Yisro: Har Sinai, Auschwitz & The Suspended Mountain

Dear friends, welcome to this week's virtual Dasha. This week we have the incredible privilege of paras. And the para contains what could only be described as one of the most profound monumental events not only for Israel but an event which changed the trajectory of human history. Of course, what I refer to is matraic revelation appears to talks to us literally again converses with our entire nation gives us the ten commandments and then ultimately afterwards moshen ascends to the mountain comes back down and delivers the entire body of Torah to the fledgling Jewish people. This was not simply an event which gave us a set of laws but rather again matan tora sedic revelation was the way in which aesu created and concretized his everlasting bond relationship and covenant with cladis but the gimar records a fascinating detail says this is in paras in just the beautiful imagery takes out to greet I'll call it almost like a like a going out to greet the so Mosha takes towards the mountain to greet they leave the camp. Now the way we normally translate that is that they camped at the base of the mountain. But the truth is the literal translation is they camped or they encamped underneath the mountain. But what does that mean? So here we have an incredible very well-known gimar tob and says what does this mean that they camped underneath the mountain? This teaches us that suspended the mountain like a barrel over cloud. Literally again he suspended the mountain over our heads and he said if you accept the Torah good and if not there you will be buried a very strange gimar an enigmatic immorra and of course the most basic question is this is the same people who said nasma they made the ultimate statement of blind faith we will do and we will accept right we we we we accept right nasa and Ishma will do and we'll hear later on who in the other words Who buys something without reading the fine print? Who commits something without understanding what the commitment entails? And yet says to we're in we're in we don't even know what we're saying we're going to do. But whatever it is, we'll hear the details later on. Such a profound statement of blind faith. If that's the case, why the need for what appears to be compulsion? Hashem holds up. That's what he means. They were literally standing. They were camped underneath the mountain because Hashem had dislodged the mountain, suspended it over the heads of saw what appears to be a threat. Accept the Torah or you're going to be buried. And again like we said obvious question they first of all they already accepted. Number two they made a statement of tremendous blind faith. So what's the why the need for this compulsion? So the maral and others explain so beautifully a very basic idea. Nasishma is beautiful. is like, you know, like inspiration at a, you know, inspiration at a at a shalis. It's great. Your eyes are closed. You're rocking back and forth, tears streaming down your faith face, and you're like ready to take on the whole spiritual world. It's great. And then what happens, right, the kum is over, the lights go back on. This is overd and then often the way inspiration works is it's easy come, easy go. Something something, you know, is turned on in me. So I'm very inspired. But often that feeling is fleeting. And so Nasishma was this incredible overwhelming moment of inspiration where Khalis had such incredible clarity that they were willing to go ahead and say yes we're in. We don't even know what we're in for but we are in. And was teaching us that's beautiful. But there also has to be an element of compulsion in your Yiddish kite as well. Why? Because there are going to be times when the alarm goes off in the morning and you're not going to feel like getting out of bed. You're not going to feel like diving. you're not going to feel like learning or there are times when shabis comes in early in the afternoon and you're going to feel like I could just press the 18 minutes or there going to be times when you know you should give more but I I worked hard for I want to keep it for me. There are plenty of times where we are uninspired. If all I am is then what propels me forward in those moments where I lack inspiration? What pushes me forward in those moments where I'm not feeling it? that says the moral in others is where the compulsion element comes holds them out then yeah be inspired inspiration is great but in those moments where there's no inspiration which is for many of us a lot of moments in life feel a sense of duty a sense of responsibility a sense of yes compulsion we don't like saying that in 2026 to feel compelled to do something but is ageless and timeless to is ageless and time understands that for us to feel successful we have to feel a sense of duty a sense of commitment and a sense of compulsion to do things even when we don't feel like doing them. That's that's I think the classic stream of thought in this. But perhaps there's another approach and what was trying to accomplish by holding the mountain over us as well. You know, a number of years ago, I had an opportunity to to participate in a program in which Holocaust survivors were being interviewed, and I I interviewed a a holy couple here in Baltimore, Mr. and Mrs. Calb. And I spent most of my time interviewing Mrs. Calb, Mrs. Goldie Calb, and she was an incredibly remarkable woman. And fascinatingly enough, she was part of the last selection at Ashvitz. So I was doing this this this interview for an organization. I had a number of of of scripted scripted questions, but then I had the opportunity to kind of add in some of my own questions and I asked her the following question. I said, I want to read how I asked it. How did you find the strength to rebuild after the horrors you experienced? Because after all, like is isn't that the biggest question? Those of us who come from survivor families often look at our parents or our grandparents and we we don't understand the strength. We don't understand like h how are you even remotely normal? H how how do you get out of bed in the morning? How did you get married? How did you raise a family? How did you go to work? How did you smile? How did you laugh? How did you not simply c you know you know curl up in a bowl in the corner and rock back and forth in the fetal position overwhelmed by the horrors the horrors that you saw? How do you have the ability to look at a spouse or a child and not remember everything that you lost? So, this was the question I asked Mrs. Calb. How did you find the strength to rebuild after the horrors you experienced? And I want to I I I wrote down her answer afterwards after the interview was was I was so overwhelmed by the profoundity and the simplicity of it. She said, "I never stopped believing in the Almighty. Even when so many had given up, I knew he was always with me. Dear friends, listen to these words once more. And I want to tell you, Mrs. Calb, she had received the questions ahead of time. And she had written her answers, her answers. I guess she anticipated being asked this question as well, even though it was not it was not on the script, and she wrote it out. And so that's how I'm I'm able to preserve her words. Exactly. I never stopped believing in the Almighty. Even when so many had given up, I knew he was always with me. You know, there are times in life when you realize that you have just seen something overwhelmingly amazing where you've just experienced standing in the presence of a person who might be one of the holiest people in the entire world. I never stop the last selection in Awitz. This woman lost everything. I never stopped believing in the Almighty. Even when so many had given up, I knew he was always with me. And what she was saying in these profound yet simple words is that she believed and she always believed that was always with her always had her back. that even when things looked terrible, not not looked terrible, were terrible, you know, there are some things in life that you can go ahead and say, I'm sure there's a silver lining and then there's a and then there's selections and then there's gas chambers and then there's pmatoria where the there there's the the human mind is not capable of seeing oh gamula maybe objectively as a clal we can figure out how this fits in but without the ability to process some type of positive byproduct from these experiences. she had complete amuna that had her back that is gonna he's going to hold me he's going to take care of me he's going to be there for me and it dawned on me after that interview that perhaps that's the maybe when we were standing at hari held the mountain over our heads I don't know I've never stood under a suspended mountain but I would imagine that when you're standing under a suspended mountain right a mountain dislodged from the earth you're there with your kids, with your spouse, with your mishbah, with your family, and there's a mountain over your head. [clears throat] I would imagine that there's only one question that's going through your mind, which is, is this mountain going to fall on my head? Not a deep and profound question, but a legitimate question. Is this the end? Is this the end? Is this the end of me? Is this the end of my family? And perhaps was trying to get us to do was to believe in that moment that has got my back. He's not going to let the mountain fall on me. That sham always has got my back. And in this moment where the true relationship between and is being forged, that relationship is not simply rooted in our ability to comply with commandments. That's important. And that relationship is not simply defined by our adherence to the details. That is unequivocally important. But you want to know what the real essence of a relationship between a Jew and his God is that I believe that is going to hold up the mountain. That's what I believe that Hashem is going to hold up the mountain. that no matter how scary it looks, no matter how overwhelming it looks, no matter in my personal life, no matter at the last selection at Ashitz, I know that the Almighty was always with me, that Hashem will always hold up the mountain. And perhaps that's what was trying to teach us. It wasn't a threat. It wasn't a threat. It was an exercise in amuna. Do you believe that will hold up the mountain because I love you and all I want to do is hold up the mountain. All I want to do is have your back. But do you believe that? Do you believe that? And perhaps this is the you know although tried to understand the first of the right. The first commandment I am Hashem your god. What what's the commandment? In other words, commandment number two don't have any other gods. Right. Okay. That that that makes sense. That that's something I have to what what is I am what what is what what is it I'm supposed to do? I I am I go in and what and perhaps this is the saying I am Hashem your God who always holds the mountain up. I got you. I got you in times of difficulty. I have you in times of I have you at times that you think that the mountain is going to come crashing down. And even sometimes life stuff does come crashing down. I have you know is the need to believe that has our back. That's the first and that's the experience of suspending the mountain and that's the message of Mrs. Goldie all the same to believe that is holding the mountain up above our heads. I'm not going to drown. I'm not going to be lost. Yeah, things are difficult at times, but I'm not going to be crushed underneath the mountain because it's holding it up for me. And dear friends, what a profound and overwhelming lesson for us because we all go through life and there are times where there's a mountain over our head. The mountain looks all different ways. Sometimes the mountain is because of livelihood, whatever type of challenges because we we we all we all have the challenges. challenges with our children, challenges not having children, challenges with mental health, challenges just of being happy. We we all have great we really do there's no person who doesn't have challenges that they contend with day in and day out and so often I feel in those m we have those moments where I'm going to be buried by these challenges. I feel that's it. This is the end. and I'm just going to be buried says remember when your ancestors three and a half million people stood under a mountain and then I taught them I got you I will hold the mountain up for you I will always hold the mountain up for you that's the confidence that gives us we will never be buried by the mountains suspended over us we will never be lost by the challenges that life presents to us Kelb taught us that tremendous lesson teaches us that tremendous lesson. I kept the mountain suspended above your head, keeping you from being crushed at hari and I will always help to keep the mountains of difficulty and challenge suspended over your heads as well. I will not let you get crushed. I will not let you get destroyed. And if we could just have that amuna, that belie that has our back that he will continue to hold up the mountain, then there is no telling what we could accomplish. Wishing everyone a good night of Shabas and a beautiful Shabas Kesh.