Yom Kippur: The Historic Opportunity For Teshuvah

this Tower class is brought to you by torahanytime.com points out the following irony of history and that is that the winners of World War II namely United States England and the Soviet Union with the exception of the United States the winners of World War II are today the losers and The Losers of World War II namely Japan and England are today the winners it's an upside down world the winners are the losers and the losers are the winners the Soviet Union as a country today does not exist they are literally wiped off the face of the map England which was so much a part of the Allied efforts today has been relegated to somewhat of a second raid power and yet Germany and Japan countries that were literally wiped off the face of the map today are the countries that dominate their region and to a large extent dominate the world economy number three and four in the world economy respectively how does one explain this irony of History this historian wanted to suggest that the countries that lost the war had to face the new realities of a new world they had no choice but to change they had to change their economies they had to change their countries they had to change their thinking they had no alternative other than to change England on the other hand rested on its laurels with a snug sense of complacency we won we must be great there's nothing to do there's nothing to change and the world has passed them by to quote Rabbi Wine's words the last 50 years has rewarded countries that have learned to change modify rethink and punish those that for change new thinking ideas and are permeated by the narcotic of complacency and this phraseology the narcotic of complacency is a very challenging idea an idea that should really get us thinking because what is true on a national level this narcotic of complacency that I'm good I'm fine things are going well I don't need to modify I don't need to change is even more true on a personal level we get loathed into complacency we're very comfortable with status quo just let things be and run the way they do we don't have to change we don't have to improve we're fine the way things are but my dear friends we all know that in almost every Endeavor in life status quo is the first ingredient in failure in the business world if someone is stuck using the same business practices as 2010 or even five years ago that is the first business to be left in the dust while all the competitors Forge ahead leaving them behind computer skills have to be constantly updated adapted to keep up with the fast-paced movement of Technology teachers who are still using the techniques of 10 years ago five years ago are the teachers that become extendable in every career path you need continuing education to be successful to get ahead to deal with new challenges you need to be able to adapt you need to be able to change you need to be able to grow and as much as this is true economically and as much as this is true professionally this is all the more true in the world of the spirit spiritually the need to be able to grow to change to improve if we were to Define chuva right we're in the 10 days the 10 days of repentance what is chuva what is repentance so a great Rabbi a great Taurus scholar rabbit one said in Yiddish and I will say it in Yiddish and translate he once said chuva does not mean to be better chuba is their Taj and chuva means to be different to change to grow and in fact Ruff hutner was not the first scholar to point this out if you look in the rambam maimonides in Hills chuva the rambam right that when somebody becomes what we call about a person who takes upon himself the responsibility of return says the rambam um they literally and figuratively change their name they're not the same person who did those actions it wasn't me I'm different now I've changed but we as human beings if there's one thing we hate it's changed we can't stand it we love status quo we like everything in life to be just the way it was I'll tell you a true story yesterday somebody called me into their house to look at their sukkah and their grandmother was there woman in her 90s and she was looking at the computer and I was surprised a woman of that age was looking at a computer and she was watching the same television show that she watched in 1940. and on the computer screen you could get go you could same shows and you could even get a little border that looks like a television from 70 years ago she's still watching the same programs because we don't like chains we like complacency we like status quo we like things to remain the way they always were but my dear friends if there was ever a period in our history where God is coming to us and making it easier for us to change and grow and improve as hard as that is this is it this is the period I'd like to share with you an amazing comment of the film again was one of the greatest Torah Scholars of the last 500 years the bill mcgoin makes a comment that is chilling we don't know how the vulner guy knows this but whatever he says you could take it to the bank says the film are going we know how many books there are in the Torah right five books of Torah right the five books of Moses says the fifth book safer divoran Deuteronomy corresponds to the last Millennia of Jewish history the last 1 000 years of Jewish history is alluded to in the final book of the Torah safer davara now we know the Camaro tells us that the world will last for 6 000 years we're now in the year 57 75. the gemara tells us the world will last for 6 000 years we are now in the final Millennia of Jewish history where is this Thousand-Year period alluded to in the Torah safer divarim and unbelievably do you know how many parachutes there are 10 partials 10 chapters in safer davara if you count means there are ten partials and safer divoran each parisha corresponds to another Century of this last Millennium of Jewish history do you know which century of the final Millennia we're in we're in the 8th Century we're in the year 57 75 775 the eighth Century of the final Millennia that's the the English State 1940 to 2040. says the village do you know which parasha and the Torah corresponds to the years 1940 to 2040 corresponds to 1940 to 2040 and you don't have to be a historian and you don't have to be a prophet and you don't have to be a scholar all you need to do is read the words of the text and you see in 1940 to 2040. the verse says there will be terrible devastation and destruction where the Jewish people live golfers the land in which the Jews live will be utterly decimated to the point where even the guardian even the Gentiles will wonder what did these people do that God is destroying them and the Torah answers they're not being faithful to the Torah that yet shame Hashem God pummeled them God devastated them that's the showah that's the Holocaust you don't get any more explicit it's not clearer than that the verse says Hashem God got angry with the people there you have it 40. explicitly not cause alluded straight up the villanue says that every Century of the sixth Millennia is alluded to in each Parish of safer Divine 57 100 to 58 100 is and it should send shivers down your spine because do you know the Hebrew phraseology for the final solution the final solution well you know what the plastic says God dealt with them with anger with Fury with terrible disaster and if you take the Hebrew numerical value of the words of God that is a precise numerical value of the final solution there you have it it's not a hint it's not an illusion straight out in the circle you know what those words mean that means terrible anger but it doesn't end because we're not 1940 anymore we're past that and the second continue after this terrible destruction will happen after 19 you will do chuva Jews all over the world will return there will be a phenomenon called the chuva movement and Jews will do teshuva people will return that's what the Torah says about 1940 to 2040 that after the terrible destruction there will be a mass return to Torah that Jews who didn't know alafays will embrace the Shabbos and a Jew who didn't know shamay Israel will embrace the Torah that's what the Torah says about the years 1940-2040 and it won't be confined to any specific land the verse says even if you're scattered all over the world God will bring you back you'll be chuva in Russia they'll be Cuba and Iran they'll be Cuba and Israel they'll be Cuba in New York all over the world [Applause] says the vilnigan if you want to know the story of our century foreign is an exact account of our Jewish century what is it a period of Destruction followed by a great period of return and if we are fortunate to live post the terrible destruction if we're not living in 1940 but in 2014 don't we then have a historic obligation and a Monumental responsibility to do chuva and to return to Hashem [Applause] someone once came to the garage and get rid of ass in what school do you learn what Yeshiva do you learn the young man said I learn in yeshivas is a well-known Yeshiva but he said don't worry I'm not about Shiva and the guy remember looked at him and said and that's a question that we all have to ask ourselves why not if we look around and we see Jews who are able to change their entire lives around and return and fulfill the prophecy of the Torah can we make the small little adjustments and changes that we all need to make we're not always talking about the great upheavals that could change a person's entire lifestyle we're talking about small little things a little bit more learning Torah a little bit better it's Fila a little bit more acts of kindness a little less inhara a little more carefulness in Mitzvah observance can we do it we're living in the epic period of return it only happens once take advantage of the movement and of all the children movements that have occurred in the world the one that has to be breathtaking the most astounding is what happens in Russia here you have a government that crushed Eastern Europe for 40 years they rolled over Afghanistan they took it to ethnic minorities and crushed them and this monolithic government cannot crush the Jewish nishama was one of the well-known Russian refused next and he wants to described the process of how somebody would become a balchuva in Russia how somebody would become interested in religion in Russia and radiuses described how he would have a learning group and people would find out about it by word of mouth and people would join and secretly some people would come to him to learn and he described what's involved what are the repercussions of somebody who decides to join this learning group in Russia and Rabbi yes is described that a person would join the learning group and one day he'll be at his job and one of his comrades from the KGB would come over to him and he would say he would pull him aside and say you're a nice guy why are you hanging around with these subverses it's a bad bunch of people they're enemies of the state be smart stop hanging around stop joining them he'll continue to come to the learning group he's interested his heart is inspired and the next day the KGB will come over and say you know you have a nice secure job if you continue to meet with these people who might even lose your job if you continue to meet with these people and in Russia if you lose your job you can check the classifieds and find a new one if you lost your job you're out of work for good and the person persists and he continues to go to the group and then the KGB pulls them over and says have you ever wondered why when your children walk home from school they're not accosted they're not beaten by Hooligans did it ever occur to you did you ever realize why no one ever beat The Living Daylights out of your kids it's because we the KGB have an eye out for your children but if you continue meeting with these and verses who knows what could happen to your children and you hear the words of Rabbi Asus and you can't help but ask yourself how far would you go and I ask myself Daniel Gladstone how far would I go I could probably withstand the first test peer pressure I've withstood peer pressure before I'm not the kind of guy that always did everything my friends did I could probably withstand the first test and then I say to myself that when they threatened me with my job stand that test I know how important parnassa is I know how important it is to support my family would I be able to do it and then I say to myself probably yeah maybe yeah making a living in Russia is probably not as important as making a living in the United States I could probably withstand that also but when they say to me I'm gonna start up with your children I say to myself that's it that's it no more I'm willing to be much or Netflix I'm willing to sacrifice but to give up my children and then I kick myself God Almighty what's wrong with me what do these people in Russia have over me you know I've spent the last 20 years in a Yeshiva learning Torah I know what Torah is I know what mitzvos are I know what it means to keep and observe and I'm not willing to be my son at first I'm not willing to sacrifice and these simple Jews simple juice simple women they are able to be my son FS to give up and sacrifice what do they have over me why can't I give it up and they can out of all the stories that we heard come out of Russia the one that's the most heart-wrenching it's the story of a mother whose baby was born very sick and the kid could not have a Bismillah cannot have a circumcision and finally at nine months old they give the kid a Bismillah whereupon the mother comes running over to the child hugs the child kisses the child and faint and they go over to the woman after the woman is revived and they say to her why'd you faint everyone assumed a nine month baby there's more blood it's more traumatic there's more screaming that must have been why She fainted I said no nothing to do with that I fainted because when the baby was born and the baby was ill I knew it could not have Bruce Miller could not be circumcised and I wanted to make sure that this baby would have a circumcision so I was Macado I accepted upon myself that no matter what I would give this kid amila and therefore I told God I will not kiss my baby until the baby gets a bris Mila and nine months later after the baby had the Mila she runs over to the baby kisses the baby and she faints could you imagine such a woman what did she do the first time the baby cried what did she do the first time the baby smiled what did she do when the baby needed comforting this woman in Russia she doesn't know what possum Hamish she never learned Torah she doesn't know anything and she's able to overcome the most basic of human emotions and it bothers me why am I not holding on this level I'm a father and I could not imagine not kissing my child and she's a mother and she's able to do it and it really bothers me what does this woman have over me [Applause] he once heard from Brother friend in the name of a rabbi in England die in Donna who suggests an answer to explain the phenomenon of Rush injury what makes them tick how do they have this great sacrifice and Diane Dunner applied an unbelievable halachic ruling of maimonides of the Rama the rambam paskins a then when you go to Contour City anyone here in the Army right now okay just check when you go they conquer a city ain't makifin Elementary you're now to surround the city on four sides only on three sides you have to leave one side of the front open for anyone who wants to escape the Rama codifies that when you attack a city and you go to war and you wage war you leave one side of the front open are you kidding me that's how they fight that's called Warfare from Helm to leave imagine going to West Point and telling them that the way you fight a war is by leaving one side of the front open and the sergeant said not in my Army not in my Army you don't what in the world and the ramen was telling you a halosa and then when Michelle comes this will be the official practice of the Jewish Army when it conquers a city it will have to leave one excited they're calling in they don't understand it right they have to leave one side of the front open what does the Rambo mean the answer is the rhyme mom is telling you an insight into human emotion the Rama is telling you that when people's backs are up against the wall they are invested they are transformed from men into Superman that's so long as there's a way out people don't fight so well they don't feel the pressure but when you encircle them and you Corner them and they don't have a choice and their backs are up against the wall you'll be hard-pressed to overcome them Legend has it that when Julius Caesar invaded England in the year 55 Legend has it then when Julius Caesar invaded England in the year 55 of the Common Era and his troops who climb the White Cliffs of Dover and they're attacking England Julius Caesar called out to his troops and he said look out into the English Channel and they're in the water their ships were Ablaze their ships were burning because Julius Caesar new human emotion and he was telling them either you win the war or you die There's No Going Back the ships are a fire that's how you get people to dig deep down and find their strength and ability that they didn't know they had my grandfather writes a first-hand account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising he was there and you know Germany is pummeling through Europe Poland Austria Hungary and their fiercest opposition was a group of unarmed untrained malnourished Jews in Warsaw Ghetto you know why because when you Corner people and you encircle them and their backs are against the wall they are transformed from men to Supermen and this is what the ramam is telling us then when people's lives are on the line they become differences around them give them a way out you'll definitely overcome you encircle them and you Corner them you'll have a much harder time says Rabbi Dunner this is the explanation in Russian jury their lives were on the line they had no choice every Mitzvah was precious that's all they had their lives were on the line so they took everything seriously every prayer every Mitzvah every observance but we don't live in Russia we live in what is called marshmallow country the United States of America yeah yeah no no we dive in we don't dive in we keep Shabbos properly we don't we're more careful we're less careful who cares it doesn't matter our lives are not on the line our lives are not at stake nothing really hangs in the balance so we all remain plain men and women but if you take people and you Corner them and you encircle them and you try to take it away and take the religion away they are invested they are invested with almost Supernatural ability and a plain woman in Russia who doesn't know Shema Israel could sacrifice the most basic of human emotion and give her kitten I have a friend great guy believes in Hashem who lives in Shabbos but he was never able to make the leap he can never overcome the hurdle and commit himself to genuine Shabbos observance and he told me Rabbi there are only two things holding me back my blow dryer [Music] and the men in Orange Syracuse basketball I wake up Saturday morning I wake up Saturday morning my hair is a mess I can't walk out like that I got a blow dry my hair and my alma mater Syracuse they play Saturday morning I got I got you otherwise if not for that Rabbi I would be just like you sounds like a pretty Petty reason the men in Orange Syracuse basketball they're not even good a blow dryer I mean give me a break a blow dryer that's that's what's holding him back but the truth is everybody on their own level has a blow dryer that they're holding on to everybody has something they're afraid to let go of they're afraid to give up everybody has something that they're grasping that's stopping them from reaching the next level you know on Yom Kippur the focus of our prayers is on the confession the Viva right you know how to make the confession make sure you have the motion good right so that you look good when you pray you know you have to right you clap pray and look good oath right you have to clap your hearts right you clap your hearts why the hearts you cut up your heart well the heart is like the seed of Desire the seed of passion you're indicting your heart you're you're saying your heart is responsible but the question is why the fist why the fifth why not an open hand you know like pledge allegiance why a fist why do you have to clench that fist and a rabbi once suggested homiletically maybe it's a little far-fetched but you'll get the point in ancient times if you were a hunter and you wanted to catch a monkey anybody have an interest in catching a monkey no but in case you were interested it's good to know and it's good you came here tonight this way you'll know that if you wanted to catch a monkey what you do is you dig a little hole in the ground and then the hunters would put a suite in the hall and the monkey would come by and stick his hand into the hole grab the sweet but the problem is that it's clenched fist was bigger than its open hand so the monkey would stick its hand in the hole clenches and the other hand is stuck and the hunter would come and catch the monkey so I have a question for the monkey just open your hands and the answer is they just cannot let go of the sweets they just could not let go and that's exactly how we are we want to change we want to improve but we don't want to open our hands we don't want to let go there are things we just can't let go of we can't let go of Syracuse basketball we can't let go of our blow dryer our fists are clenched tight and as much as we want to change we feel that we can't and that is the story of Our Lives for 364 days a year we are who we are we do what we do we would like to change but it ain't happening but there's one day there is one day of the year where everything is on the line where life is on the line when everything counts when everything matters there's one day a year that there's a crisis that how we act and how we think and what we accept upon ourselves makes all the difference in the world and that day is called Yom Kippur and if until now we prefer to just let things slide and to Coast through life and to keep our fists clenched tight but not on Yom Kipper because on Yom Kippur our backs are up against the wall we are so to speak on that Firing Line we're cornered and we're able a little bit to dig deep down and find that we are being invested with new ability and new capacity to change some of those things that we thought were impossible or that is required is that we think a little bit about the significance of this great day of Yom Kippur hey little story here you have a guy good friend of yours catches the cold in December cold gets worse January it turns into pneumonia February the system starts shutting down and in March lailenu your friend passes on and you hear about it and you meet somebody on the street and you say did you hear about Mr so-and-so what happened to Mr so-and-so and he says what do you mean what happened he caught a cold in December turned into pneumonia in January February the system shut down in March he passed away the great leader of the Mary Yeshiva that's not how it happens he didn't catch the cold in December he caught the cold on Yom Kippur it turned into pneumonia Yom Kippur morning his system shut down Yom Kippur afternoon and the decree came down from heaven by the end of Yom Kippur that he shouldn't make it through this world what is Yom Kippur every thing that occurs to a person over the course of the year is decided on Yom Kippur it plays out during the year but Yom Kippur is when it's decided and when you understand that finances your job your children your health it's all decided on your Giver and when you realize what's on the line on Yom Kippur it makes it a little easier to dig down a little bit deeper and open up just a little bit those clenched fists and make the necessary improvements that we need to make so we say chuba return spirituality life is too busy right now life is too busy things are too hectic hectic act work hectic with at home with the kids later I'll have time I love you ever hear about this congregation in Los Angeles oh these guys in La these are wild guys nothing they don't take anything seriously so that the rabbi actually had a higher are fire and some preacher to come into the shore and this Rabbi comes into the show he's like seven feet tall he has the biggest beard you ever saw he could look at you and you melt and but these people are now they're gonna take anything seriously and the rabbi gets up to the podium and he says I want everyone in this room tonight one day one day sure and there's this clown in the back the louder the Rabbi says it the harder he's laughing he's just falling off the chair he thinks this is hilarious and the Rabbit doesn't know he like stands on his tippy toes to look even more imposing every single member of the show is gonna die one day and this guy in the back he's a he like fell on his face and laughter the rabbi makes a Mad Dash to the back of the show he picks up the guy he picks him up by lapel did you hear what I said every member of their soul is gonna die rabbi I'm not a member of the show in general it's good to pay membership right next but if you want to know what Yom Kippur is you want to know what Yom Kippur is listen to what a great man said about Yom Kippur the matter sense that every year the 40 years the Jewish people were in the desert they're traveling to Israel we know because of the sin of the spies the Jews had to spend 40 years in the desert where all 600 000 Jews between 20 and 60 died out in the desert and only their descendants entered the land of Israel and the murderer says that over the course of 40 years 15 000 Jews would die every single year but do you know how it went well the meters tells us that the night of Toshiba a Heavenly voice cried out that all the Jews should go dig their own Graves and all six hundred thousand Jews went and dug their own Graves and slept in their graves and in the morning God called out let the living separate from the dead and every year fifteen thousand Jews did not wake up so could you imagine going to sleep the night of tishomav in the grave thinking we don't know what's going to be the next morning says Rabbi Ruderman the great rosh hashiva the Shiva Israel this is Yom Kippur that the night of Yom Kippur we all figuratively sleep in our Graves and how we pray and how we change and how we improve makes all the difference in the world and at the end of Yom Kippur when that chauffeur blows God calls out let the living separate from the dead and that and nothing less than that is Yom Kippur if that's the case and we understand a little bit that this is not just a customary holiday this is a serious day of the year that may just give us the impetus to dig a little bit deeper and we then can answer the door to Hashem who's knocking on the door [Applause] we are living in a unique remarkable era we are living between 1940 and 2040. what does the Torah tell us of 1940 to 2040. this is the era of teshuva God promises us that Jewish people will return young adults teenagers seniors middle-aged people it's not confined to any region it's not confined to any land it's not confined to any background there will be massive return and we're living it we see every day people who had no exposure to the beauty of Judaism are returning on a scale that we've never seen before in our history so the next time you find it difficult to make those small minor adjustments and improvements in one's Judaism take a look at about chuva someone who has completely transformed their life they are living prophecy if you ever had a question about the authenticity of the Torah these people are living Testament to the Prophecies of the Torah and they challenge us you know my dear friends the Torah is promising us that in the Years 20 1940 to 2040 there will be massive return but who's gonna jump on the bandwagon who's gonna take advantage the ballet chuva have taken advantage of this prophecy let's not get left in the dust I want to read to you a speech just a small part of a speech not going to reach you the whole thing this speech was given by a Mr gross Mr gross is what we call an ffb you know an ffb is from from birth a lifer as they call it and he prays in a synagogue dominance in a show that to the largest extent are beginners and he gets up at his synagogue dinner before a audience that's predominantly return is or beginners and he tells them the following he says because I think it's important that BTS you ballet sugar you beginners get a little feeling about how we feel about you we don't like you let's see right picture the scene here you have you have short dinner and this guy is supposed to be to be president of the show the one thing he's not supposed to do is you know say something dumb and he gets up there and he says the dumbest person we don't like you call me too and then he explains himself he says for 10 years now you've been coming to my Shabbos table and my yamctive table just once try to see it from my perspective I am what sociologists and demographic experts would call the tired Jewish businessman my ideal Friday night my fantasy every Friday night is to come home from work pray as fast as you can eat as fast as you can jump under the covers and assume a fetal position for the next 13 hours I then wake up roll into the synagogue I choose to pray in the synagogue that prays the fastest I then gobble up my lunch and go back to that fetal position for another 13 hours but when you guys come to my house after we wash and we sit down to eat and during the course of conversation usually mine one of you will interrupt me with undeniable sincerity and turn to me and say excuse me but isn't what you're saying Lush on Hara I guess I guess I suppose you could say this lesson okay fine no more la shinhara and then you guys want me to speak about Torah for an hour and then sings the mirrors the Shabba songs the ones with eight verses but then he continues it's not that we don't like you it's that you make us feel uncomfortable because after 20 or 30 or 40 Years of us praying essay three times a day we've noticed that our prayer has become flat routine mechanical while yours is alive and exuberant we're uncomfortable because in the Solitude of our souls we ask ourselves and don't think for a minute we don't we ask ourselves if we in our 20s and 30s and 40s could have done what you did uproot the habits of a lifetime occupations confused family and friends to commit to Judaism and anyone who's brave enough to articulate this question would never dare to answer it and that is something that we all acknowledge it's very difficult to change but that's the rest of the year that's 364 days a year for 364 days a year it's hard to change Boeing Yom Kippur comes Yom Kippur is a game changer when Yom Kippur comes God says I'm tired of waiting for you to return to me when Yom Kippur comes someone knocking at the door if you ever noticed the prophet that we read from an Yom Kippur the navi yeshaya the navi Isaiah we read the words which at first glance has nothing at all to do with Yom Kippur clear the road clear the path what does that have to do with Yom Kipper says Rabbi celebration that in fact this has Torah reading captures the very essence of what Yom Kippur is all about as if you realized on this past Shabbos they have Taurus where the Prophet exhorts the Jewish people return return which means god is saying we have to come back to him and this morning yesterday we read finna have Torah dear Shu Hashem that during these 10 days God is very close but we have to seek him out it's a different story God is not close knocking on the door it's like the Posse that says Kyle deity our beloved father has come to our door we don't have to return to him he has come to us and all we need to do is open the door my grandmother maras Tina glancing Cena glancing she's a holocaust Survivor she published her memoirs in a book entitled flares of memory it was published by a university of Oxford press and she writes about her father her father was the last Rabbi of the city of sakhachov in Poland sakuchov is a small village in Poland and her father was a great Rabbi great halachic figure and she writes and I read to you page 11. she writes our home was open to everyone Jews did not go to the secular courts everyone went to the rabbi so people came into our home to ask the rabbi about what is kosher with emotional problems economic problems and foreign the rabbi applies to music law to a case opposite our home lived a well-known polish attorney a gentile by the name of Mr tarnowsky as a lawyer he was very interested in my father's legal work he sometimes would attend the dentara and discuss my father's legal rulings after the case my father considered him a friend when the Nazis occupied Poland in 1939 everything changed one afternoon Mr tarnovsky with an SS officer barges into my father's study they came holding a big bowl of blood with a liver of a pig floating in it and they slammed it down on the table and Mr tarnowsky says Rabbi is the liver kosher or trafe and he says Mr tarnowsky you know that went to Jewish law I can't rule on this case this is the liver of a pig you must can if you don't you'll be hearing from us soon my father knew that he had to leave immediately fast forward 1942. the war Still Ghetto page 107 and I quote when my family was in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 gestapo came took away my 15 year old brother I never saw him again my father realized this was the beginning of the end he turns to me and my sister he says the golden chain of Judaism has lasted for 3 300 years you too my daughters Hashem will help you continue it you have to escape my father secured for us polish doctored passports now the Escape through the sewers was abhorrent to me only the gates remained at the moment of the changing of the guards a group of us dash out of the gates an alarm was sounded powerful lights made us hardly visible and easy targets bullets flew overhead a few of us made it we ran to the forest blindly only Hashem could guide us for three years my grandmother masqueraded as a Polish Christian peasant and very often the Gestapo would come to the farms and round up the workers to check the papers because they knew they were Jewish boys and girls hiding out on the farms and they would make them sleep out on the farm and they would check and recheck and recheck and on one occasion all the workers lined up three were called ahead they were shot immediately because their papers weren't caught for three years my grandmother masqueraded as a Polish Christian peasant Xmas 1942. and I quote eximus is approaching the air is festive I must not be an outsider I am not Cena gladstein I am lucinka a Polish Christian peasant I must do whatever any other young Polish Girl will do it's not easy but Hashem will guide me like all the other girls I dress in my best we are going to midnight mass I must be careful any difference would Mark me immediately the mass is over I passed the hurdle satisfactorily thanks to Hashem Xmas day is another stumbling block we form groups and grow go from home to home singing Xmas carols next follows the feast the Xmas tree is Ablaze with colorful lights food is plentiful liquor amorso it is no surprise the party becomes uncontrolled every time I group takes a drink I do likewise pleading a headache I go out for some fresh air I wretch when I feel myself again I return to the party why was I forced to drink liquor loosens the tongue then the game begins believing me drunk they shower me with questions luchinka where were you born lucinka where was your farm lucinka who's your pastor lucinka which church did you attend answers satisfy them I am safe for the time being once more Hashem was with me one night one evening my grandmother goes to sleep in the field she collapses in exhaustion her Holy Father the Rob of the city of sakachov comes to her in a dream he says to her my entire my dear beloved daughter the war is almost over a few days later was Victory Day in Europe my precious daughter you are not lucinka you are not a Polish Christian peasant part cenauda labe you are the daughter of rabbinic royalty don't forget where you came from you weren't able to eat kosher until now you weren't able to keep Shabbos until now you weren't able to celebrate the holidays you had to celebrate Xmas but soon the war will be over and you my dear daughter will continue the golden chain of Judaism and it was that image of her Holy Father that carried her for the rest of her life my dear friends over the course of the year we may slip we may not live up to the ideals of the Torah we get lost in our environment we identify with our surroundings we forget where we come from but come the holiest day of the year on Yom Kippur and we all have the vision someone's knocking on the door it's our father avinu of it is our merciful father who reminds us my dear son my dear daughter remember who you are remember where you come from you are royalty bun him you are the children of God and all we need to do is just open the door a little bit and let our father in when we talk about chuva you don't have to become the biggest topic overnight just take one concrete step whether it's to come to an additional Torah class every week learning Torah is the greatest way to connect with Hashem whether it's to take a Friday night and observe it whether it's to be careful in the laws of take one concrete step God says to us just open your hearts a little bit and I will take you the rest of the way you know we say in schmann Esme that God does a lot of things for us he gives us parnosa he gives us livelihood he gives us hell he gives us intelligence there are a lot of things that God just gives us but there's one thing he doesn't give us there's one thing he can make us do you know we say God gives us influence he gives us paranos he gives us livelihood but there's one thing that he can't give us and that one thing that he can't give us is the one thing that he would like to give us more than anything else and that is return that is true God is yearning for our return he's pining there's nothing in this world that Hashem wants more than that we should return and I'll tell you a little story there was once a rabbi and a teacher in a classroom and he knew everything this Rabbi knew the answer to every single question no matter what the students asked the rabbi always nailed it and the kids were getting annoyed this really is Mr Know It All he knows everything they can never stump him and one day finally one of the kids got a bright idea and he calls together the rest of his classmates and he says I have this great idea I had this question that I'm going to ask the revi and he'll never know the answer he says you know what's in my hand there's a butterfly in my hand and I'm gonna go to the reppe and I'm gonna ask the revi is the butterfly alive or is the butterfly dead you see if the Remy says the butterflies alive I'll just squeeze my hand ever so slightly and kill the butterfly and if the Ruby says the butterfly is dead I'll just open my hand and the Butterfly will fly away and the kids they were jumping for joy finally we got the rubbing finally we're gonna stump him they could barely sit through a class they're fidgeting they're shaking they're so excited and the bell rings and he dashes to the Ruby's desk and he says Ruby Ruby rubby I have a very important question and everybody's waiting what is it this is ready in my hand there's a butterfly is the butterfly alive or is the butterfly dead and the Revy looks at him and the Ruby says my dear precious student I cannot tell you if the butterfly is alive or is the butt or if the butterfly is the but one thing I could tell you the answer lies in your hands the answer lies in your hands God is yearning for our return God is yearning for us just to take one small step closer and as much as a parent would yearn for his child God are infinitely wise and compassionate Creator is yearning for that phone call for that step for that acceptance for that one tabola one step closer to him but as much as God would like us to return God says to us that when it comes to the great gift of repentance the answer lies in your hands I could warn you to return I could yearn for your return I could be knocking on your door but the decision is yours the answer lies in your head your hands answer lies in your hands I wish you all again a happy and healthy sweet new year thank you for listening thank you for coming you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by torahanytime.com