Understanding Abraham and His Contribution to Our Lives Today with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz

Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] [music] >> [singing] [music] [music and singing] [singing] >> Welcome everyone. Today is uh an auspicious day in an auspicious week. yesterday on the 11th of Keshvan is the yard site of Rael Emanu. And of course as we know the the Israel is is that a yard site can be observed um ideally on the day of but if whatever reason one cannot go to the Bum so on uh then three days before the day and three days after. So if Sunday which was yesterday of of parra was the actual yardstead ofu which was yalif I believe then we have another couple of days to make it there. In fact some people have asked me will you be going to kel I said I don't think the day of because I think it'll be um quite hectic and difficult to access. I could be wrong but uh hopefully the next day or so we'll be able to go and I encourage people to send any names for I'll be gladly via mitzvah to bring them to and certainly in terms of the remaining eight hostages we are being we are being we're we're crying out to they shall come back and rest in peace along with everyone else. So here we are. We've just passed paras um we're into the week of Ayerra and I wanted to discuss a couple of things that I think we we are important uh in order to before we depart you know the the world of Araminu starting with next week's para that we should really f focus for a moment on a and a very much in the news because the the key word that the world is banding about when it describes the vision for peace for really for the world right is is centered around what they call the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords ostensibly mean uh I think it was a name given to it by by um Mr. Trump's team in his first administration where they were making uh basic normalization they said normalization of relation relations between Israel representing Jewish people the zera of Abraham and other zera of Abraham uh which include all the Ben Ishmael and for that matter Ben of as well who was a descendant and and that shalom broadly represent is called the the covenant of Abraham. Now it has a nuance there because when we say the covenant of Abraham, we really mean something much deeper which is a reference to what we saw uh I see at the beginning of this week's parha where Aram is sitting having just performed the mitzvah of brisma. It's really focused more on the mitzvah of brisma which is shared not by the children of Ishmael but all but not by the children of Asa but only us the Jewish people and some others. Now the question is which others? We know that the um yeshim of our day the Muslims who identify with as children of Ishmael do not do a proper brisma just like they don't do a proper it's a mimicked uh Jewish practice. They have we have they have halal meat. No halal meat is not kosher. They have we have a brisma. They have a circumcision but it's not a kosher [clears throat] circumcision. They failed to do the proper job. Priya, it's very interesting to note the word pria is at least phonetically close to the word per which is what Yesh is described with as per notice that the descriptor in Hebrew is always usually after like yala tova. When you say peradam a wild man then then doesn't seem to be fitting the property of a grammar. So rather it's the other way around. It's Adam as a descriptor of the wildness uh of of the benet. I think we all know the entire world understands what this vild kite is and it's a deadly vk kite just asshel shot arrows uh at the birth of and was therefore banned from the house by uh by saru because he was threatening her threatening her son's life by shooting arrows. Gee, that's nothing's ever stopped. Missiles, arrows, it's the same. Nothing has changed. Their main form of warfare is shooting projectiles. That's what they know how to do. If hand-tohand combat or tanks or that kind of stuff, not their bag, you know, they're not so good at that. But shooting and whether it's arrows or guns, this there they have a lot of familiar missiles, etc. They have a lot of familiarity and that goes back to its origins. Which brings us to an important point which is the idea of masa abos siman. We speak about broadly the Abraham accord which means the bal brris Abraham the the children of the covenant whether it's a proper covenant whether it's a half covenant we'll shall we shall examine but they view themselves as children of Abraham by virtue of Ishmael and we of course see oursel as the true zera of aravinu through yakovinu and um and yet it's the The contest over Erit Israel centers around the brisma ma itself. Whoever performs the brisma has a claim to Erit Israel. That's what it is. Because Hashem linked the idea of the bis, the covenant of the flesh, with the covenant for the land of Israel, which Hashem delivered directly to Armavinu with his own communications directly with Aram uh and and promising him. And Zer of course is the concept of bris bringing forth children. And so we we have to understand Eris Israel has a requirement that it be only uh contextualized to those who are balis. So it is actually very interesting and perhaps ironic that the Abraham Accords are what the world is talking about at least some of the world is talking about as the plan because truthfully that is the issue. The issue is who will inherit Erat Israel? Who has the proper claims to Erit Israel? Now when you make an accord, Aram also made an accord. He made an accord with Avi and he compromised a portion of Erat Israel. According to the Ramban, Abraham should have thought twice w about leaving Eric Israel to go down to Mitsayam which caused us a host of problems not the least of which that besides Sarah being kidnapped uh we received Hagar. Now Hagar created untold problems for both Aram and Sara as we'll we'll examine a little bit. And besides the giving birth to Ishmael created a rivalry which is the subject of the quote unquote Abraham records. So you have to always link look at the world you will see nothing has changed. Now I I heard from Rabbi Kers Rabbi um who's a RV here in the community who we are to learn from. We we have a learning seder for several fellows. we learned with him. Now he said he he reported that people fail to understand how to look at these parios uh appropriately. Now let me explain what I mean that did certain things including for example the bris with aim the luish let is be the one who receives Israel before the bris havi he should be the one said now that itself created a claim opened so to speak a tik that Yesh could claim Israel is his by virtue of Aram's statement. So Rabbi uh Rabbi explained he said do not think of the OS from our context. There weren't people like we are people. If they were people like we are people they wouldn't be featured in the Torah in such great depth. every action, every nuance in the first paras of the Torah, we don't have the details of life. We we have sketchy details even we even much about Adam's life is unknown certainly of Noah's first 600 years is not even referenced. So why all the great detail of Aram's life where we fill in episodes that seem to be okay important but not terribly important where he pitched his tent when he entered Eric Israel first that he traveled to and Hashem appeared there and there was a carbon very nice and then afterwards he went and pitched his tent between I and Bel very nice these things could have been relegated to midrashim or not referenced at all what difference does it make where he pitched his tent. What's the point of it all? But no, the myim bunn teaches that every single event that happened to Afrainu had implications for the entire future history of claws. Every move that Ara made was done with the understanding that it will have impact for all time. Can you imagine? Can you imagine the responsibility if Hashem came to you and said, you know, you have a lot of important choices to make. You're going to be going through a series of tests. Just remember that whatever you do will impact, you know, the history of the world for all time. Well, gee, that's a very uh very different approach to life, right? You're not going to say, well, you know, think I'll go take a little nap. I'll go to the supermarket. I'll take a break. I'll learn a little bit. Every action of your life has implications that are larger than anybody could possibly imagine. That's where we have to look at a everything that Aram did had implications that would span generations and involve millions. A hamon goim Hashem transformed him into something of a worldwide person. If you if you must look at it this way, I'll simplify it. Within Aram was contained the hope of billions of future human beings, billions and certainly all of Kra. So that's why the Torah needs to tell us each and every important movement and choice of Amrainu as he navigates the 10 tests that he um transversed during his lifetime which of course according to most as we understand this the pinnacle of was which one the which we're going to encounter in this week's para. So, so let me just recap the the the idea that Aram's journey in these past two parishes and had anything in them that was that you could look at from the context of a regular human being going through their life is patently incorrect. It has to be viewed from the perspective of something that would impact billions, certainly millions of people. And that's why it's so important that the Torah focus in on these 10 trials of a now we know that the the very first trial was left because he had to leave an area in which he was highly successful in Arabu made thousands and thousands. The midash tell us fill in the blanks and say here's a man who is a multi-billionaire. How do I know? It says because every day, Medus tells us every day all the greats of all the world would appear on his doorstep. Why? He knew every astrology. He knew every single way of of counter of of of dealing with information about what was happening to people, how they could be healed from illnesses, what they should do in terms of advice to avoid problems. mostly through the natural order and the wisdoms of the world. Not from prophecy, not from direct information from Hashem, but through the science and the masora that he received from Adam Harish. Aram was the greatest advisor of people that the ancient world knew and everyone was at his doorstep showering him with gems. He was a multi-billionaire. Okay? And he had thousands and thousands of followers in a time where the population numbers were not anything like today. And he had to give it all up because a prophecy emerged saying go and and that is not something that a normal person could fathom especially at a rather advanced age. He was 75 years old and people were living well you know Afram lived to be 180. So but still you know he was quote unquote a young man you know so his 75 might be 35 for us okay but still he had achieved a pinnacle of greatness you're asking me to leave and then what's going to happen we know that as Rashi tells us wealth doesn't last on the road in fact Rashi points out that when a whbb entered Israel well two unfortunate things were happening. His quote unquote inheritance was being overrun by the wicked Canananite nations of Africa as we explained last week. So whatever he had to look forward to in terms of taking root which is what he was commanded to do had no present day application. And not only that, the famine which is one of the 10 m also that drove him down to Egypt. Okay. And this is the great glick that he had that Hashem said, "This is what's good for you. This is good for me." I mean, look at the look at the career that I had going there. You know, he was greater than any televangelists. Multi-billionaire, thousand thousands of followers. He was on television every day. Every king of the world came at his doorstep. Please tell me what to do with my life. I do not don't know what to do. I have problems. Um, what can you do? I'm sick. How can you heal me? Says that he had a stone. He had a stone on his neck with which he could determine uh types of answers to questions that nobody could possibly do. He was it. And Hashem said, "No, you know, I'm going to send you now to a place where you're going to be penalous basically." [laughter] Not only that, you're going to have to borrow money to go down to Mitsam. How do I know? Because Rashi says on the way back, one of the Peru Rashi brings he had to pay off his debts. Means he came to an inn. How humbling is this? And said, I do not have a penny and I'm here with my my Sarai and and Lot and my brother-in-law and whoever was left over of the group that did follow him from Karan. And by now you know how it goes. No money, no parties, everybody hit the road. Where were all these thousands and thousands of tidim of his? So the Rambam suggests that once we get to they were all gone. All gone because the bris what what the poverty of Erit Israel and the wars of Erit Israel didn't chase away the brisa did. And if whatever didn't chase that away, that kades certainly would. There was no one left, not a one. So how was this? What was that about? And the answer is this does not have to do from the context of our perspective which is career, success, money, influence. This has to do with something far far far greater is you have a job to do that your particular lifetime is so much more important than anything you could possibly imagine that Hashem says, "I'm going to give you the instructions and I'm going to make you go through these 10 tests." Why? Because it's going to reveal your greatness because it's your greatness that will set the tone for the future. And willy-nilly by the same token your foyables will translate forward into the future. That's why the Ramban could suggest something like this. This is where Christian suggested. He says how could it be that you can criticize Abrau from go for going to Yeah. Because the fact that the Jews had to go to Mitim and had a 400 years as Hashem revealed to him in in the Brit and he'll go through all that suffering perhaps could have been avoided. We all know that the going down to Mitim was not inevitable. The sale of Yoseph sealed the deal. Now you could argue that says well of course it was inevitable because Hashem really wanted it to happen so but from the perspective of Aram and the early Jewish people there was no reason why they should have to receive that sort of difficult difficult existence because there were flaws cracks in the in the future plan that were there in order to so we could overcome them grow from them and demonstrate to the world how to repair them of the of of the uh to Yoseph was something that needed repair. The hatred between the brothers of of of um Cayenne and He was repaired by the relationship between Aaron and Moshe and so forth. So these are things of major major implications. So let's just take a a couple a couple of looks at that. First of all, I want to say that when Aram was told it should raise a question right right there. You think Ara is a selfish person? Go for yourself. Guess what? Don't worry about the money. You'll have the money. Don't worry about your name. You'll have the name. Don't worry about the children. You have the children. Is that what is really concerned about? Seriously, you're putting him again back in the context of a regular person. How can Hashem say what is a selfish person? He's doing anything. He's doing anything for himself. Everything is for everything is to spread God's name in the world. That was his whole existence. That was his heartbeat. That was his very how could Hashem say to him. So here's what I want to explain again and along the similar lines doesn't mean what you think it means. It doesn't mean go and everything will be okay even though Rashi seems to suggest along those lines but for a different reason altogether. Go and develop yourself. You are a great person. You have achieved great heights, but the world depends on your further development. There's so much more to you, Abraham, that will be revealed through these 10 tests. Means go to your ultimate self. Go to develop your potential because an undeveloped potential is is a tragedy is a shud is a sh as we say. It's a tragedy for the world. The world needs you Ara to be the best possible human being the most triumphant person that you can ever be and that's the case with each and every human being by the way because we are all Ara and Ara's children we as individuals and as Jews and as citizens of the world or however you want to look at it have to [clears throat] we have to go through nonos in life whether we like it or not some we're going to choose some we're going to be forced it upon us. But whichever way, look at them not as, oh my gosh, this is interrupting my vacation. You know, I'm sitting on the beach. Pina colada. I got the pinina colada. I got the soft music going. You know what I mean? I'm I'm I'm I'm watching the waves. I'm going to have a great night's sleep. They're bringing a feast, healthy food. I'm going to go to my dog. I'm going to go take a run on the beach. And you know, and just and everything is wonderful. I checked with my banker. We've got more money than we can possibly spend. And that's the dream of mankind. And if anything happens, oh my gosh, you destroyed my paradise. Please. Not. That's not the point. There's plenty of time to rest in Mahaba and to have the rewards of the that's for next life. for this life. It's about developing yourself, meeting the challenges of your life, and therefore coming out to your full potential. You can handle this. You can do this. You can conquer anger. You can conquer helplessness. You can you can comfort others. You can be kind. And this is what I wanted to mention. I mentioned it briefly but I spoke about Rabbi Mosha Howard how he was a very compassionate rabbi but especially for people who were alone single people elderly people he used to do something like a beer cut bunny an aravium kipper this is amazing to anybody who didn't have a have father people whose fathers had passed on or young people whose fathers would ever happen to them he would they he would take them into his office arm kipper and give them the fatherly blessing. Unbelievable. Which is the true conception of what a rabbi, which is a road shepherd, really is in from the Judaist Jewish perspective, is a parent. It's just nothing less than being a parent. I love everybody like my own child. I want for them what I would want for my own child. I'll comfort them as I will comfort my own child and so on. So Arabino had this magnificent magnificent uh trial set for him. Didn't look like a lot of fun and I'm sure it wasn't a lot of fun for Abram going through it but he rose to the occasion because he had to in many different ways. Now I'll frame it in another way. Aram was the we know that Hashem created the world. He created it through the perspective of the 10 spheros. Why is beyond our comprehension that we know that's our cabala that's our misora and that we know a therefore his main purpose in in of his existence was to live through the the gauntlet of and and and show us how to achieve that in our world as our necessary part of our growth and development. If there are any foibless, any flaws, then they remain for us over uh to be repaired. So, let's just take a look at at a couple of the events of Abram's life and how they have global and personal implications. You ready? So when Abraham enter his Israel, the first place he goes is to a city called is a place with a how shall I say uh a troubled it's call it muk leanios it's the place where yose fatic was sold it's the place where where the malus was split away from the house of David and broke between the the 10 tribes and the king of David is a tough place till today. Yosephadic is buried in as if to say this is the place where the sale of Ysephic must be rectified. And the two great mountains near Harri and Harval were the place where the Jewish people took on the challenge of entering Arch Israel just like Aram did. And they did it so many generations later with with um with Yeshua at the helm as Mosha's per Mosha's instructions and saidur bar this is going to be I'll accept upon myself the challenge of entering the land of Israel and choosing the good and avoiding conflict and avoiding strife. Of course, was where Dena was violated. Very difficult difficult entry place which was which is especially difficult because it created division in Claw Israel. That's Aram's first encounter. But then he goes to some place really strange. Okay. And I want to and I want to mention to you that I just I find it a little bit um quizzical. Why did he go there? There's the second stop that Moshe made that that Ara made was between Bel and I b where is Bel even Belle we have it um in the historical sense uh hold on hold on hold on the B of of Abraham of uh of the ancient times is is not the bedel we have exactly today, but it was the place where Yakovu would have his dream. So look at the framework. Yakov is going to have his dream there. whether it was the portion of Jerusalem that was moved upward to the area of which is what Rashi explains according to the medish very strange and we'll get into it when we get to Yakov au and his dream but it was some connection between Jerusalem of the future and the city of which was going to be the capital of the of the tri of the upper tribes which had broken away from us somehow he was stitching together. Um these two places now I was a place where when Jews entered the land of Israel first flush there was a selfish sin done by Akan Nebak he took some of the possessions of the city of Eureka for himself. He was discovered put to death and Aram finds himself right in between there. So what he did was he picked two spots. A spot of unity bait l where Yakov has the dream where Yakov combines all the 12 tribes where he sets the tone for his mission where he's which is on the way out of Erit Israel to marry and produce the 12 tribes that will hold together. They represent the future unity of Kai Israel. And on the other hand, Shm and I, which is the place where there's division, separation, selfishness. Aram plants his tent smack in the middle. What I'd like to suggest like I looked around from and I didn't really see much about this. And Aram returns there when he leaves Egypt. Even though Rashi says that every place that Aframam traveled when from when he first entered and came to bed and I was southward towards Jerusalem in the art scroll they quote with anonymously it's either their own idea they said the reason why Aram was because he was seeking Hara Maria the place where he would have the aada he was already focused on getting through to the 10th test. Can you imagine? He comes into Israel the first test. He's already focused on the endgame. That's exactly the point. It is the endgame. Aram the whole time is focused on the endgame. How to get through this gauntlet and set the path for the future. So by planting his tent between I and Bel, I think Aram was casting uh a very important message. In other words, Bel is what we need unity. when he comes out from the from attacking the city of and destroying it and they came with all this idolatry and gold and silver y and and conflict with the locals. He says, "Go back to the holy place of Bal. Cleanse yourselves. Bring yourselves up. Alth is the place where we rise above pettiness, ugliness, selfishness, tyos. And I being representative of that where Akan took what was what was uh just for himself, clothing and and money just like focused inward as opposed to the great mission of conquering which would be required miracles and everybody saw the miracles at Eureko how they the walls came down because of the chauffeuros and the tilos and they had to understand that that was going to be the way that Erit Israel would be conquered. if not specifically that way but spiritually the same way it would be through the ye hashem. So put yourself on Bal on one side and I on the other side. And what you're really saying is Harrisim Haral I got a choice. Kal is when you go forward in your future just know you're going to have a choice. You can either choose unity or you're going to choose selfishness. Which one is it going to be? Which one is it going to be? This is the path to success. This is the path to disaster. There's a major major symbol. I'd like to suggest that Aram came out of Mit and went right back there to that same location and said let's start again no longer with Lot I'm going to start life again and we're going to try this another time around because this is also echoing something that was said by um the uh in the he said that Hashem told Aram look at the land and then he told him hal walk in the land and was troubled why why both either look at the land or walk in the land which one is it going to be so he said a very remarkable thing he said Israel in its first conquest was as easy to capture as seeing the whole picture you looked at it you got it ria is a form of kenyan they walked through the or eureo falls. Everything was like a dream like something you could just see the whole picture unfolding in front of your eyes instantly. But the second time around he said and the final time around which we are at Erit Israel will have to be acquired by means when you walk the boundary when you walk the boundaries of a land inch by inch or meter by meter okay or kilometer kilometer by kilometer dunam by dunam that's the way arch Israel is going to come back to us in the future and so it so it is and so it has in remarkably remarkably and just intuitively am Israel came back and they used to say okay uh another dunam another few goats another dunam another the original people who came back here were just looking for another grain of sand another another place where they could put they could put their feet on and establish a place to be this was a foreign concept to to the world of Torah and mitzvah. They didn't have that desire necessarily. Some did, but the majority were content to live a life of Torah and mitzvos wherever they might be, wherever there was parnosa, wherever there was safety. But the this incredible [snorts] desire to take Arit Israel back little piece of land by a time said the name he said that's the way it's going to be in this generation and so we have seen and guess what is now [laughter] it's so far so far from over every inch of arrael is being disputed it's impossibly comical you cannot do anything without the eyes of the world watching every inch of Erit Israel the terror that the people that the people of Europe have that Israel should be the ones that inherit Gaza it has to be 15 other nations the United Nations they'll do anything and everything pour in billions of dollars although not giving the money so fast as long as we can avoid one thing that it not be controlled by the Yorim of Arma other Yorsham other Yoshim other people but not the of not by Kali Israel how ridiculous is that but if you understand Arain's the message that he got he says this is the rats on Hashem you're going to be taking it inch by inch dunam by dun dunham they have marked off in Gaza a yellow line saying you can't go here and you can't go there and they're challenging them and they come and the terrorists come running to shoot at them and over the yellow line under playing this whole game hide and seek. I'm under the yellow line, over the yellow line. What What is this? What is this all about? It's ridiculous. And the answer is no, it's not. This is exactly what Hashem showed Abraham according to according to the is how it's going to be. And tell us they're going to be measuring the land with ropes. It's exactly what's going on. Where's the boundary? This is a boundary. Lebanon wants to engage. I mean, Syria wants to engage in negotiations with Israel of this boundary and this farm, this this this little this little nothing of land and that little nothing of land. It's absurd. What's the what's the obsession? Who cares? And the answer is Erit Israel is precious precious Erit Israel. And the ownership of Erit Israel by Amrael is such a difficult thing to achieve that it will literally be inch by inch. And so it is. And so it should be unfortunately we've been giving back and giving back and giving back and retreating further and further to no avail. This will not help and because what only all all that's wanted is that everything be surrendered and we have to only hope and pray that the lesson of a to keep walking and to keep going and we can be very proud of ourselves those that support Israel those that send money to Israel to support yeshivas and various seduckos organizations and those who have bought homes here whether they live here or not and those that are interested in the economy here and those that are helping people live here and those that are building communities for those that here and then when the communities are here supporting them that they can stay here. It's a battle but the battle is moving. There's progress every day. There's another tender. There's another building, another high-rise new shalam that's going up. Whether it's Bay or Tel Aviv or Betar or Shallay, it doesn't really matter. There is something happening here that was predicted and commanded to Amrainu one building at a time. This is the way Eritus Israel will be reclaimed and it echoes here. Now I just wanted to touch on a couple of other things about arabino that inform our life and that is of course I mentioned the question of how could a in this week's para doesn't even say who love hashem appeared to a actually in the tense of mam to do big ostensively tell us and and excuses himself from talking to Hashem to take care of three uh idolatrous nomads who he had to wash their feet from their idolatry. If you're talking to God, you're talking to Hashem, you know, like you have that appointment. Hashem comes to see you. Can I speak with you for a minute? Hashem knocks on your door. Can I have a word with you? And you're saying to Hashem, okay, but just give me a minute. Give me a minute. I'll put you on hold. Let me put you on hold. I'll get back to you. Let me get back to you. My secretary will take your number. Your people will talk to my people. You don't put Hashem on hold. You don't tell them, "Wait, how how is that something you can fathom? Can you imagine any person in this world if God came to speak to them and visit with them that they would say, "Excuse me, I've got more important things to do." How is that possible? Under what context we understand it? But again, let's go back to our principle. Don't look at Ara as you look at a person. A person of course would never do that. But Ara had asal suggested a choice. He intuitively understood what God wanted in that moment. He just knew it. And what was the choice? Do you want to speak to God and have that glor glorious experience of communion with the raon which is a personal individual sort of pleasure or do you want to act like God and take care of people who have lost their way? I guarantee you that not only did Aram feel badly that they were hungry, starving, tired, and dirty, but that they didn't know their was even more. And that's what the Rambam says in the mitzvos on the mitzvah of says something about it's really hard to believe. He says, "You know what the mitzvah of is to make Hashem's name beloved among the nations." In other words, to make a kdish hashem. To make a kdish hashem to hash a did everything he could to tell people about the greatness of hashem and a and how much we ought serve him and how much we ought be grateful to him and how much we should sing his praises and how much we should talk we should be in communion with him and that's why he served people. He would say to them because I'll say okay they would say thanks for the great meal. They say don't thank me don't thank me who am I supposed to thank there's something called the created this world and set the rules of nature so that things grow and I can harvest them and I can serve it to you. So that what that's what means and if a did not instill that into the world there would be a pagam in the world you follow a had to leave the presence of hashem to secure the inion of for generations which conquerized into the mitzvah known as that's why a left up hashem's side Because there's a mitzvah that's coming called Hashem and I have to show it because I'm going to be like Hashem. If I love Hashem, I want to be like you. If you love someone, you also if you love a parent, you want to emulate them. And that was the demonstration love. Now comes of course the question about Sara and Hunger. So what actually happened here? How could Abrainu How could Abrainu um have allowed Sor to be taken to the house of parro and [clears throat] then said to her, "Go because of go there because they'll give me lots of presents." Lots of presents. Excuse me. Again, Abrau was beyond reproach when it came to Saddam. He didn't ask for even one penny back even though he waged a war and deserved all of the booty as the king of Saddam offered him. Why didn't he take why was he willing to take money from parro but he wasn't willing to take any money from the king of Saddam? That doesn't make sense. That doesn't add up. Okay, let's understand why did Aram ask Sah to do that? because there's a future coming and the future is that Israel will be forced to descend to Egypt and they need to come out worried about them. It says when you come out I want you to come out with power. I want you to come out with effectiveness. I want you to come out with everything that you need to be successful in the land of Israel. Like a parent worries for a child. Make sure you pack a lunch. Make sure you have everything. You have all your equipment and you have your clothing and you go. I want you to have everything you need for your journey, for your mission, for your task. Arab saw to it. He says, "This is not about me and you, Sarah. This is about our future." And that's what's going to be. We need to make sure that kai Israel comes out and empties out all the good that's been swallowed by the evil mitim so that it can be returned to the land of Israel which will eventually mean resources families nishamos shea everything we want it all showered back in the place that it needs to be so that's why can ask sar says this is not for for me it's not for you it's for the future And then let's talk about Hagar then. So what was Sarah's what was Sarah Sarah's intent? Did she really mean to give Hagar an Egyptian princess? But still Sarai ruled over Egypt. She ruled over Egypt. Whatever she said to the Malik, he did. Hit parro. Hit him again. Hit all his subordinates. Hit everybody. That's bothering me. Sor ruled. In fact, we know our Masora is that Sarah received as a compensation for damages of what he hurt, embarrassed her, hurt her, molested her. The land of Ghan, the land, by the way, that was captured by the late Ariel Chiron in the 73 war. Okay, was the land of Gan. Very, very interesting. And beyond. It was already Jewish. It's always been Jewish. It's ours. It's our territory. Not mit. It's like, you know, you have somebody says, "I got a little yusha from my mom and I got a yusha from my dad and two different yushes in Barashem." You know, we had money coming from the zade and money coming from the bubba. From the bubba, we got there's a land called Erits Goen which belongs to the Jewish people and that's the an extension of Erit Israel. Call it an appendix. It's an appendix to Israel which will be ours in the near future and it was ours temporarily at the end of the seu 73 war and kipper war which of course the world made us cough it up as they do it as they continue to do today for every in ancient corner of Eric Israel that they can get us to do. So that so that gives a perspective on the issue. But what was Sarah's intention with Hagar? After all, what does she need Hagar for? talk to Hashem. Hashem is in charge. And and then there's the issue of the belief, the amuna. Why are you asking a question on Sara? Hashem tells tells um a in this week's para llama at le saying edna after I have been shriveled I'm going to go back to my former beauty and fertility right so Hashem says to Aram why did why did Sorah do that and he challenges her and they haven't even been a fight about it did the same thing. Aram also laughed when he heard the original basis about having children at his advanced age. What's the difference? The answer is Aram didn't laugh because he could didn't believe it would happen. He laughed because he believed it would happen and said, "How astonishing is this that Hashem will actually do this great miracle which means we're setting a course for the Jewish people for all time." What is that course? Well, the very first Jew that was conceived by Kadusha Yitzk was born in a situation which was anatomically impossible due to age, due to the fact that Sarah may have never had the capacity to have children, due to the fact that Aram was seemingly well behind his well beyond his years. And it happened anyway because that's Clai Israel. That's what a why did make it so difficult? Because Clai Israel is an impossibly impossible nation. We can never be denied. We can never be exterminated. We can never be fully removed from the scene. We're eternal. We're a piece of Hashem, which is why there's sinner in the world. That's why we are hated because we are part of Hashem in a in an enviable way that none of nobody else in the world is. But what they don't understand is is that we're like reaching out our hands from a life raft. We're the life raft. All they got to do is hold on to us and they will also live. No, we don't want your hand. We're not going to go on your lifeboat. We're going to have our own lifeboat and you're not going to be on it either. I'm sorry. You're not going to survive without us. The survival of the world is dependent on their be able to connect to Hashem. The only way they can connect to Hashem is through Claw Israel. So why do you hate Cla Israel so much? Because they're my only way to connect with Hashem. That's something that they absolutely cannot tolerate or swallow. But eventually Ishal does. Ishmal understands as much as I'm connected to Hashem, as much as I'm also a br a bal brris and you know Yeshal received a proper bris not on the eighth day but a full bris anyway with pria but his descendants didn't okay and it would remain incomplete for him so he will have a connection to Israel but not not forever okay so but this these are all the things that have to be clarified So what was S doing by bringing Hagar into the equation say really meant he didn't she didn't expect her to have a child with Aram she had absolutely no idea that Aram would have a child with her because after all who said Aram could have child could have children altogether at that age and if there was going to was going to happen it would be a miracle based on their great level and one of the things she did to make sure she's a great level is she gave gave her maid servant to her own husband in an act of great self-sacrifice. Not so she should have children with him because that would be impossible anyway. But that Sarah would be za to have children by virtue of her sacrifice. But it didn't work out that way. This didn't work out that way. That equation was not accepted and ultimately it put so much sorus for the Jewish people that were suffering terribly that we had October 7th because because of because of the debate that Hashem said a you got to talk to Sah you know why did she laugh don't laugh believe that the Jewish people are paranormal we're just paranormal gris is eight We're above we're above anything in history. And I saw something very beautiful that really says that all is is supernatural. Follow me. Everything is run by the schedule of Hashem and nature. There's only one thing that can turn that topsyturvy is that if you ask Hashem to please go beyond nature. If you can talk to Hashem and convince him, okay, sweet talk Hashem, convince Hashem. He wants you to appeal to him. Put in the appeal. It can't hurt. The court will listen to your appeal. Pray, ask, cajol, turn the world upside down, davin. Hashem will change it for you. But you have to believe in that. You have to believe that every prayer you say is not an obligation but a potential miracle. I'm gonna say that again. Every single prayer that a that a person takes this goes for Israel because we are made for this. But even for anybody who will attach themselves in sincere prayer to the God of Israel will say talk to God. Talk to God. Maybe he'll intervene. Maybe he'll show favor is means you you win the appeal. You get the nod. You win the election somehow. Deserving or not deserving, you win. Esther found as we spoke about. In other words, prayer is prayer is but to believe that everything about prayer is a miracle. Don't open your sitter and say, "Okay, I gotta d in. Oh, I did a mitzvah today. I d in today. Thank god I d in ma. The day was ending. I was gonna miss it. That would be terrible. I have to d every day. I better d in chakas or mka like for a woman. And I I can't miss it. It's a mitzvah. It's an obligation." No, it's a lot more than obligation. It's an opportunity for a miracle. And everything that you ask for in your tilo is purely to create miracles. That's what Vinwin says. And if you believe that to to your whole heart, you will understand the lesson of the of of why Sarah and Aram had this debate about laughing because it had to be mush in the Jewish people from our from our very first child from our very first conception that none of this is achievable through nature because I'll tell us hashem ism took him out. So comment there he took him out of his instaginus. He took him out of his ast astrological sign. Aram was the world's expert on astrology. Hazal tell us he guided everybody based on the systems of tea. He knew everything about tea. He was a great scientist, a great astrologist, a great adviser, a great a great healer, right? But then Hashem said to him, "But you don't understand, Ara. None of that is what really matters. That's just my tea. I have a different design for you. I need somebody who can supersede the tea and help everybody else do the same to reach out to me and overcome these this these restrictions and ask me for miracles because I'm only too happy to give them to you if that's what's in your best interest of course. So the idea that prayer should be a miracle, the Jewish people are unfathomable, nothing can explain, nothing can explain the situation that we're in. Nothing can explain the trials and tribulations of the last two years and the years of COVID before and the wars of Israel and the constant constant terrorism and hatred and no one nothing can explain this. But here's one thing. Arainu and Sah were the first ones to set the tone and what they set the tone for Israel is you can go down to Mitim and come out better than ever. You can go you can make you can fall off from your amuna but reclaim it and be victorious. We may fail but we will learn and we will therefore triumph. And ultimately the that did was really when you take somebody when you put somebody who's passing away and you give them their final resting place that's what he's about to do to that was the ultimate the one most unselfish act that Arinu could ever do is to give away the thing that was most precious to him out of kindness to Hashem and love for Hashem. Impossible for us to fathom. But Aram did it and he gave therefore the power into the Jewish people to die ales for all generations who gave us these two so many incredible gifts through the journey of his life of but the two most in my mind of he taught people how to love Hashem and he made it his business to teach as many people in the world as possible to love and follow Hashem that's number Jewish and not Jewish. And number two, he was able to overcome ultimate any selfishness. And whatever that he did was pure and untainted by virtue of the aa and also the birth of the Jewish people was something that was beyond nature from its complete inception because that puts a power in each and every Jew for all time to create miracles every single day. We're going to go to Rale's Kev hopefully and if not send me a ticket hopefully I'll get there and we're going to dive in for things that are everything we do for relevant to Israel and Jewish people by definition is a miracle. We should continue to see them every single day. Have a wonderful week. [music] [singing] >> [music] [singing] >> You must [music] [singing] [music] sh [singing] [music]