. I don't know. >> We'll go after this year. We'll do some on the Eliu story. I remember. I'm sure there are many other times of we see the P power of hands. time day. Yeah. >> Right. >> When Yakov came in and to trick him and he felt >> right, the hands and I'm trying to remember the phrase. We'll have to think about it. The voice of Yakov, but the hands of Asov when he's using his hands in a negative way. Anyways, there's a lot of power in the hands from a biblical perspective. And let's just take 3 minutes, four minutes to think about water. And there's a lot of places we can go with this. Where do you think Khazal got this idea of water being a purifying element? Well, the most obvious thing that comes to mind is again the cure, the the the washing of the hands of the Coen. But there are other situations where water is being used as a purifying element. What else comes to mind? >> Noah. >> Noah. Right. Right. This is para I've got God restarting the world specifically through water. Beautiful. Where else do we see water as a purifying element? >> Okay. The red heer is a good example. What else comes to mind? All of the immersions of the Cohen, everyone else, the women, it always starts with water. And maybe it really all starts it all starts from the the spirit of God which is hovering over water and the water which seemed to exist even before the world is created. So says that there's something about water that when you go into water, you feel like you're being recreated. You feel like everything starts again, you know. At least for me, I try to start my morning. I go to the mikfire. It's like a restart, you know. And actually, in this past army service, I was lucky enough that on my base, they had a little swimming pool, you know. So, there was uh wasn't much exercise that I could get on in my shmero between shifts. So, I would in the middle of the day, I would go swimming in this little pool that the army somehow got for us, take all the bugs out. And I always felt like it was like a restart, you know, re reconnect to myself, reconnect to my body, reconnect to my soul. So there's something powerful about getting back into the water. There is there is such a custom indeed. >> What when is that? >> Um it's a it's a hanhoga. It's a custom because they're just being in a bath house. And since one one custom is even in a bath house when you're surrounded by naked people, you kind of wash your hands and purify yourself. You don't do it with a braha. It's not a it's a it's a min there many many different I could think of 14 different scenarios where there's customs to wash our hands but we're not giving here so I'm not going to go into all the details >> yeah yeah once it comes up for sure so there's a lot to unpack the power of water and power of hands with all that biblical background I want to give the most classical explanations of the rishonim as to why we wash our hands so The most famous explanation is given by the rush Rabenu usher. He was a Spanish uh reishon a great tamudist. He was actually originally from Germany and he writes cuz when you go to bed your hands they're all over the place. They're going to touch dirty sweaty places at night. So to prepare before a person reads and says the rabbis decreed that we need to wash our hands in the morning. So it's a little bit of a practical element and note it's because we're going to say and so in other words the rush is already trying to answer a question that you might have asked yourself which is why are we only washing our hands before and why not before and many people do have a custom to wash their hands before and but that's a custom there's before you do it's an obligation. So why do we specifically wash our hands before? So perhaps he's answering because we went to bed, our hands are are dirty, and we're going to say schma in morning. So maybe putting those factors together, that's his explanation, kind of a practical explanation as to why we wash our hands, right? What if a person uh made sure that he didn't get his hands dirty? Let's say he was wearing gloves, right? Well, let's say he stayed up all night. A little bit more practical. So then according to the rush, would you have to wash your hands? Could you say a braha before you wash your hands? According to the rush, if you stayed up all night, no, you can't because it's a practical element. Maybe you could say loo. We won't make we won't distinguish. But on a simple reading of the rush, no. In that scenario, if you know your hands are clean, so you don't say. On the other hand, comes the rash and he argues again the gumar is unclear. Thear doesn't say the rationale for washing hands and that's why the rishim argue about it the holy also 13th century they're contemporaries he also lived in Spain and he argues and he says in the morning we become a new creation we're recreated Um, every day we're recreated. We talked about this in our mod year. Our soul comes back to us and we have to thank him. We were created to serve him. And that's why the rabbits establish in the morning. We have to sanctify oursel and specifically use a vessel because if it's really just about cleansing ourel like the rash seem to understand it. So then why do I need a why do I need a vessel? Why don't I know to do it in this whole specific way? But since rash rash has a rash has a whole different understanding. He says we are like the priest who would sanctify his hands before he would do the holy service and that is why we wash our hands. So just to review the rash is basically saying two separate explanations but he's kind of putting it together. First of all, we are recreated every morning. And since our soul is coming back to us, we need to somehow kind of thank God and remind ourselves that we're here to serve him. And so, how did Kazal enact the best way to remind ourselves that we're here to serve him? So, we wash our hands with a vessel in the same way that the kanim used to have to wash their hands before they did the sacrificial service. So using the energy of the sacrifices, the rabbis did and kind of drew it to every Jew. The implied message is where are the kohanim? Who are the kohanim? Now it is we are in other words again this is decreed apparently seemingly at the end of the second temple era around the same time that is making all of the blessings and the amid. So in other words, they're shifting the energy from the kanim being kind of the leaders doing the holy service. And now who are who are the kanim? We are the kanim. Every Jew when he wakes up in the morning and he's washing his hands every day, he's reminding himself that I am a cohen that I am here to serve God to to to sanctify myself to do his holy holy service. Okay, got the rash's explanation. Now both of these are given by the rishonim and the and the po can write. We should be strict like both of them. We should take both of them into account. Both the Rashba and the Rosh, we consider them both correct. Which one inspires me personally? You probably could tell from the way I explained it. I connect a lot more to the Rashbasa's approach than the Rush's approach. To me, the Rush is more practical cleanliness. Okay. Uh but Rush makes it to me is much more spiritually inspiring. Um that every Jew is a Cohen and that's why we're washing our hands. Now there is a third explanation. There's a lot of explanations. I just we don't have time. But there's a very important third explanation and that is based on the Gar and Shabas. I think it's the 50th page. But it's also alluded to in the Zohar. And that I'm sure we've heard of this concept is the concept of what does mean evil spirit. There's an evil spirit that falls upon a person. When does that evil spirit fall upon us? When we go to sleep. every night. Something about the fact that we no longer have our intellectual capacities or something about the fact that our soul is going up and down um and when it comes back into us, there's still a little bit of that evil spirit and apparently it sticks on the corners of the body which is the hands. Okay? And that evil spirit stays within us. And how do we get rid of that evil spirit? We're washing our hands. Water is a purifying element. So we're bringing that purity of godliness and we're getting rid of the and we're washing our hands and getting getting rid of that negative energy through the washing of the hands. Okay, that's also the way explains it. If you count the words in there's 13 words. So says through the mid of we're being the we're separating the negative energies out that somehow came onto us and uh and taking it away. Okay, there is a bit of a dispute. Is the ru because we went to sleep or does it happen automatically? In other words, let's say guy stays up all night. So, did the evil spirit come on him because he didn't go to sleep or is it something about that change between night and day that somehow brings negative energy into the human soul? So, we don't really know. Uh, have a good night. And so, we compromise. Actually, it's a big what do you do if you stayed up all night? Um I believe the you wash your hands but without a braha cuz we're not sure which task like and the Mishnab suggests going to the bathroom touching an impure place and then you have to say uh and then you have to wash your hands cuz it was impure or dirty and then you wash your hands and then you um say it with a brah that's generally the Ashkanazi practice but uh in any case these are the three main uh explanations in the rishonim as to why we do. Okay, one interesting side point. Um, there are a lot of rabbis who write that either doesn't exist today or at least doesn't exist as strongly. And so we need not necessarily be as concerned as once upon a time uh about this evil spirit. Okay. Um who t who speaks in this language? the Maharsha about 400 years ago. the Rambam some some read him in this light and toos says that in these German lands we're not concerned about the okay um and there's a famous interesting msor brought down by the gro by the vagon that after the kdish hashem of count patski is a famous uh convert who converted to the Jewish people and then they caught him he was the famous uh church member and they said we're going to kill you. We're going to kill you unless you convert back to the Christianity and he said no and they killed him in front of the whole vilna I I believe and it was such a great keshm that somehow it nullified the ru and so even many pe students of the gr believe that the kot of evil spirit are no longer as strong in the world. um since that happened. Now this is not universally accepted. Okay. And the you see this mlo when it comes to washing uh within four amos of your of your uh bed. uh many great cabalists like the and the benish and many many and the mishna uh write that we should be strict to make sure that we don't go even for amos without our hands being uh washed because of this evil spirit which rests upon a person but other rabbis are a little bit more lenient a because we're indoors if you're indoors and the yakov says that whole cabalistic thing doesn't apply if you're indoors and B because of the ru being weaker in our generation. Um some explain in other words once upon a time the world was very spiritual. Now since the enlightenment and the we're very brainy and we kind of don't have as much space for spiritual stuff and also the negative side of spiritual stuff the so it's a fascinating uh different argument. um some distinguish between the rah mentioned in the garbar and the rah mentioned by the cabalists to it's a whole interesting discussion but you should know it's good to be strict in any case to why not if you can but uh some rabbis are more lenient about that that for amos thing of uh washing your hands in the morning >> so it's not to do for >> it's a cabalistic uh stringency that's some postkim are strict about >> um And but I wouldn't call it an outright hal means something accepted by all the postim. It's a bit of a something that everyone would say you don't hurt, you don't lose. But in certain situations it's it's hard. Let's say in the army, you know, it was it was challenging. I meant sometimes it's challenging if it drives your wife nuts when I have the four and the >> Yeah, exactly. It happens. You have to know you know when I was a kid I read the kids are and everything I said I took to be it's good to do you don't hurt and will be very happy with the so why not but if it's hard for you you don't have to do too much chuva there's other things to worry about okay but anyways I want uh I want to get back to a little bit of the meaning of the words itself okay I share kishan That itself is already I alluded every mitzvah we're bringing infusing holiness into ourselves. Okay, the famous is it better to be commanded? Is it better not to be commanded? They're both a very high madrega to do something optionally, but it's even higher to be commanded to do something and still to do it because as soon as somebody tells me to do something as a man, I don't I want to go to the other way. I want to not do it. But I still do it. And in that way, I'm connecting to God. This is one of the seven rabbitical laws in decreed by the rabbis. Um so it's an early early rebbitical tradition. And I'm also um proclaiming my faith in the rabbis by every day opening up my day and washing my hands. The custom by the way, not the custom is to wash right, left, right, left, right, left. The Mishna Bura actually writes right for and left for for Gura and right it's called Sirugin, right? somehow gets rid of that negative energy that why that is. I don't know. I'm not a cabalist, but you can talk to your cabalist friends and let me know cuz I was I was always curious why somehow the right maybe it's a zus of going I don't know right, left, right, left, but somehow that gets rid of the negative energy. Uh if you if you're not don't have enough water, you could technically just do one and one, but the min is for sure three times. Um, that's just now I want to analyze these words because really what should the be if we were to be this if it's bad cleaning oursel like the Rash says or washing that's normally the language used. So why did change from the normal language and and and uh explain and call it to take water literally. It's a good question. No, maybe never thought about it. We're doing it our whole lives, but it's it's good to know. So, explains the that is Meckllinburgg. He was a German rabbi around the same time as Malbim defending to. And uh he gives a beautiful explanation. He says just like Natim was to if you're a Coen to raise you to a higher level. So now I can eat my truma. So too every time I wash my hands I'm being raised to a higher level. And is actually a language of raising myself higher. He brings a few sources. For example, in Daniel and in Yeshu the doesn't mean to take but to raise high. Okay? So that's why they didn't just say to wash my hands, but I'm changing my status. I'm uplifting my mindset. I'm lifting myself to be like a Cohen every time I wash my hands. And I think that's just a beautiful thing to know about every time we say few more explanations. Why don't we say the and then wouldn't that make more sense? Normally teaches us we always say the and then do the mitzvah over because the brah is there to prepare us for the mitzvah. So why here then we wake up say the braha and then wash rather we wash and then say the braha and then dry our hands what's going on what's up >> oh so the explanation is given just like a g a g cannot say a braha before he goes into the mikvah he's not Jewish yeah so Two, I'm still impure. I'm in a different status until I wash my hands. And when you feel this the most when you in the morning and you really I don't know about you guys, I used have to go to the bathroom. So I'm not I'm in no state to say a braha, right? So then I'm purify. I I wash my hands and now I go to the bathroom. Then I wash my hands and then I'm feeling ready spiritually to say the brah. So because of that situation, the rabbis just decreed that it should be done after I do the action of washing my hands. >> Modifi is modi considered a braha. >> So modi is not a in fact that's why it was decreed without God's name because it doesn't have name. So you are allowed to say in fact encouraged to say modi uh before you do anything else. Um I'll get back to a second explanation. No, I'll give a second explanation and then I'll give you a few practical tips about the stuff that comes up. Uh there's a second explanation. I read this years ago, I think from Salvik. I'm not sure. Uh but some explain actually that washing your hands is only the beginning of the process of the mitzvah, but the drying of the hands is getting rid of the impurity, the tum. So that's actually a part of the mitzvah, interestingly enough. And so now I've completed the mitzvah by drawing my hands and then I say the bra. So that's just good thing to know that the drawing of hands is actually part of the whole uh process of fulfilling this mitzvah. Good thing to know. Um now what do you do practically? So there are different customs how to do this. Uh one custom is first of all you wake up in the morning you say mi and most of the time in our generation we have to go to the bathroom. Okay. So, we go make a beline to the bathroom cuz you can't do um I I take it back. Some suggest you immediately do do washing your hands. If you don't have to go to the bathroom that badly, wait a little bit. Get rid of the evil spirit, okay? Cuz you don't want it on too long. But then you can't say because you still have to go to the bathroom. So then you go to the bathroom and then you wash again one, two, one, three times. Okay? And then you say the Okay. So that's one recommended way to do this. Uh ha the second if you don't have to go to the bathroom at all when you just wash regularly. Um and the another custom which is brought down by some of the pushim is you go to the bathroom wash your hands but don't say because you're still not ready you're not in the frame of mind to bless. Okay. So what do you then do? you go to shul and then as long as there's not too big of a break between washing and and going to shul right before you go to shul you wash your hands again and then you say the bra this would seem to line well by the way with the explanation of the rush because for the rush it's all about preparing for the rasha it's not specifically about but rather it's about a preparation for my whole day as a service of god so if you go with the rasha way doing it makes a little bit more sense to do it right away in the morning. If you go the rush way of doing it, you want to do it right before you dab. It's a big mlo whatever you do, you have big rabbis on your back. >> Yeah. If you don't wash your hands before >> uh technically you could you could say and then do later. Oh, so you're kind of contradicting yourself because if you could say God's name for a so why couldn't you do it for Sudan? Good point. Good question. >> I don't know. Maybe by the time you say Yeah. No, I I think the custom is not to wait to do a later to do a right after you go to the bathroom. >> Can you can you uh go to the bathroom, wash your hands, say >> do then do a >> Yeah, after you do. >> Yes, absolutely. You could definitely do that. In fact, that's recommended by many of the posters. That's often what I do. >> Okay. Beautiful. Um, a few last notes. Um, there's a strong custom to wash little kids hands. It's a good thing to know by both the mystics and the brisk and the apparently spiritually it's very healthy. And so I have I have a 2 and 1/ halfyear-old. So since he was one and a half, I started that's my I wash his hands. I don't know if he knows what's going on, but it's fun. It's good. It's good good abba Alicia time. So I recommend it heavily first of all to have kids. It's a lot of fun and second of all to wash their hands. Um another thing worth mentioning um is the teachings of Carlbach. So I just want to finish off with this is a Carlbach's book on he didn't write it. I wrote it but I compiled his different teachings on different parts of so uh I want to bring a few sweet teachings down about to cap off our sweet night together. So first of all says like this says the deepest thing what are hands for? Hands are for reaching. How do you reach out to another human being? It's beyond giving and taking reaching reaching out to God in heaven. The Gmorrah says that Hashem created the world with his hands. God we are the work of God's hands. God created us with his hands. Would say that the hands could reach higher than the head. Hands have the power to heal people. There are people out there use their hands. They can actually heal people through their hands. this certain kak you know there's a passage in the zora which is the most beautiful Jacob when he prayed he held his hands up gaval he was reaching up to the heavens as when he prayed his hands were always down he didn't want to reach god he just wanted to get something from god so our hands are there to connect doesn't mention it here but by yid nephesh he teaches yid is yady a friend are two hands connecting two people trying to connect to one another. That's the essence of a friend and that's the essence of relationship with our then connects it to our relationship with one another. You know, sometimes he says someone gives you hands, someone gives you a handshake and he's just giving a little bit of flesh and you kind of want to just like move on and sometimes someone shakes your hand and his mama shaking your soul, right? Sometimes when a person gives you that hand that you feel like he's really really love expressing his connection, his love, his desire to connect. So we wash our hands in the morning, we're reminding ourselves of our to connect to and to connect to each other and to use our hands to connect to one another. By the way, cabalistically, I don't know the secrets, but I'll mention a few spiritual things. Hands have 10 fingers. You know 10 is very powerful. 10 is 10 words. God created the world. The 10 m 10 spheros. So 10 represents completion. And we're using our hands bringing Hashem to connect to each other connect to to to one another and connect to in the most complete way. That's why I when they say they reach out their hands to connect to not just many of this custom to connect to the so we should every morning to use our hands to connect to one another and we should be to know the power of water. We were talking a little bit before the secrets of water secrets. One last teaching of a mo without water. Nothing grows without water. The uniqueness of water is that it brings out the hidden potential from within the ground. Right? Think about it. You have a beautiful plant but it's not going to grow without water that he gives it. >> So what does water represent in terminology? Water is that words of encouragement is that smile is that love that we give to one another. Water is saying, you know, you have so much strength. You have so many treasures inside of you. What's missing from all those people that still haven't grown, that haven't found the strength to change? They just need a little holy water. They just need one person to just believe in them, to really believe in them. And I I've seen this many times in my life. You know, sometimes it's just one person's compliment. One person comes up to me and says, "Oh, you know, wow, that minion that we were at." One guy came up to me after the minion and said, "Wow, that was amazing." And that gave me the kak the next time to be a little bit crazier to be a little jump up and down when no one else is jumping with me. But if that one guy wouldn't have told it to me or someone would criticize me, criticism is okay, but if it's not in the right place, I wouldn't have had the strength to do it, you know. And it's true for everyone. Doesn't matter the guy got to be the biggest star in the world. We all need that holy water. We all need that encouragement. You know, I know we all live off of that love, that encouragement, those compliments. So maybe when we're washing our hands in the morning, another kavana we can have is that we should be that water. We should just like mi as we discussed at length as hashem showing us how much he loves us. And so we should be that water to spread that love and give other people the strength to be the best them they can be as told in this week's para you should be the blessing you be the blessing you spread your light to the whole world. So just to summarize what we saw tonight is tapping into the power of water re every single morning recharging ourselves recreating ourselves tapping into the secrets of the creation of the world and reminding ourselves that we are all like kanim doing redetting ourselves to do our holy service to aes we taught we we studied the rashbah and the rash and the zohar and the three different explanations of uh practically speaking why we do and uh a little bit we learned the historical evolution of and we capped off with some beautiful teachings from and about the the power of the power of connecting to one another and the power of being uh each other's is water. So, we started with the and we'll end with one last niggan to uh bring our our Torah together up to protect all of Amish. I I am I am n I am na [Music] na. N [Music] I am my my Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. You see your