Thank You Hashem for Opening Up My Eyes! with Rabbi Kalman Flaks

[music] You [singing] see your [music] [singing] tomorrow. [music and singing] Shalom friends. Welcome back to our shir here at Yan. And may our Torah be a protection for all of Am Israel and bring only Yeshu and blessings down to the whole Jewish people. Um we are continuing our adventure through the sitter tonight. Please God, we're going to explore Ibraim if we have time. I think we will and we'll see if we get have time for Matarim Zuim and a little niggan at the end to you know internal and bring the Torah down into our souls. Okay, so let's jump into it. We are thanking God. We got through the fun stuff of uh Isa and now the garra in braos teaches us that it we would go in the order of our um experiences we would thank God. Okay. So after you know hearing that turkey what's the first thing that most people do they open their eyes okay so the min of many is to say the truth is there was a ga that used to do mishaim and then which means you wear your clothing and then you open up your eyes which is a bit surprising because usually I don't know about you guys but I open up my eyes before I put on my clothing. But maybe, you know, they didn't want to touch their eyes or they would take a a garment or maybe they were under the curtain and and then they put clothing on even before they opened up their eyes. But in any case, Armenog is bless Hashem on having eyes and uh and then to thank Hashem for the ability to have clothing. Again, in the Tamura times, we would do it as we were experiencing it. Uh nowadays, the at the minute is to become to do it all together in sh you know that way we don't get confused and you know oh wait what's the for this what's the for that so we just do it all in one shot when we're praying in the sitter together the yal so let's jump into this uh the meaning and a little bit of the deeper meaning behind ibraim so first off it said you are the source of Paul blessing God, King of the universe, who opens up the eyes of the blind. It freezes it, in other words, in the negative. It could have said, "Blessed are you, God, who opens up my eyes, that I can see. Thank you, God, that I'm able to see." But it actually freezes it in the negative that I am blind, but God opens up my eyes. So, why does it do it in that way? What I think the shot is that um when we focus on the alternative on the negative so then it makes it stronger the positive when we focus on the fact that we really essentially are blind but God is opening up our eyes so it makes us think wow really I could be blind that that that that's the my essence is blind but Hashem does me this amazing gift of letting me See, and that is why we say God opens up the eyes of the blind. Again, to stress that at at its core, we don't we we don't deserve to see. We're blind every morning. We're blind, but Hashem opens up our eyes and allows this unbelievable system called vision and we are able to to see. On that note, uh the famous Mishna in asks is how much money do you need to be considered a rich person and we all know the famous answer someone who's happy with their lot. Actually there's another garra in Shabas which says a rich person was someone who couldn't afford a bathroom near their house. That meant you were uh considered uh you know upper class in Tamuda time. So you know nowadays you have two bathrooms, three bathrooms. So things aren't so bad. But in any case, a rich person. We all know the stands for meaning. [snorts] Who's a rich person? Someone [snorts] who has eyes, someone who has teeth, someone who has um you know, >> hands, >> hands, and someone who has feet. In other words, just the fact that we have a functioning body that ourselves makes us unbelievably rich. And I'll prove it, Larry. Let's make a deal. I'm going to give you $5 million right now. All I need is one of your eyes. I don't even want two of them. Just give me one. We have a deal. What do you think? Anybody willing uh to take that deal? >> No. >> Okay. $10 million. >> $100 million. Now you're thinking like surgery. You know, >> you were my dog. >> Yeah. Okay. But you know what? For two eyes, I don't think there'd be any sales. All the money in the world, right? So that turns out that we're all rich because we have so much brah and our problem of course and of course this whole she is just talking to myself is that we don't appreciate it and that's why we have like this to help us appreciate it. Uh this is my one of my favorite stories of the malvin. One morning the malvin wakes up his kids. He had a bunch of kids. It's 4:30 in the morning and he says, "My yankeala and they're all, "Wake up. Wake up. There's a miracle happening outside." They say, "Oh, what's happening?" And they all he gathers them all up to the living room. He opens up the windows and it's a sunrise. He says, "It's a miracle. It's a miracle. Let's, you know, let's thank Hashem." So that's the story and that's that's it's it's the truth. We don't take time to appreciate it. And that's what on its most basic level is reminding us to appreciate uh the gifts of life. And um by the way, you don't just have to do it when you're saying the bra in the morning. You could just be walking down the street and and and see a beautiful tree and see ah I saw the porcot today from my from my uh gardenish blossoming. I say ah wow thank you Hashem. Thank you Hashem for being able to see such a beautiful world. Vigor Miller used to say that if you see a blind person walking on the street that's a message from Hashem and he wants you to take a moment to say thank you Hashem that I have the ability to see. Not everyone is that lucky. And um on that note, you know, there's a real Shila uh can a blind person say this. Okay, because he he is blind. So how can he thank if he's an E? So what interestingly enough, what is the how do we pass on this question? While the Rambam would say he can't because you need to personally benefit from in fact he can and he should say this. So in the simple level why because he benefits from the fact that other people can see. Okay? Because if everyone was was blind, you know, he'd be in bigger trouble. Okay? That's on a on a basic level. But I once asked one of my closest uh friends is Ellie Ellie B and uh he's blind and you know we learn a lot we used to be he comes to an amazing guy and uh I asked him what what's your honestly when you say in the morning and he you know he said you know the truth is that there are a lot of types of blindness not only not being able to see which is a type of blindness but uh there's a lot of different ways in which we can be blinded. I'm I'm paraphrasing him, but this is what I understood from him. And I thank Hashem that I'm not blind in every way, but in many ways, he opens up my eyes to see to see reality, to see things as they are. The truth is sometimes a blind person can see reality a lot >> better than a lot of uh people who have two eyes. They're they're a lot less >> perception is more enhanced, >> right? On a simple biological level, of course, their perception is enhanced. They can hear things better. They can feel things [clears throat] better. That's true, of course. But I I mean also in the sense of their intellectual understanding of the universe, you know, not every one, but sometimes at least some of the blind people I know, they're a lot they see a lot better than than some other people I know with two eyes. So um and this is actually the because the says before a blind person you should not put a stumbling block the p in paras kadoshi and kazal explained that not to be literally uh don't put a stumbling block before uh don't put a banana peel before your local blind person. It's not even clear that that would actually be an isser if you did that. Rather they interpret it don't give bad advice. If I give someone bad advice, I'm blinding them because we're all we all can be blinded in many different ways, right? I think in we just insh this week's para we say uh the the bride will blind the eyes of a judge, right? We all get blinded at times by things that we experience and our pleasures and other things and we're not able to see things straight. So while on a simple level and ali we just had the simple given you know once a week we we should uh have intention to thank Hashem for vision on a another dimension we're also thanking Hashem and praying to Hashem that he should open up our intellectual capacities to have clarity to make the right decisions in life. I think what we can all look back in our lives, at least I can, and think of times when I just didn't see things clearly and you know, and I wasn't and other people could see things that I I just didn't see straight in the mirror. So, we're domining that Hashem opens up our eyes to see the truth, right? In fact, this is the that we say whenever you lose your uh cell phone, right? Or your keys, who comes to the rescue? or be mayor of everyone is considered blind until God opens up the eyes of the blind. This is a school uh when you're missing something and then you say mayor answer me. Say it three times. You got to give and there you go. You find your phone like like magic. It's happened to me so many times. Millions of really really many crazy stories. I said it I remember a few years I many times. I I said it and I couldn't find my cell phone and I said in front of the yeshiva where I teach and boom right when I finished the somebody gives me a call and says yo rabbi we found your phone. It was like in the middle of the hallway under some stairs like boom boom crazy but uh and mamish works but uh the concept is that we're blind. We're blind until we recognize that Hashem is the source of our vision. Just like Hashem opened up the eyes of Hagar and Ishmael. And once we have that recognition of God as a source of our vision, so then if God chooses, he will allow us to see to see the truth. So it doesn't only work for cell phones, can work for making decisions in life. And uh and Hashem should enlighten us to make the right decisions. Um by the way uh this is also true on a metaphysical level. Uh the Baba Sali was known that he he could see things he could see things that no one else could see. So once after one of these uh experiences where someone came up to the Babas Ali and like Ali knew exactly where he was at that moment. Someone asked the Baba Ali what's your secret rabbi? How do you know? Why do you see things that nobody else can see? He says the concept is that when you guard your eyes from seeing the wrong things, so Hashem opens up your eyes spiritually to see the right things. This is a a spiritual principle in Judaism, right? It's not a coincidence that the baba and and all the sadikim were able to see things that no one else can see. Right? It's it's proportional to the ability that you you guard your eyes to dedicating them to Torah, etc., and all of your faculties to to serving Hashem exclusively. in in proportion to that does Hashem open up our eyes to see things that other people can't see and have that clarity of vision that's why I don't know about you guys but sometimes after a good est especially like a Friday night you you dab and you have a good boy this you're thanking you suddenly just see things more clearly [clears throat] you know and and things become more clear to a person after you kind of re reconnect yourself and redirect yourself with the riono shala There's an illusion to this in uh the we say and you should not stray after your harden after your eyes. So we know there's a trap on top of every word and the grow revealed that every trap also has deep meaning. So the trap that the tune of is garash [snorts] gash ala in Hebrew means to like divorce and go. So when a person dedicates his eyes to not straying after his eyes not looking in the wrong places. So then the that it it go it takes away all the pains and all these troubles that otherwise would would go in a person. takes away all of the that separate him from and allows him to his eyes to be dedicated more to the to the service of Hashem. So um one last story and then we'll make this practical on a on a on a tless level in in terms of the aravana. So there's a amazing sadic who's blind um from Shiva University. I remember back in MTA used to walk the dorms when I went to Wu just got married relatively recently big sadic and uh he used to be and still is a tremendous Msman and he he saw for many years and then he lost his sight and he should get it back soon with Mashia. Right. Last week we read about how when the Torah was given all the blind were able to see. All the blind should be able to see very soon. Mashiach. But in any case, sometimes Raie will just go up to a yeshiva student or a girl seminary girl and say give her 20 bucks. Now he has to get 30 bucks and say go buy a safer. And he says I can't learn from a safer anymore but you can. So learn from me. have me in mind. So, [snorts] so that's so misa how do we express our appreciation for our vision every day? So, I think the first tip is every day close our eyes before we say and this is what suggests in this and it's a tried andrude tactic to really appreciate your vision. If you really want to go crazy, you can close your eyes for a minute and walk around the show. Everyone will think you're crazy. It'll be fun. But uh on the most basic level, close your eyes before you open up your eyes and then say and have in mind that that Hashem to appreciate the gift of vision and that Hashem should open our our eyes to make the right decisions in life and um >> and to see the good in people. Oh, thank you for reminding me. Right says that when you look into someone else and you look at the good in other people, so then you actually lift them up to a higher level, right? You see the So every day when we say we should ask, oh, we should only see good in other people. And on that note, we should only see the good init, right? You know the spies, they strayed after their eyes and they were I say very often on my tours that I'm not a tour guide because uh you know that's that was a the spies they were they were ofu we don't go after our eyes we go after eyes of and we go to connect to and that's why we which is telling Don't stray after eyes rather see see with the eyes of God is always looking at Israel the famous story of he gets off the boat and on the whole ride home he's looking at and he never wasted a second he was always learning so the students asked him why are you kiling the vat tora why aren't you you know looking at a safer and said if hashem could look I can also look at I'm connecting to you should also have eyes to see the good the good of you for sure >> and the good in yourself. Oh, the good on ourselves should enlighten us to use our eyes to learn Torah to to see the good in each other to look for opportunities in life to to to make the world a better place. Right? We can look at you can look at the world in the eyes of a patient who's always saying, "Oh, this is terrible. He's bleeding and that's wrong and this is wrong." Or you look at the world with the eyes of a doctor who's saying, "Oh, how can I help that person? How can I help that patient? How can I make the world a better place?" Especially when we experience hardship, we must ask ourselves, "Oh, maybe other people are also experiencing that same hardship. And how can I use this pain that I'm experiencing to help others in a similar circumstance?" You know, I remember especially when I was single, that was what that what I it was easier in a way when I was single to then say, "Oh, I need to set other people up. I need to use this pain that I'm experiencing to help other people who who must be going through the similar experience." So, we have eyes of asking ourselves, why is Hashem giving me this message and how can I use that to make it a better place? You want to say something? Cut you off. >> Yeah. Yeah. All theium art recorded by Helga or post it uh here at Yan. Okay. Um but after she we'll turn off the recorder and if anybody has any personal questions etc. Okay. Um so close your eyes to say thank you and dedicate ourselves to use our eyes for all these beautiful things and that we shouldn't use our eyes for the wrong things. Right? If we've been given the privilege of having eyes, right, then I then then we shouldn't waste the opportunity and use our eyes, god forbid, on the wrong things and looking at the wrong things. So instead, we should express our appreciation for our eyes by using our eyes to only uh spread good and and blessing into the universe. Amen. Okay. Now, let's move on to the second brah of tonight's journey. who clothe the naked. Interesting way that Khazal expressed uh our appreciation for clothing. Could have said, "Thank you, Hashem, for clothing. Thank you, Hashem, for the nice warm jacket and, you know, and and and my t-shirt and my nice polo shirt." So what's the deeper meaning behind again this of God clothing the naked? So again let's start with the simple level and then we'll go a little deeper. So on the most simple level what should our kavana be when we thank Hashem that we have clothing? Nothing too fancy. What should we think of him for? >> Warmth. >> Warmth. Think of New York City tonight, right? and freezing cold outside and you have a nice warm jacket keeping you cool, keeping you warm. It's uh it's not something to be taken for granted, but indeed it is something we take for granted, especially in our generation when we're blessed with so much. But nonetheless, we have to remind ourselves to appreciate the gift that is clothing. Um I remember a story then of safer how they were so poor they didn't have shoes and so all the kids wanted to go to learn only one pair of shoes and it was a very snowy winter. So what did mom do? She couldn't decide between the kids. So she took on the clothing and she went one by one and went back and forth to the back to this and back the whole morning to get all the the to uh to learn Torah and attributed all of his uh growth in life in Torah to his mom. But in any case, we take it for granted. We have clothing, we have tw you know so many pairs of shoes and this and that and the other thing about Hashem. So on a simple level, just imagine you're in a freezing cold day in New York City, the coldest place in the world, and Hashem gave you clothing. So you can use that imagination trick to make it uh more powerful, more meaningful. Uh, nonetheless, I think there's another dimension of what we're really supposed to be thanking Hashem for uh when we um when we thank him for clothing. And that goes brings us back to the first time when mankind was given clothing. Okay. Um, who remembers when was that first time in the Torah when man was given clothing? Yeah. >> Uh, [clears throat] Hashem made clothes for >> very good. Excellent. So in Genesis 3:21, Hashem himself gives clothing to Adam and now he doesn't just randomly give them clothing. They didn't have clothing off the bat. He gives them clothing in the context after they sin after this of right before they get kicked out of the Garden of Eden. He gives them clothing. What the clothing was, we don't know. There's different opinions, but he gives them clothing. One opinion, by the way, interestingly enough, was he gave them a talis, he gave them situs. Okay? I often tell this to bar mitzvah boys. One of my jobs when they put on their talis, this is the first garment that God gave uh mankind. Okay? So, in any case, God gives him clothing. But wait a second, why didn't he start off with clothing? Right? So, we have to go back in the story a little bit. How was Adam and Eve originally created? They were created naked. How do I know they were created naked? Because after Adam and Eve eat from the fruit, God approaches them, right? Genesis 38. And uh sorry, I just I'm a tour guide so I do the English. Uh I know it better. And Hashem says, uh, he asks Adam, you know, what's going on, how you doing? And he says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was hiding from you because I'm naked." And [clears throat] then Hashem says, "Gotcha. I knew that you How do you know you're naked?" Right? Which is Mashma that he was originally naked. And then at a certain point, he realizes after eating the fruit that he's not, he's naked and he's ashamed of his nakedness. Then God gives him clothing. So that's the story. What's the meaning behind it? Okay. So here's my take. I believe I got this take from Arya Kaplan's beautiful safer that I read years ago, but or something close to what he the way he interprets it also based on Schwab's interpretation. Says Adam originally was created naked because originally there's nothing impure. There was nothing tainted about being naked. It was like, you know, I walk around with my titus. If I walk around in the old city with wearing millin, what do I have to be ashamed about? So I walk around, I'm naked, you know, it's it's an Adam and Eve purvu. It's first mitzvah in the Torah. What's there to be ashamed about? But then came the sin of and the snake and it tainted that action. It wasn't done. It was done for it was done for the wrong reasons. At that point, they basically have lowered themselves to the level of an animal. And for a human to be on the level of an animal, to be using sexuality just like an animal is embarrassing. God built us in such a way that that is [clears throat] not natural. We really are supposed to be better than an animal. Okay? And so we're ashamed of ourselves. And before God kicks us out of the Garden of Eden, he gives us one last gift to give us strength to to remind you that you're not an animal, that you're above an animal. And what is that of course that clothing garment that talis or whatever exactly it was that gives. So that's his way of telling you're not an animal. You're higher than an animal. You're better than an animal. Animals don't wear clothing. Right? Except those like cute puppy dogs and some horses. But most of the time animals don't wear clothing because they they're they're animals. They don't have anything to embarrass. But us humans are not animals. And so at least most humans, not not nowadays, I know not everyone's into it, but most humans wear clothing. Um, and that's an expression of our our soul being in the being higher than animals. And so when we thank Hashem, we're not just thanking Hashem for my sweater, but I'm thanking Hashem for my sense of and my ability to view myself as a soul and not simply as a body. And that's ultimately what this braha is uh is the morame to us. You can see this kapan says in the word begged itself. But what does begged remind us of the chesh? Bed. means to rebel. In other words, a beed in a way only came about because the rebellion of mankind in in the garden of Eden. So there's this one element of beaded which is a little bit and in an ideal world we want to go back to the world of where that where you don't need but in the world we live in we needim for the most part. you know, most of the time it's that's that that that is what we need in order to remind us of our soul. Um, it's interesting that Yaku Katan points out that actually an embryo is surrounded with a little uh what's it called? >> Embiotic. >> Embiotic fluid, which is in a way like its clothing garment. I guess the alkatan holds that at least in the world we live in, it's to be garbed. So that's I'd say a secondary a little bit of a deeper level of what we're we can have when we say this of mi that God is specifically giving me this garment every single day when I put on that first garment. Finally, we'll go uh to a third. Actually, before we get to the third level, I have a two 2B um and that there's a special kavana that we can have when we wear clothing on shabas. Okay? Because there's shabas clothing and then there's weekday clothing and they're not the same. They have different uh purposes. They have different stories. The garra tells us that every shabas would wash himself in warm water. He would then d clothing and he would say that big shabbat your shabas clothing should not be like your clothing and he was like an angel. He looked like an angel. That's the way the gamarra describes Eli. So based on this by the way based on this the cabalist say that you should have completely different garments on shabis than during the week and if you go to your cabalistic friends invat you'll see they have all white garments eight garments and they don't wear anything they have special that's like Batman they have you know their their cape they have their shabas garments and they have their weekday garments and they have one nothing to do one with another because it's a completely different nature shabas clothing to weekday clothing. >> The first for shabas is to have special clothing. So we should all have ourselves to have special beautiful shabas clothing. Again on a cabalistic idea even your underwear and your undershirts should be different on chab and special white gar guard clothing. On a pushet level you should just have something special something different uh at least your your external layers. Um there's discussion about do you need special shabas shoes or not? The more the better, the nicer, the more unique, especially in our generation, why not have special garb just for shabas. Um and the idea is that on shabas, our clothing says reflects our inner holiness. And the holier you are, the holier garbs are. And your clothing actually it's not but on shabas it's actually uplifting us. It's sanctifying us. It's bringing our nishama out of us when we wear that holy shabus garb just like what is what what does this remind us of in in the Torah itself who wear special garben >> the coen the co right we're going to get up to those paras we two paras in Torah just dedicated to the para tab. We always read around PM time. Not a coincidence, right? Because we talking in perm. Everyone's already getting their perm brings us back to Mosherenu when he put on a mask and the mask had him shine this amazing light. So on shabis what we're doing is we're taking our cotton note or with an in and we're switching it into kotenote or with an olive uh garbs of light not garbs of external physicality but garbs of light. So while we normally just have uh you know the first and second kabonas uh thank god that I'm I'm more than an animal on shabas we can have kabona that these garb the clothing that I'm wearing is mam is sanctifying me it's mish uplifting me and bringing me to the high the level of a malik to the level of uh of a coat so that's kavana to be Okay. Yeah. >> Um, is this at all tied to how Hashem directed us to wash our clothes before >> Oh, very nice. I didn't make that connection, but you're right. Last week's para, Hashem gives us a few instructions. You got to sanctify yourself to receive the Torah. And one of his most central ways in which we prepare to receiving the Torah, the you have to do laundry. have to prepare ourselves physically have beautiful clothing. Likrat Hashem was giving the Torah at Harena [clears throat] Shimchinkas points out that we parallel that by going out to greet him in Kabal Shabbat and by wearing beautiful clothing. Ezra actually made a specific decree of um having special garb uh and and having people do laundry in in order to prepare for chabas. So for sure it's a great pickup. Larry beautiful. So one more kavana for Malish arim. This one is based on the Kabala and the holy schllo of Yeshaya Harowitz who was the the greatest rabbi of the generation and he comes to Shalim from I believe Krakco and Prague and he writes a seafair called Shara Shamay Harowitz in this beautiful seafair he writes that arim like means like this that every mitzvah we do is our real garbs, right? We're naked, just a body. But then when we do a mitzvah, we create a clothing garment. You ever learn the Tanya? He talks a lot about this. And then our mitzvah cloak us. Okay? He goes into depth to this. Hashem, Hashem wears highness, etc., etc. In any case, what he says is the only problem is that this spiritual mitzvot that we get, it's only in the next world. We only get to feel the mitzvah garments that we're wearing when we die. So then, and every night we go up to the next world and then we're in trouble. There's all these kit, all these prosecutors that can tr you know, get in our way. So, Hashem is Hashem kind of gives us a hug and protects us. We go up to the heavenly world every night when we go to bed and we come down, Hashem is protecting us and saving us. Or on another level, um it's brought down that when we do a sin, shalom, we give make dirty garments. We create bad uh clothing. And so, Hashem every night does the laundry. Okay. And cleans out very nice pristine and we wake up in the morning give up sorry and we feel refreshed and start we start again we get a we get a new start. So um beautiful. So that's the second third kana of uh malish alum that uh we get these new beautiful garments to start off our day. are not our our our new soul every day gets clean free and we're garbed by the love of a kadesh. Okay, gorgeous. Okay, so we're making we're doing good. I think we can squeeze in another brah or two. Let's move to the next materi. So we're going to do the same base level and then go a little deeper and deeper. What is it? What are we thanking God for when we say thank you Hashem who has unbound released the bound. What are we referring to on a simple level? >> Maybe taking us out of the shrine I can for us. >> Oh, okay. That's that's good. Actually, I I didn't have that cabana, but you're right. Every morning we were bound in the mids uh the constrictions of mitim which was the midrash describes it as like a giant prison. And so Hashem gets us out of it and allows us to be free men. So that's I like that. It's a very good kavano. But the kumar says on the most simple level every night when we go to bed we are bound. We are restricted. We can't really move because of the nature of sleep. We we have this concept that when we say we said God has um tied us up in the of sleep we we're we can't move. We're in prison. And so interestingly enough when we can wake up and stretch. So they were maken this language of materi that he unbounds those who were tied up okay that we can move in other words okay that's what we're thanking Hashem of Schwab we're not just thanking Hashem for the ability to move but we're thanking Hashem for our entire body because it's all really involved in this process of moving and it's unbelievable if you think about it how complex is the process that is go from my brain to my ability to do this, right? And it happens in a split second, in a nancond to go for my brain. And you know, you can look up an AI afterwards, how crazy all the muscles involved and the tendons and the ligaments and right. I remember when I was studying AP bio a million years ago, how unbelievable how complex the human body is. And that's worth thanking Hashem for every morning when I'm able to stretch and just move my body. By the way, um Pesak Chrome recently he got out of a a he had a what's it called? uh heart attack, a stroke and he realized a whole new for both this and the next when he after a stroke sometimes you can't even move your your finger and you have to do work just to be able to move [clears throat] your finger. So if you know he had a whole another level of kavana to say the if that's true for just one finger how thankful we have to be for our whole body. We know there are people who have all sorts of diseases and and their muscles don't work right or maybe someone had a sore back once and they recognize wow what a braha it is that we all of our muscles are working our ligaments are working even not 100% you know 95% 98% it's an unbelievable braha and something not to be taken uh for granted so that's I'd say shot if we had that kabana Right. But nonetheless, let's go a little bit uh deeper. I tell you the shot I'm not going to tell you. That's the shaft shot. You guys know the famous story of Sha's feet went around saying matim and then he would allow people to eat pig and he would allow people to do terrible things against the Torah. He said I am a man. I'm being mir that which is user. Okay. So that's not that's not our we don't we don't have that. That doesn't work with us. But so we're not going to but nonetheless what cabana in addition can we have when we say mater so uh the gr in his commentary on the mish it's funny sometimes people think of the as like the anti-assid and he was a little bit anti-assidic to be honest but he was a big cabalist he was not your regular good old you know rationalist so So the GR writes that there's something called a gilgal of a soul into a do into a rock for example that could happen. That's what the vagon says that there could be a person who did such a terrible sin that he's stuck in a table that he's stuck in a rock. Okay. And we can by doing mitzvot we can actually free the holy you know that soul and and free him from that tree or free him from that rock. This is a bit of a controversial uh grow not all even some cabalists don't hold by this concept but that's what the grow writes and he says that that's the inner meaning when we say mater that god will at times by us doing a mitzvah you know who knows what freeing we're doing the stories like they say that you know the rabbi had to go to that specific tree because he knew he needed to do a tikun to raise the holy soul from that tree. LA last week I have a minion we run which is like a singing minion on Wednesdays and the only thing is we got locked out of the sh cuz they they put the key in the wrong place. So you know nobody knew what to do and I'm like guys just come with me. So I brought the hera. Larry's there. He can attest. It's a true story. And we went to a random corner on Niss Bakar Street, you know, where the neighbors wouldn't scream at us too much. And I was thinking, you know, it could be that the random pole that I wrapped my filling on, it needed a tikun. You know, I need Who knows? Who knows? Matias. Who knows why Hashem sent us to that corner. >> It's very Yeah. Well, I'm sure almost certainly wouldn't wouldn't have uh minded. >> So, we made the best of this situation. >> Do you think the rock has a consciousness that it's tra? >> That is an excellent question that I do not know the answer to. Uh I don't know. >> Got to ask a greater catalyst uh than me. I don't know. I haven't done >> I haven't done any research. Maybe on a very low level it has some sort of consciousness, but it would be my guess. But I don't know. I don't know. Um okay. Third level um of kavana when we say matarim very very relevant for our time period. What was what was all the Israeli policemen theim right? They were in an they were imprisoned and when they went free certainly the first thing that went through so many people's minds was free those who were stuck in prison. In fact there were many people who had that specific that they should free those who were imprisoned and it's a very beautiful thing to do and it's a beautiful kavana. I would say on a level it's it's not it doesn't hold up that you can't actually say with God's name according to at least all the post that I see uh with with that mater um why because specifically um had kavana for this action of waking up in the morning they didn't have in mind that anytime a person comes out of prison they should say this they could say it without God's name there's plenty of other ways they should and can thank Hashem they could say halal, right? They can say as as can we. Um they can even say uh um they the themselves can say and likely their family and good friends can say and maybe friends which you ask a mid and you you could even say that you know when their families they have many beautiful videos of the families reuniting and saying these but they're not supposed to with God's name um but as a kavana for sure we can have that in mind thank you and you can you know put a picture of a k next to your sitter and we'll certainly enhance our kavana and finally uh one last kavana let's say interpretation number four of mater we talked about physically going out of our in our chains so what other element can we thank Hashem for freeing us. What do you think? Psychologically or perhaps spiritually, you know, and this is what some of the farm break bring down that at times we feel like we're inchained to our bad habits. for example, you know, everyone has got their everyone's got their stuff that we're working on for years and years and years and a part of us just wants to give up and feel like I can never change and I'm stuck, you know, I can't quit smoking, I can't quit speaking lash, I can't whatever it is, quit screaming, whatever my bad habit is. And then every day we remind ourselves. All right. Ultimately in order to free ourselves of our bad habits the first step is just recognizing that there is there is a creator in the world and he is free. And if we connect ourselves to him with proper help then we can we can grow. And plus Hashem's given us many um many many ways of helping ourselves. you know, we have psychologists and and rabbis and rebbitons and friends. Um, and all of these are given to us by as ways of freeing our of whatever chains that we are struggling with. And that too is a beautiful we can all have when we say every uh every morning. >> The rabbis are better than the psychologists. >> I have I hope so. I hope you're right. It probably depends on the rabbi, but you know psychology plus some of them are nosies, >> right? Awesome. Yeah. How if you if you find yourself a good rabbi who is a real friend, we should all be or even find a rabbi who's also psychologist. That's some some of my buddies are rabbi psychologist. That's good too. Uh one last for our last five minutes of learning together. What does it mean? You are the source of blessing. Hashem who straightens the bend. Okay. So again on a simple level the Garra is saying after you you know stre stretch a little bit you straighten up right and you stand straight and then you thank Hashem for the ability to stand straight. But this is a bit surprising. I mean, I wouldn't have necessarily expected to get a braha. What's the difference really between mati rasur kafu? You know, if I were writing it, maybe I make a braha on hearing, I don't know, on breathing, standing up straight. I mean, it's nice and got no beef, but like is that really worthy of uh thanking Hashem? So, first of all, obviously, yes, right? notal. So obviously Hashem wanted us to appreciate just the ability that we could stand straight and not hunch back is something and like said like I can move my finger straight is already worth uh thanking Hashem for that. But I believe there's also another layer another dimension of what this might be talking about. What do we re really mean when we say thank you Hashem for making me straight for bending for making the bent straight? Any uh ideas? Any thoughts? >> Sorry. Okay, that's a nice idea that sometimes we were bent at a place, you know, where we were doing this wrong, we're doing that wrong, and uh then Hashem gives us uh, you know, he gives us messages and the question is, are we picking up on those messages? Remember the beautiful mus that we sometimes get and allowing us to straighten ourselves up and go in the ways of Hashem. Beautiful. That's a nice cabana. >> I was going to say we're bent over when we're burdened with all kinds of things. >> Yeah. Yes. So connecting to what we were saying in Matias. Sometime we just feel so burdened. We go to bed and we feel so stressed out and then somehow we wake up in the morning and Hashem makes allows us to feel good again. Feel back to ourselves again. And maybe that's another covenant of beautiful >> about the back doesn't hurt. >> Especially when your back doesn't hurt, >> right? >> We should be all be blessed. have good chiropractors and you know help make make sure our backs don't hurt for sure. So two more kavanas. One, the midrash says that in the golus all of an isel is called kufi bent. We're in a state of being bent in the golus. It's like our natural. We always have to be, you know, wiggling around. I mean, look at Bakar. He's always kind of like walking like that a little bit and we're trying to avoid make sure that the government doesn't catch up to us and we're trying to we're bent. We're not we're not our true selves in the state of Gulos. But first of all, we're domining every day that he should bring the Msiah and uh and that he should straighten us out completely. But I would add that we don't have to wait to the future. Right now we are thanking God that he's straightening us out out in in our generation as we say in that God is bringing us brought us back to our Israel standing tall standing strong standing firm you know being proud Jews especially in Israel we're able to thank Hashem the ability to be a proud Jew and not have to hide it and not have to you know pretend that it's not something which was Muan may not something we always had and here we are you know able to even not outside of it's a big braha um to be able to be a strong proud Jew. I remember I used to feel this very strongly when I would make my shabas meals. Uh I I generally would do them and still often do them outside in the open. And I remember thinking, even in Brooklyn, the most Jewish place in the world, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to go in the m center of town and just make a big chabas meal, you know, and sing and dance in the middle of of of flap. Yeah. Maybe maybe in bar park. I don't know. But not not in not in anyways. But here in Shaim Hashem, NO PROBLEM. You know, you you do a big chabas. You walk with you walk around with filling. sitra and we're standing strong and proud and we have an army that has blessed us with that that's that's defending us and to me at least that's a kavana when I say the word zoku that we can be proud Jews once again [clears throat] talks about this in his essay about the importance of yalima of the war in ' 67 and how Jews really were ashamed to be Jews uh until the six- day war and then Jews started being proud to be Jewish and that was really what uh kickstarted the chuba movement when people started saying wow I'm Jewish I'm proud and that got many many things uh going in a great way so uh we have to remember that and and and keep it and keep it going another yeah >> oh I just thought is it brought down I think that Hashem sent thunder into the bria to straighten what's bent in a man's heart >> yeah you're fair that's brought in and brahos in the ninth per and it's quoted by rabbi >> that uh when we have these uh events that happen outside of us to straighten us out and bring us back to so that's another uh very good insight a nice kabana beautiful um second so why do we stand tall you know most animals don't stand tall right most of them are on all fours um but for some reason Hashem created us and we can stand straight and I think also uh polar bears sometimes but most of of animals >> gorillas suggest they can also stand up >> also gorillas but they don't usually walk when they're standing straight up and us humans at least most of us do and so that's a way of again like we said before showing that we are proud to be human beings finally brought down in this safer which I often use um from a kabad perspective that when the reason God created us standing tall reflects our inner natural intuitive uh in ability to look up to Hashem and recognize God as a source of our life. Whereas an animal looks down because he doesn't recognize naturally that God is a source of blessing. We are blessed to be able to recognize Hashem as a source of all of our uh and so we thank Hashem for the ability to rec to thank Hashem. Um and final thought to close our off and just summarize. We say from the streets I call out to God from the deepest darkest places I call out to God. He answers me from the and makes widens us from the ka. What's gamatria of 15 says this the tells us is an illusion to the 15 that when we say these brahos with proper gratitude not only does it bring blessing into our lives just on the psychological and spiritual level but it actually brings Yeshua's into our lives when Hashem sees that uh we're thanking him for everything. So uh so it brings miracles into our lives. I was reading a story yesterday as I was walking back to the hotel. There was a a man and he doesn't normally do this but after dabing he went up to the Aron and just started thanking Hashem for his children. And that day his kid fell from a second story uh window shalom and um and he fell like 14t or more even I think 16 ft. and and he miraculously was totally fine. They had no no explanations but he felt it could be that the salvation of thanking Hashem sincerely was what ultimately brought him that Yeshua. So uh so Hashem, thank you Hashem that he gave me eyes to be able to be together with such friends and learn Torah together. And Hashem should enlighten our eyes. And we should appreciate the gift of clothing, the gift of being a human being who has buas. We should appreciate the gift of being able to move. And uh we should appreciate uh zok kafu that hashem straightens us out and the ability to stand strong and recognize uh that hashem is the source [snorts] of all of our blessings. So you can sing with me a last naked [applause] >> [singing] [singing] >> Lord name [applause] [singing] [music] I Halleluah. [singing] [singing] Everyone [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> [singing]