Podcasts about thank you hashem

One of the goals of learning about emunah is to be able to practice it. This, says the Chazon Ish, is one of the definitions of bitachon, the way we practice emunah. People who have been learning the concepts of emunah on a daily basis and internalizing them have seen a very noticeable change in the way they live their lives. As an example, I would like to share an email I received from a woman who began learning from a book on emunah about a year ago. In her words: I can't even begin to tell how much the words of emunah have changed my life. First of all, being nervous about earning money was always part of life. Now I know with absolute certainty that if I put in my reasonable hishtadlut, Hashem will take care of me. As a married, working mother of five, bli ayin hara, there are always some expenses that need handling. I started out as a nurse working overnight shifts from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am, a grueling schedule. I was always concerned about how I was going to earn a paycheck. I was even willing to exhaust myself physically and emotionally to make money. Now I know that as long as I'm doing what's best for my family and working a reasonable amount of daylight hours, the rest is in Hashem's hands. Additionally, in the book it speaks a lot about opening our eyes to see Hashem's role in our day to day lives. The more I say “Baruch Hashem” or “Thank You Hashem for taking care of this or that,” the more I see His hand following me throughout my day. Even when it comes to small things, like being able to spot my baby's pacifier when I need it. I also started saying “Baruch Hashem” for minor inconveniences like when something falls and I have to bend to pick it up. Emunah made me realize that these things are really gifts from Hashem and reasons to thank Him. The following situation happened around the time I first started reading the book. My family and I went to stay with my sister for Shabbat, and when Motzei Shabbat came, I couldn't find my keys anywhere. After a few minutes of looking, I stopped and began to think, this is annoying and I don't know why this is happening, but Hashem must have a reason for this. Baruch Hashem, we kept looking. After a few more minutes, more family members were recruited to help. I said out loud this time, “I don't know why this is happening, but I have emunah that Hashem has a good reason for this.” And still later, when the keys were nowhere to be found and now everyone in the house was helping us to look, I said once again, “Hashem, I don't know why you want me to be here for an hour looking for my keys, but I have emunah that You have a reason for it.” Finally, baruch Hashem the keys were found, but throughout this minor inconvenience, I was able to keep calm and keep a smile on my face. It could have easily turned into an argument about who had the keys last or who was in charge of putting them away or how late it was getting or how annoying it was to be looking for the keys, or how tired we all were getting or how we felt so bad to be in someone else's house so late on Motzei Shabbat. But instead, since I was constantly reminding everyone that it was okay and that there was a reason for it, everyone remained calm. Every time I look around, I see Hashem giving me personal Divine intervention. The subtitle of the book is Achieving a Life of Serenity Through Faith – that is exactly what happened. My life is so much calmer and less filled with anxiety now that I feel everything Hashem does is for my best. I am constantly reminding myself that Hashem is going to help me and that Hashem is with me. Things that used to make me nervous no longer make me nervous, like being in a rush to be at work. I remind myself that I am doing my best hishtadlut to be on time and the rest is up to Hashem. If it's best for me to be late, despite my efforts to try to be on time, then I accept it as the will of Hashem. I also apply the concept that Hashem has a plan, and He knows what's best for me in big areas as well. We recently moved houses and the kitchen was in desperate need of renovation. My husband and I never had anything renovated in our lives, and therefore didn't know the prices of anything. Somehow there was a miscommunication and when we agreed to renovate the kitchen, we thought the total cost would be $6,000. But in reality, the renovations, we were told later, would total $15,000. When I heard that number, I almost went crazy. To go from thinking you're going to spend $6,000 to spending $15,000, felt like I was being robbed of thousands of dollars. But after a few minutes of really digging deep and focusing on Hashem and reminding myself everything Hashem does is for the best, I was able to recognize there was a reason for this miscommunication. Maybe I was supposed to lose money in a different way and instead Hashem is making me feel like I'm losing it in this way, by spending it on the kitchen and by spending it on a kitchen that was for my benefit – what a blessing! I reminded myself there were so many terrible ways to be forced to spend $15,000 and being able to spend it on something so great as a new kitchen is a beautiful thing. There are so many stories of hashgacha pratit in my day-to-day life, the more I look for them, the more I see them. I am so appreciative to be able to learn about the goodness of Hashem and how He loves us and how He is with us every step of the way. I truly feel the serenity that comes from living with emunah. Signed, this woman. The more we learn about emunah, the closer we come to Hashem and the better our lives will be.

Nobody ever has to worry about not getting what's coming to him. People don't have any control, only Hashem does. We should never be fooled by the way things seem to be, because Hashem is always the only One who decides who gets what. Rabbi Elimelech Biderman told a story about a man from Bet Shemesh who needed financial help to marry off his daughter. He traveled abroad and went around collecting with a driver who was taking other collectors as well. One of the other collectors in that car was a bully who demanded to go around first at every stop and only after were the other collectors allowed to leave the car. At one of the shuls they stopped at, this bully got out, went around collecting and then when he came back the others went in. The man from Bet Shemesh came back to the car with a check for $1800 from one of the congregants. That was totally out of the ordinary, as people in the shul usually gave out singles. The donor explained that he made a nice business deal that day and decided to give the ma'aser to the first person who asked him with a legitimate need. The driver was wondering why the first collector who went in didn't get that check. Wasn't he the first with a legitimate need? Turned out, the donor went to the bathroom during the time that the first collector went in. People could try to push their way forward all they want, but their efforts will never prevail if it is not the will of Hashem. Our job is to recognize everything we get comes only from Hashem, and our hishtadlut is just us going through the motions to get it, but not what actually brings results. Rabbi Biderman told another story about a rabbi whose first name is Shlomo. This rabbi leads a chesed organization in Israel which gives out three meals worth of food every Friday to 2000 families. On one of his latest visits to New York to raise money for this cause, he stayed at someone's house in Borough Park. A friend of his from the neighborhood told him about a very wealthy man he knows who is a six-hour drive from where they were. The friend said this wealthy man gives very big checks for these types of organizations that give out food, and it would be worth the rabbi's efforts to make the trip there. Rav Shlomo said a 12-hour round trip was too much for him to handle, but the friend kept pushing and eventually he offered to drive the rabbi himself. The friend called for an appointment with the wealthy man and was told they could come. When they arrived, they saw a table filled with food for them to enjoy after their long journey. While they were waiting and eating, the gabai told them when they would be called to go in to speak with the wealthy man, there were two rules they had to keep. Number one, they were not allowed to talk until he spoke first. And number two, they would not be allowed to tell anybody how much he gives them. They were eventually called in and after their presentation, they were given a check which turned out to be less than the price of the gas which they used to travel that day. The friend felt so bad that he dragged Rav Shlomo all the way there, but Rav Shlomo was not upset. He was actually happy. He began praising Hashem saying, “Thank You Hashem for showing me that my hishtadlut means nothing.” They drove back and arrived in Borough Park shortly before 2:00 am. They went to the Shomrei Shabbat Bet Midrash to catch a minyan for Arbit . After the minyan finished, somebody came over to Rav Shlomo and patted him on the back, giving him a warm hello and introducing himself. This was a man whom Rav Shlomo had been trying to get an appointment with for 6 years and was never able to. The man said he never prays this late but that night he had a wedding that just ended. Rav Shlomo spoke to him about his organization and, on the spot, the man gave him a check for $18,000. Rav Shlomo then saw even more how much his success depended only on Hashem. Turned out, Hashem used that long journey just to get Rav Shlomo to pray at that 2:00 am minyan that night to get his money from the other man. Hashem controls everything. Nobody can take what's ours, and we don't necessarily get what's coming to us from the hishtadlut we make to get it. הרבה שלוחים למקום – Hashem has many ways of sending. We put in the effort and Hashem decides where to send the blessing from.

Nobody ever has to worry about not getting what's coming to him. People don't have any control, only Hashem does. We should never be fooled by the way things seem to be, because Hashem is always the only One who decides who gets what. Rabbi Elimelech Biderman told a story about a man from Bet Shemesh who needed financial help to marry off his daughter. He traveled abroad and went around collecting with a driver who was taking other collectors as well. One of the other collectors in that car was a bully who demanded to go around first at every stop and only after were the other collectors allowed to leave the car. At one of the shuls they stopped at, this bully got out, went around collecting and then when he came back the others went in. The man from Bet Shemesh came back to the car with a check for $1800 from one of the congregants. That was totally out of the ordinary, as people in the shul usually gave out singles. The donor explained that he made a nice business deal that day and decided to give the ma'aser to the first person who asked him with a legitimate need. The driver was wondering why the first collector who went in didn't get that check. Wasn't he the first with a legitimate need? Turned out, the donor went to the bathroom during the time that the first collector went in. People could try to push their way forward all they want, but their efforts will never prevail if it is not the will of Hashem. Our job is to recognize everything we get comes only from Hashem, and our hishtadlut is just us going through the motions to get it, but not what actually brings results. Rabbi Biderman told another story about a rabbi whose first name is Shlomo. This rabbi leads a chesed organization in Israel which gives out three meals worth of food every Friday to 2000 families. On one of his latest visits to New York to raise money for this cause, he stayed at someone's house in Borough Park. A friend of his from the neighborhood told him about a very wealthy man he knows who is a six-hour drive from where they were. The friend said this wealthy man gives very big checks for these types of organizations that give out food, and it would be worth the rabbi's efforts to make the trip there. Rav Shlomo said a 12-hour round trip was too much for him to handle, but the friend kept pushing and eventually he offered to drive the rabbi himself. The friend called for an appointment with the wealthy man and was told they could come. When they arrived, they saw a table filled with food for them to enjoy after their long journey. While they were waiting and eating, the gabai told them when they would be called to go in to speak with the wealthy man, there were two rules they had to keep. Number one, they were not allowed to talk until he spoke first. And number two, they would not be allowed to tell anybody how much he gives them. They were eventually called in and after their presentation, they were given a check which turned out to be less than the price of the gas which they used to travel that day. The friend felt so bad that he dragged Rav Shlomo all the way there, but Rav Shlomo was not upset. He was actually happy. He began praising Hashem saying, “Thank You Hashem for showing me that my hishtadlut means nothing.” They drove back and arrived in Borough Park shortly before 2:00 am. They went to the Shomrei Shabbat Bet Midrash to catch a minyan for Arbit . After the minyan finished, somebody came over to Rav Shlomo and patted him on the back, giving him a warm hello and introducing himself. This was a man whom Rav Shlomo had been trying to get an appointment with for 6 years and was never able to. The man said he never prays this late but that night he had a wedding that just ended. Rav Shlomo spoke to him about his organization and, on the spot, the man gave him a check for $18,000. Rav Shlomo then saw even more how much his success depended only on Hashem. Turned out, Hashem used that long journey just to get Rav Shlomo to pray at that 2:00 am minyan that night to get his money from the other man. Hashem controls everything. Nobody can take what's ours, and we don't necessarily get what's coming to us from the hishtadlut we make to get it. הרבה שלוחים למקום – Hashem has many ways of sending. We put in the effort and Hashem decides where to send the blessing from.

A rabbi asked his students if they thought it was proper to thank Hashem for the troubles they were going through. One student replied, “I can understand that we are supposed to accept our troubles and not complain about them, but how could we thank Hashem if what is happening is hurting us?” The rabbi then said to them, “What if a doctor performed a very complicated surgery on a patient which turned out to be successful. Even if the surgery caused pain to the patient, he would thank the doctor profusely and forever be indebted to him.” If we believe that everything Hashem does is the absolute best thing for us, then we should even thank Him for the problems, even if they are causing pain. This is not a contradiction to praying for our troubles to go away. We thank Hashem for what happened already and we pray that, going forward, we'll be able to see revealed good and that whatever needed to be accomplished through the suffering should have been accomplished already. The pasuk in Tehillim says, "אודך ה' כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה." The Chida, as well as many other mefarshim , explain, in this line David HaMelech was thanking Hashem for his yisurim – כי עניתני – because he realized – ותהי לי לישועה – they were his true salvation. Although he couldn't see it at the time, he knew it was true, so he thanked Hashem even for his afflictions. The Chatam Sofer added, thanking Hashem for yisurim is also what brings about the yeshuot . Thanking is an additional zechut , besides for what the yisurim accomplish inherently. When someone is experiencing trouble, he should look at it as an opportunity to show Hashem his belief in Him and thank Him for what He's doing. The Gemara says in Masechet Ta'anit (8) , anyone who can get himself to be happy with his yisurin will bring about salvation to the entire world, which includes hastening the coming of the Mashiach. A woman told me she got divorced and was struggling to raise the children on her own. One day, her boss fired her from her job and, shortly afterward, she was told by her landlord that she had to move out of her apartment. Two massive blows. She tried to find another apartment and another job but neither were working out for her. She felt like things couldn't possibly get worse for her in her life. While speaking to her friend about it, her friend told her something she read in a book about how a person should even thank Hashem for what appears to be bad. Then she added, she went to a class and a rabbi said there that if a person would thank Hashem for a half hour for all his problems, it would achieve so much and open doors of beracha that were previously locked. She initially thought it was absurd to thank Hashem for what He was doing to her. But then she decided to try it. She drove to a lake one day and brought a pen and paper. She started writing: Thank You Hashem for the misery I'm experiencing. Thank You for me not having a job. Thank You for me not having an apartment… She said, in all honesty, she was so angry about how bad things were, she did not really feel inside any of the words she was writing but she continued doing it anyway. After 20 straight minutes of writing, she got a phone call. It was from one of the places she went to for a job interview. She was told she got the job. Five minutes later, she received another phone call from the owner of an apartment that she expressed interest in. She hadn't received any correspondence from them since her visit and now, 25 minutes into her thanking Hashem for her problems, they called and said, “It didn't work out with the other people we were going to give the apartment to, so we'll give it to you.” She was floored, seeing how quickly the beracha poured after thanking Hashem for her problems. The yisurin are good, but when a person is able to recognize that and even thank Hashem for them, they accomplish much more and are able to open new doors of blessing.

A rabbi asked his students if they thought it was proper to thank Hashem for the troubles they were going through. One student replied, “I can understand that we are supposed to accept our troubles and not complain about them, but how could we thank Hashem if what is happening is hurting us?” The rabbi then said to them, “What if a doctor performed a very complicated surgery on a patient which turned out to be successful. Even if the surgery caused pain to the patient, he would thank the doctor profusely and forever be indebted to him.” If we believe that everything Hashem does is the absolute best thing for us, then we should even thank Him for the problems, even if they are causing pain. This is not a contradiction to praying for our troubles to go away. We thank Hashem for what happened already and we pray that, going forward, we'll be able to see revealed good and that whatever needed to be accomplished through the suffering should have been accomplished already. The pasuk in Tehillim says, "אודך ה' כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה." The Chida, as well as many other mefarshim , explain, in this line David HaMelech was thanking Hashem for his yisurim – כי עניתני – because he realized – ותהי לי לישועה – they were his true salvation. Although he couldn't see it at the time, he knew it was true, so he thanked Hashem even for his afflictions. The Chatam Sofer added, thanking Hashem for yisurim is also what brings about the yeshuot . Thanking is an additional zechut , besides for what the yisurim accomplish inherently. When someone is experiencing trouble, he should look at it as an opportunity to show Hashem his belief in Him and thank Him for what He's doing. The Gemara says in Masechet Ta'anit (8) , anyone who can get himself to be happy with his yisurin will bring about salvation to the entire world, which includes hastening the coming of the Mashiach. A woman told me she got divorced and was struggling to raise the children on her own. One day, her boss fired her from her job and, shortly afterward, she was told by her landlord that she had to move out of her apartment. Two massive blows. She tried to find another apartment and another job but neither were working out for her. She felt like things couldn't possibly get worse for her in her life. While speaking to her friend about it, her friend told her something she read in a book about how a person should even thank Hashem for what appears to be bad. Then she added, she went to a class and a rabbi said there that if a person would thank Hashem for a half hour for all his problems, it would achieve so much and open doors of beracha that were previously locked. She initially thought it was absurd to thank Hashem for what He was doing to her. But then she decided to try it. She drove to a lake one day and brought a pen and paper. She started writing: Thank You Hashem for the misery I'm experiencing. Thank You for me not having a job. Thank You for me not having an apartment… She said, in all honesty, she was so angry about how bad things were, she did not really feel inside any of the words she was writing but she continued doing it anyway. After 20 straight minutes of writing, she got a phone call. It was from one of the places she went to for a job interview. She was told she got the job. Five minutes later, she received another phone call from the owner of an apartment that she expressed interest in. She hadn't received any correspondence from them since her visit and now, 25 minutes into her thanking Hashem for her problems, they called and said, “It didn't work out with the other people we were going to give the apartment to, so we'll give it to you.” She was floored, seeing how quickly the beracha poured after thanking Hashem for her problems. The yisurin are good, but when a person is able to recognize that and even thank Hashem for them, they accomplish much more and are able to open new doors of blessing.

I read a story about an 87 year old man who was put on a respirator last year. Baruch Hashem, after a few days, he was taken off and then able to come home. For the days he was on the respirator he was charged $10,000. After leaving the hospital he was crying tears of gratitude. He said, “For a few days of assistance to breathe, it cost $10,000. How much do I owe Hashem for giving me the ability to breathe normally every day of my life?” A man told me last week that 8 years ago his lungs collapsed during a procedure in the hospital which made him in need of a double lung transplant. He was on a waiting list for months but nothing became available. It got to the point that he would not be able to continue living the way he was, even connected to high-tech machines. His family was called in to say good-bye. The doctor said if he didn’t get a transplant done by the next morning, he would have to be sedated and, soon after, he would run out of life. Of course, his family prayed that night like they never did before. Miraculously, after waiting months, in the middle of that night two lungs became available and they were a perfect match for him. Baruch Hashem, he is able to tell this story today and teach people about the enormous chesed Hashem, saving his life at the last minute. Every moment of life is a chesed Hashem. With a moment of life, a person could acquire eternity. If someone is tested, for example, he is tempted to speak lashon hara or eat a forbidden food, at that moment, he should stop and say, “Thank You Hashem for this chesed that You are giving me – the opportunity to turn away from doing wrong and acquire eternal merit as a result.” If a person has an urge to do something forbidden but he resists it and says, “Hashem, I’m not going to do this because I want to do Your will and bring glory to Your Name.” That would become a glorious moment in his life that he will benefit from forever. Hashem gives us so many ways to do mitzvot, He even rewards us for having good thoughts. The sefer Nafshi Cholat Ahavatcha writes, if we hear about someone going through a difficulty and we feel compassion for that person, we fulfill the positive commandment from the Torah of emulating Hashem- והלכת בדרכיו-מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום. If we would then, even in our minds alone, make a request to Hashem to help them, that would give us yet another mitzvah called tefila – two mitzvot without even moving our lips. If we would know the value of a mitzvah, we would be rejoicing all day thinking about our accomplishments. Many years ago, an avrech in Israel was walking on the street when he heard a large commotion. Someone had passed out in an apartment and people were calling for help. He knew CPR. He ran in and revived the person and saved his life. Afterward, he found out this person was none other than Rabbi Eliashiv, the Gadol Hador . A couple of weeks later, this avrech received a letter in the mail. It was from a man in America who attached a $1 million check, offering to buy from him the zechut of saving the Gadol Hador ’s life. That money would have been very useful for him at that time. But before he made a decision, he went to Rav Eliashiv to ask him what to do. Rav Eliashiv told him, using a parable, something to the sort of, if he would take the million dollars, he would be like a young boy taking a bag of chocolates instead of the multi-million dollar inheritance that his father left him. The value of one mitzvah is priceless, and Hashem gives us opportunities every moment of the day to perform them. What a chesed !

I read a story about an 87 year old man who was put on a respirator last year. Baruch Hashem, after a few days, he was taken off and then able to come home. For the days he was on the respirator he was charged $10,000. After leaving the hospital he was crying tears of gratitude. He said, “For a few days of assistance to breathe, it cost $10,000. How much do I owe Hashem for giving me the ability to breathe normally every day of my life?” A man told me last week that 8 years ago his lungs collapsed during a procedure in the hospital which made him in need of a double lung transplant. He was on a waiting list for months but nothing became available. It got to the point that he would not be able to continue living the way he was, even connected to high-tech machines. His family was called in to say good-bye. The doctor said if he didn’t get a transplant done by the next morning, he would have to be sedated and, soon after, he would run out of life. Of course, his family prayed that night like they never did before. Miraculously, after waiting months, in the middle of that night two lungs became available and they were a perfect match for him. Baruch Hashem, he is able to tell this story today and teach people about the enormous chesed Hashem, saving his life at the last minute. Every moment of life is a chesed Hashem. With a moment of life, a person could acquire eternity. If someone is tested, for example, he is tempted to speak lashon hara or eat a forbidden food, at that moment, he should stop and say, “Thank You Hashem for this chesed that You are giving me – the opportunity to turn away from doing wrong and acquire eternal merit as a result.” If a person has an urge to do something forbidden but he resists it and says, “Hashem, I’m not going to do this because I want to do Your will and bring glory to Your Name.” That would become a glorious moment in his life that he will benefit from forever. Hashem gives us so many ways to do mitzvot, He even rewards us for having good thoughts. The sefer Nafshi Cholat Ahavatcha writes, if we hear about someone going through a difficulty and we feel compassion for that person, we fulfill the positive commandment from the Torah of emulating Hashem- והלכת בדרכיו-מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום. If we would then, even in our minds alone, make a request to Hashem to help them, that would give us yet another mitzvah called tefila – two mitzvot without even moving our lips. If we would know the value of a mitzvah, we would be rejoicing all day thinking about our accomplishments. Many years ago, an avrech in Israel was walking on the street when he heard a large commotion. Someone had passed out in an apartment and people were calling for help. He knew CPR. He ran in and revived the person and saved his life. Afterward, he found out this person was none other than Rabbi Eliashiv, the Gadol Hador . A couple of weeks later, this avrech received a letter in the mail. It was from a man in America who attached a $1 million check, offering to buy from him the zechut of saving the Gadol Hador ’s life. That money would have been very useful for him at that time. But before he made a decision, he went to Rav Eliashiv to ask him what to do. Rav Eliashiv told him, using a parable, something to the sort of, if he would take the million dollars, he would be like a young boy taking a bag of chocolates instead of the multi-million dollar inheritance that his father left him. The value of one mitzvah is priceless, and Hashem gives us opportunities every moment of the day to perform them. What a chesed !

We spoke last week about having emunat chachamim . Part of that mitzvah is trusting in the words of our holy Rishonim . The Chovot HaLevavot in the Shaar HaBitachon perek 4 teaches us the way Hashem wants us to react if there is another person seeking our harm. If we follow the Rabbi’s advice, not only will we be doing a great avodat Hashem, the Rabbi also guarantees us that Hashem will turn that enemy, who seeks our harm, into someone who loves us instead. We must view this person as a messenger of Hashem who has no say of his own. We should tolerate his insults and never do back to him according to his actions. If we have an opportunity to do chesed for him, we should utilize it. We should even think good about him and internalize that whatever he did to us would have happened anyway. It’s not him, it’s Hashem. Then, we should turn to Hashem and say, “It is my sins that have caused this to happen. Please forgive me for what I have done.” If we will accept responsibility for what happened and attribute it to Hashem, then, writes the Chovot HaLevavot, that enemy will turn back his hatred and begin to love us instead. And then he quotes a pasuk in Mishleh , “ברצות ה' דרכי איש גם אויביו ישלים איתו”. This is far from the natural response of a person when someone tries to harm him. The conventional approach would be to deal directly with that person. But the Chovot HaLevavot is teaching us, it has nothing to do with him. Instead of wasting our time with the puppet, we should go straight to the Master and talk to Him about it. That would be the ratzon Hashem and that would be our greatest hishtadlut . If we could even thank Hashem for doing to us what He did and say we needed it and it is cleansing us, it would make the avodah even more powerful. Chazal also tell us about the unbelievable zechuyot we get by not fighting back when people want to hurt us. It brings complete kapara and it becomes a time of great Divine favor. Rabbi Snir Guetta, a rabbi in Israel who has brought back thousands of ba’aleh teshuva told a story about a student of his named Yinon. They were having a Shabbaton for ba’aleh teshuva in Netanya for single boys and Yinon attended. Everyone arrived on Thursday and that evening another boy saw Yinon holding a backgammon set which he brought with him and asked if he could borrow it. Yinon said, “No problem, just give it back to me when you’re done.” That boy kept the backgammon set the entire night and then, on Friday afternoon, he was sitting in the lobby playing a game of it with his friend. Yinon politely went over to him and asked if he would be done with it soon so that he could have it back. The boy was not in a good mood and was looking to pick a fight. He told Yinon, “You want your set back? Here it is.” And he proceeded to throw it across the room with pieces flying everywhere. Instead of fighting back, Yinon humbly bent down to pick up the pieces. But his older brother, who was also there, was infuriated about what that boy just did. He was ready to retaliate. And in seconds, he and his friends were exchanging words with that boy and his friends. Just as it started getting physical, the main rabbi of that Shabbaton walked in and everybody stopped. For some reason, the rabbi suspected Yinon for causing the trouble and began rebuking him for ruining the Shabbaton. Yinon ran outside in tears. He turned to Hashem and said, “I know this was all from You and I deserve it. But please, Hashem, let the rabbi see that I am innocent.” A half hour later, Yinon was called to the lobby to talk to the rabbi. When he came in, he saw the rabbi holding the other boy’s arm, bringing him towards Yinon to make peace. When Yinon got close, he stuck out his hand to shake the other boy’s hand, but instead, that boy took his fist and punched Yinon right in the face, in front of the Rabbi. Yinon fell to the floor. He told his rabbi later, at that moment, he was thinking two thoughts. One, he thanked Hashem for showing the rabbi that he was not the troublemaker. And number two, he thanked Hashem for the hit and said, “Thank You Hashem for cleansing me of my past averot . I know I deserved it.” When he got up, he didn’t say any negative words to the other boy, he just went to sit down. Another rabbi on the Shabbaton who witnessed this ran over to Yinon and said, “You have been totally humiliated and you didn’t reply. Please, give me a blessing to have children. I’m married sixteen years and I have gotten berachot from Gedolei HaDor , but I still don’t have a child. Your blessing at this moment is precious. Yinon said, “May Hashem give you a baby.” Sure enough, that year, this Rabbi contacted Yinon to thank him because after almost seventeen long years, his wife finally had a child. Whenever anyone harms us, we must know it is coming from Hashem for our good. If we realize it and respond accordingly, we will not only have a great spiritual elevation in that avodat Hashem, but we’ll no longer have any enemies because Hashem will turn their hearts to love us instead.

We spoke last week about having emunat chachamim . Part of that mitzvah is trusting in the words of our holy Rishonim . The Chovot HaLevavot in the Shaar HaBitachon perek 4 teaches us the way Hashem wants us to react if there is another person seeking our harm. If we follow the Rabbi’s advice, not only will we be doing a great avodat Hashem, the Rabbi also guarantees us that Hashem will turn that enemy, who seeks our harm, into someone who loves us instead. We must view this person as a messenger of Hashem who has no say of his own. We should tolerate his insults and never do back to him according to his actions. If we have an opportunity to do chesed for him, we should utilize it. We should even think good about him and internalize that whatever he did to us would have happened anyway. It’s not him, it’s Hashem. Then, we should turn to Hashem and say, “It is my sins that have caused this to happen. Please forgive me for what I have done.” If we will accept responsibility for what happened and attribute it to Hashem, then, writes the Chovot HaLevavot, that enemy will turn back his hatred and begin to love us instead. And then he quotes a pasuk in Mishleh , “ברצות ה' דרכי איש גם אויביו ישלים איתו”. This is far from the natural response of a person when someone tries to harm him. The conventional approach would be to deal directly with that person. But the Chovot HaLevavot is teaching us, it has nothing to do with him. Instead of wasting our time with the puppet, we should go straight to the Master and talk to Him about it. That would be the ratzon Hashem and that would be our greatest hishtadlut . If we could even thank Hashem for doing to us what He did and say we needed it and it is cleansing us, it would make the avodah even more powerful. Chazal also tell us about the unbelievable zechuyot we get by not fighting back when people want to hurt us. It brings complete kapara and it becomes a time of great Divine favor. Rabbi Snir Guetta, a rabbi in Israel who has brought back thousands of ba’aleh teshuva told a story about a student of his named Yinon. They were having a Shabbaton for ba’aleh teshuva in Netanya for single boys and Yinon attended. Everyone arrived on Thursday and that evening another boy saw Yinon holding a backgammon set which he brought with him and asked if he could borrow it. Yinon said, “No problem, just give it back to me when you’re done.” That boy kept the backgammon set the entire night and then, on Friday afternoon, he was sitting in the lobby playing a game of it with his friend. Yinon politely went over to him and asked if he would be done with it soon so that he could have it back. The boy was not in a good mood and was looking to pick a fight. He told Yinon, “You want your set back? Here it is.” And he proceeded to throw it across the room with pieces flying everywhere. Instead of fighting back, Yinon humbly bent down to pick up the pieces. But his older brother, who was also there, was infuriated about what that boy just did. He was ready to retaliate. And in seconds, he and his friends were exchanging words with that boy and his friends. Just as it started getting physical, the main rabbi of that Shabbaton walked in and everybody stopped. For some reason, the rabbi suspected Yinon for causing the trouble and began rebuking him for ruining the Shabbaton. Yinon ran outside in tears. He turned to Hashem and said, “I know this was all from You and I deserve it. But please, Hashem, let the rabbi see that I am innocent.” A half hour later, Yinon was called to the lobby to talk to the rabbi. When he came in, he saw the rabbi holding the other boy’s arm, bringing him towards Yinon to make peace. When Yinon got close, he stuck out his hand to shake the other boy’s hand, but instead, that boy took his fist and punched Yinon right in the face, in front of the Rabbi. Yinon fell to the floor. He told his rabbi later, at that moment, he was thinking two thoughts. One, he thanked Hashem for showing the rabbi that he was not the troublemaker. And number two, he thanked Hashem for the hit and said, “Thank You Hashem for cleansing me of my past averot . I know I deserved it.” When he got up, he didn’t say any negative words to the other boy, he just went to sit down. Another rabbi on the Shabbaton who witnessed this ran over to Yinon and said, “You have been totally humiliated and you didn’t reply. Please, give me a blessing to have children. I’m married sixteen years and I have gotten berachot from Gedolei HaDor , but I still don’t have a child. Your blessing at this moment is precious. Yinon said, “May Hashem give you a baby.” Sure enough, that year, this Rabbi contacted Yinon to thank him because after almost seventeen long years, his wife finally had a child. Whenever anyone harms us, we must know it is coming from Hashem for our good. If we realize it and respond accordingly, we will not only have a great spiritual elevation in that avodat Hashem, but we’ll no longer have any enemies because Hashem will turn their hearts to love us instead.

Reb Joey Newcomb has been taking the frum world by storm in the past few years. His incredible charm, fun personality and heart warming songs has been changing lives. There's so much behind his music and one of the most entertaining people we've met. Thank You Hashem! Enter to win an apartment in Eretz Yisroel: HERE (Last day to enter is 12/30/20) Use Coupon code MPP to double your purchase (2 for 1) & get $10 OFF Episode powered by: AMR Pharmacy & TheDreamRaffle

An addendum to last week's episode "Why Now Why Not Always. Analyzing thanking Hashem and taking it to the next level.

Nay nay nay nay, THANK YOU HASHEM, how can you not discuss this song when the words Ha'pam odeh es Hashem are in this weeks Parsha? Of we will give our 21st century Litvishe insights into this concept.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=QBh8ygU4xDM&feature=sharehttps://youtu.be/Gt7sno1v8KM

We are excited to announce the release of a new book, the Living Emunah on the Parashah. B'ezrat Hashem, it's the first of its kind, and it's now available from ArtScroll and can be ordered using the link below, or can be found in any local bookstore https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422627402.html Spending some time daily learning emunah is invaluable. Besides for the mitzvah in it as well as the spiritual elevation involved, it also gives a person the tools he needs to have a happy life. Unpleasant situations may arrive which threaten to put a person into a depressed state, but when his emunah is operating the way it is supposed to, he’ll move on happily and soar to great heights by dealing with the issue the way Hashem wants him to. Numerous people have given me examples from their own lives. I would just like to share a couple of recent ones. A woman who has been learning emunah lessons daily for over five years said, “to say that it has been life altering for me is just scraping the surface of the intense metamorphosis which it had engendered in my life.” With emunah there is a constant sense of peace and tranquility. The litmus test to see how deep it penetrated is from the reaction a person has when facing adversity. About two years ago, this woman drove with her husband from New York to New Hampshire to spend a few days rejuvenating themselves along with some other family members. When they arrived at the hotel, her sister-in-law who was already there helped her up to her room while her husband ran to catch Mincha. As she opened the closet doors in her room, she was suddenly hit by a jolting realization – she forgot her clothing bag at home. Her sister-in-law said in disbelief, “How are you saying that so calmly?” The woman said she honestly felt very calm inside. She had no thoughts of “I could have, I should have or would have.” She felt a peaceful aura engulf her and was not flustered in the least bit. That is when she realized what a profound effect the emunah lessons had had on her. She managed to get by borrowing until she found a way for a different vacationer to bring them up to her two days later. The exhilarating feeling of passing that test made the trip a truly memorable one for her. A young man aged 23 told me, he has been learning a lesson a day in emunah for the past four years. Since then, every day of his life has been so much better. He related an incident to me that gave him a lot of chizuk in which he realized how much he had grown in that last few years in emunah. He was set up with a girl who, in his mind, was perfect for him in every way. They dated for a month and things were looking very positive. From the feedback he was getting, he knew it wouldn’t be long before they were engaged. He was so happy; he was floating on air and his friends and family were excited for the good news ahead. He was so relieved to have gotten over the hump of shidduchim . And then, without warning, after a very good date, he was told by the shadchan that the girl wanted to end it. Initially, he was absolutely devastated. It felt like his whole life had just crumbled before his eyes. But, as the tears were streaming down his face, he began to think of all the emunah that had been drilled into him over the past four years, how Hashem loves him more than he can possibly imagine and how He controls everything on this earth, down to the tiniest detail, and would never do anything that wasn’t for his absolute best. He then looked up and said, “Thank You Hashem for this challenge. I trust that You know what is best for me. I accept this with love.” It did take him a little more time to get over the emotional pain, but he never questioned Hashem even once. The feeling of security that Hashem was acting for his best was, in his words, “Life-saving.” Getting through that very difficult experience so quickly for him was truly remarkable. Emunah helps a person in so many ways. A small investment of five minutes a day will reap a person endless benefits.

Rabbi Jonathan Rietti Ari Berkowitz and Rabbi Usher Yonah Horowitz Listen to Rabbi Usher Horowitz, Ari Berkowitz and Rabbi Jonathan Rietti as they co-host with Coach Menachem. These two Hasidim lead a movement (that has over 30,000 followers) that teaches people how to live a life connected. The overall message of "Thank You Hashem" is too intentionally live with acceptance, hope, and gratitude. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/menachem-bernfeld/support

Welcome to Spiritual Gangsters!In this new eight part series, our host, Menachem Poznanski, sits down with eight different mental health professionals and rabbi's, and asks each of them the same set of eight questions.Today's guest is Yaakov Klein R’ Yaakov Klein is an author, musician, and educator devoted to sharing the inner light of Torah through his books, music, video content, and lectures. R’ Yaakov is the author of “Sparks from Berditchov” and “Sunlight of Redemption” (Feldheim). His essays and poems have been featured in print in a variety of Jewish publications including Aish Uk’s Perspectives, The Jewish Home, and Mishpacha Magazine as well as online at Chabad.org, Breslov.org, and Times of Israel. R’ Yaakov writes a weekly Torah publication, “Thank You Hashem for Shabbos Kodesh!” which is widely distributed both in print and online. His popular classes in a wide range of Chassidic and classical Jewish thought, which are housed on Soundcloud.com as well as by YUTorah.org, have been played tens of thousands of times by Jews across the globe who appreciate the depth, beauty, optimism, and relevance of the material as well as R’ Yaakov’s honest and engaging style. R’ Yaakov’s highly anticipated third book, “The Story of Our Lives”, an in-depth elucidation of Rebbe Nachman’s famous tale, The Lost Princess, will be in stores over the next few months. It will be accompanied by “The Lost Princess Principles”, a comprehensive guide for group study featuring questions for personal reflection, exploration of original Hebrew sources, guided exercises, and focused discussion points. The texts will form the basis for “The Lost Princess Initiative”, an organization devoted to spreading the life-changing messages of this story through premium social media content, events, and other projects designed to enable Jews to encounter the vibrant soul of Judaism. R’ Yaakov lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Shira, and their son, Shmuel Shmelke.Conscious(ly) is a media publishing platform which hopes to build a community of regular people seeking spiritual growth.We welcome your feedback and questions and hope to utilize those questions for future episodes.EmailConsciously62@gmail.comFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Conscious-ly-102949811230486/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/consciously_62/The Conscious(ly) teamHost & co-producer: Menachem PoznanskiProducer: Chaim KohnAssistant to regional co-host: Shmaya Honickman Editing: Eitan Corenblum

Watch a #Unity Chazaq Focused Event https://youtu.be/5QfbTQXJT5s Listen to the most recent episode of our #EmunaTour podcast: Thank You Hashem, Emuna Tour with Rav Shalom Arush & The Shabbat Project! A theme of our Emuna is our Future Tour 2019 is #ThankyouHashem & I am truly a wonderful Soul! Thanks to Chazaq, Charlie Harary, R Shalom Yona Weis and The Nishe of 5 Towns!

Part I.Recognizing the GiftsTZARA’AS IS A GIFT?!כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה “When you shall come to the land which I give you as a possession, וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם and I shall give a plague of leprosy upon a house of the land of your possession” (Metzora 14:34). In studying thispossukthechachomimtook note of the wordnosati, “I shall give to you.” “I will give” a plague instead of the more common, וְשַׂמְתִּי “I will place” implies a gift of sorts,and remarkably, that’s howchazalunderstood these words. “These are good tidings to them that plagues would come upon them”, thechachomimsay.Now, what good tidings could there be in a home that is contaminated withtzara’as, a home that has to be knocked down? Sochazaltell us that upon hearing that the Am Yisroel was advancing towards them, theCanaanimhad concealed their wealth; all of their gold and silver, in the walls of their houses (Vayikra Rabbah 17:6). And when the loyal Jew obeyed the law ofnig’ei battim, and eventually he knocked down the walls as commanded in this week’sparsha, he discovered the wealth that had been hidden there all along.And so, it was thetzara’asthat Hashem had “given” to the owner of this house that became the bearer of good tidings. Because this family had possessed a great store of wealth in the walls of their home, only that they weren’t aware of what they possessed. And it was only when thetzara’ascame that they realized what a treasure they had in the home all along. The family might have lost a wall, and sometimes even the house in its entirety had to be demolished, but what they found in the process was a treasure that more than made up for the loss.THE CASE OF THE MISSING GOLDBut you have to know that gold and silver were not always found. Not everyCanaanitehad treasures – there were middle classCanaanitestoo – and even the wealthyCanaanite, maybe his wife was a spendthrift, a high roller who squandered her husband’s money and didn’t leave anything to hide away. And even the ones who had extra gold and silver, not every one of them hid his treasure between the stones of his wall – some found better hiding places than that.Now that’s a question, because Hashem saysnosati, “I am giving you a treasure when I sendtzara’ason your home.” And for many people, there were no treasures of gold and silver hiding in their walls. So what was the treasure for the family standing outside in the cold and rain, watching the walls of their house being demolished?And so we’ll say as follows: Even when no gold was found, the family gained an even greater wealth, becausethey discovered the treasure of the home itself.When a person discovers that there were opportunities available to him, that’s when he has found the greatest treasure; the opportunities for greatness that he will now make use of for the rest of his life. And that’s why Rabbi Yehuda, when explaining what gift was meant bynosati,“I will give you “a present” oftzara’as,” didn’t mention anything about a hidden treasure;he merely said: “These are good tidings that plagues will come upon them” (Sifra ibid). He didn’t consider it necessary to add that they might discover hidden gold and silver because the treasure they discovered was even more important than that.WHERE ARE WE SLEEPING TONIGHT?The first and most obvious treasure that this family discovered was thathaving a house is fun. Did you ever think about that? Forced to stand outside of their home as thekohenwent inside to inspect the walls, the father and mother huddled together with their children, and they looked back to consider that maybe they had not been grateful enough to Hashem for the blessings of a home, blessings that were now slipping out of their hands. And it was cold outside; it would rain too. “It was so much fun to have walls; why didn’t we appreciate it when we had it?! Where are we going to sleep tonight?” And so the forlorn family standing there were now discovering the treasure that they had always had hidden “in their walls”; the treasure ofhaving walls! Of having a roof over their heads –the treasure of having a home.And this lesson alone, to unearth that treasure of appreciating the walls of your home, that’s already enough of a reason fortzara’asto come onto a person’s walls. And that’s the lesson that we’re all expected to learn as we read theparsha– that we have to get busy appreciating the four walls of our homes and not wait for the lesson to be taught to us in the way it was taught to this family.REMAINING A CHILD FOREVERYou know that a little child doesn’t appreciate a home.He thinks of the street as wonderful, the sidewalk is wonderful – outside, that’s where the fun is. Try to bring a little boy back from the sidewalk into the house; you have to pull him with horses into the house. And most people never grow out of those childish ideas; they remain children all their lives unless they begin the work of thinking, of dilating on each benefit, and discovering the great treasure that the home is.Walls are really fun! What would life be without walls?! You know that if not for the walls, the winds would be blowing all the time, and the rains would come pouring in as well! It would be very cold in the winter if all you had was a roof! You know that in this place we like the rain and the winds; we appreciate them to no end. But we appreciate them most happily from the window, standing on this side of the wall and looking out.I was walking this week with a friend of mine and the snow was coming down. I was carrying an umbrella but he wasn’t prepared, he didn’t have an umbrella. So he said to me; he’s one of my people, so he said, “Snow is like ice cream.”I said, “You are correct, that’s a wonderful idea but ice cream in your ears is not comfortable.” We appreciate the snow, but we appreciate umbrellas too! So we’ll stand on this side of the wall and we’ll enjoy the rain and snow and cold.Of course, we enjoy it; but we don’t have to dive into it.SLEEPING ON OCEAN PARKWAYAnd so you have to learn how to be happy that you have a roof over your head.Here’s a poor woman, a homeless lady, a little bit demented; I see her pushing a shopping wagon on Ocean Parkway. All her possessions are in that shopping wagon; she has nothing. She doesn’t have a bathroom, she doesn’t have a kitchen, she doesn’t have a bed to sleep in. Where does she go when it’s raining? A pity on her. You see, she’s bedraggled, it’smamisha heartbreak to look at her.If she could only have a place to sleep. But she sits down on a bench, it’s freezing weather, she’s trying to get a nap on a bench; on a park bench she’s trying to fall asleep. It’s freezing and she can’t warm up. And you, you have a house with a roof over your head! How lucky she would be if she could have a little place, a shack with a roof over her head; she’d be the happiest person right now. Even without any heat, she could lie down on the floor, at least, and sleep. She doesn’t have even that. So first learn to enjoy a roof over your head. It takes a long time. A roof over your head, what a happiness that is!FALLING OUT OF MY HOUSEAnd privacy! Ah, the pleasure of privacy that walls afford us! Life would be no fun at all if your neighbor would always be peeking over from his dining room into yours; it would be a miserable home. And I’ll tell you something else, and don’t laugh: Without walls it would be so easy to fall out from the house into the street. Life in the home would always be full of danger; you’d be living precariously all the time. I think about that all the time when I see the walls in my house. And I don’t live on the first floor; I live high up, so I enjoy my walls to no end.Now when you begin to think like that, so you realize that walls are not just walls. There’s a lot going on behind those walls. Plumbing pipes! Ah, asimcha! You have to tell your children the benefits of having running water in the house. When I went to Europe to learn in the yeshiva, the first thing that I noticed was that there was no running water in the house. You went out into the backyard, or a block away, where there was a well and you had to carry back a bucket of water with a yoke. It sat across my shoulders, one bucket hanging here and one bucket hanging there.It was a hard job to bring water to the house. And then you poured it into some kind of contraption that was nailed to a wall; and when you wanted to wash your hands you had to bang underneath on the nail, a big nail, and if banged hard enough some water dripped down along the nail. And you had to keep on banging to get your hands wet. You banged and banged as you washed your hands, so little by little the water came out. Each time the nail went up, a little water came out.TEA KETTLES AND BOOTS FOR THE BATHROOMAnd hot water in the home?! Hot water too?! Who could have imagined such a luxury?! In Europe when you wanted to take a bath, there was no bath in the house. So either you went to theschvitz baad, the public bathhouse, or they brought in a tin tub. Somebalabatimhad a big tin tub, and they boiled up water in a tea kettle; one after the other they poured it in, until the tub was half full. Then you bathed in that water, in a room someplace, in a bedroom. So you bathed in a tin tub in water which was boiled in tea kettles. When you got through with it, if you had a little brother, he bathed after you in the same water because they couldn’t afford to fill it up twice. I saw it happen that way.Nobody had a bathroom in the house! In the dead of winter, if you were unfortunate enough to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, so you had to put on your boots. We had to put on our woolen boots and stomp through the deep snow to go to the so called bathroom, there was no fancy toilet seat. And whatever was there remained there, until finally in the summertime when it already had a big aroma. That’s when a man with a horse and wagon came with a long wooden spade and he took it all out. And for miles around everybody knew what was going on that day, because of the fragrance that was wafted on the summer breeze.THOMAS EDISON AT HAVDALAHAnd you have lights in your home too, don’t you? I remember when there were no electric lights; we had gas lights. And fires used to take place because of them. I once was in a house and there was a fire; the ceiling caught fire from the gas flame. I was watching the firemen trying to put out the fire. And in the streets I remember the lamp lighters used to go around with ladders and light the gas lamps in the street. Of course, today if you speak about electric lights to most Jewish children they’ll laugh at you for appreciating such a thing; but that’s because they’re not being brought up as authentic Jews. An authentic Jew thanks Hashem for artificial light.Actually we do it every week; people don’t know that every week we thank Hashem for artificial light. Every day we thank Hashem for the natural light of the sun,Yotzer Ha’meoros, but for artificial light we thank once a week, on motzei Shabbos.Borei me’orei ha’aish. What’s that? Did you ever think about that? We’re thanking Hashem for artificial lights. Every week. Some people think it’s just a ceremony, afrumkeit. No! We’remakir tovfor fire, electric lights, and all other forms of artificial illumination. After all, in the olden days when it was night time, what could you do? You could sit down and learnba’al pehif you remembered. But if you didn’t remember you couldn’t learn. And now,boruch Hashem, Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave us lights.In 1879 Edison called together a company of scientists and he promised to show them a remarkable thing; for the first time in history an electric bulb was turned on, and they were amazed! They described it as if sunlight filled the room. There never had been such a light before! It’s important to explain that to children; It’s important to explain it to ourselves! To enjoy the light.And therefore you should constantly be telling your children, “Look how lucky we are to have a nice home to live in! It’s so much fun to have walls that keep us warm and dry and safe. Now the child might say, “What do you mean ‘a nice home’? This place is tiny! My friend Sarah down the street has a better house than we do. They have such a big kitchen and a better this and better that.” But you have to drown that out by constantly reiterating to your family all the benefits they are enjoying. They’ll keep complaining and you keep talking about thechasdei Hashem. And it sinks in; trust me it goes into their heads. And that’s the biggesthatzalahfor the family, because it’s the family that doesn’t appreciate thechesedof a home, that’s the home that thenega tzara’asis bound to come upon, in order to teach them about the great treasure that a house is.Part II.The True TreasureAN OPPORTUNITY FOR REPENTANCEHowever, everything we’ve been speaking about is only scratching the surface of what the happiness of a home truly is; and it’s only the first lesson that Hashem intended by the gift oftzara’asthat a family finds on the walls of its home. Because when a family found themselves homeless, they were expected to understand that it was an opportunity for repentance. They were expected to understand that the tribulation of losing their home was intended as a punishment for not using their home properly.Actually, a Jewish home is much more than the physical benefits of walls and a roof, much more than the blessings of privacy, shelter, plumbing, electricity and being protected from falling into the street. All of that is important, and it was the first and most obvious lesson that they learned. But it’s still only part of the treasure that a home is. The aristocratic home of theAmHashemis something much greater than four physical walls. And now when these walls are broken down, after such a drastic warning, this family was expected to exert themselves to begin to utilize the house as a place foravodas Hashem. What makes the Jewish home a true treasure is that it is the place where theAmYisroelis built.BUILDING THE BEIS YISROEL IN FLATBUSHThat’s what ourAvosandImahosdid – their career took place primarily in their tents. The Rambam says that: He writes that the sole intention of our Avos in everything that they did was לְהַעֲמִיד אֻמָּה הָעוֹבֶדֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם – in order to establish a nation that would be servants of Hashem (Moreh Nevuchim 3:51). And therefore that’s the job of theAvosandImahostoday as well; we walk in the footsteps of our forefathers and we continue to build theAm Yisroelin our homes.And that is the greatest treasure, the greatest privilege, that could be afforded to anyone – the privilege of using the home foravodas Hashem.And it is that opportunity that was the great treasure that the family discovered when they were forced to leave their home. They were learning now that they had treated their home as just a place to live instead of a place of aristocracy, the palace that it really was meant to be. And that was the real treasure that they discovered by means of thetzara’as; and so when the family returned to their home again, theylived there with the knowledge of that treasure they had unearthed, and they were now ready to make use of it as intended by Hashem.DON’T KICK OFF YOUR SHOES JUST YETYou know, when we think of a home so we might consider it possibly as a place of relaxation; the place you come back to after a day of toil in the workplace, where you had to act towards people in an unnatural and artificial manner. And now you can come home and you can kick off your shoes, relax and behave naturally. Because your true career is in the home; it’s in the home that you should be acting your best.They tell about the old Telzer Rav, Rav Yosef Leib, that even in the hottest days of July and August – in those days they didn’t have air conditioners and not even electric fans – and yet he never took off hiskapotehin his house. All summer he wore his long coat, because in his house, he behaved like a prince in a palace. Now, everybody knew that in the house that Telzer Rav sometimes had to take off his coat. He wasn’t amalach;they knew he was a human being who couldn’t be a Rav in his long coat twenty four hours a day. But no matter; he didn’t want them to see him like that. Even for his wife and children he was always the Telzer Rav. He behaved like a prince in the home because he understood, and he wanted his family to understand, that the home is a palace, the place where the most important part of history was taking place – the building of theumah ovedes es Hashem.Yisroelis a name that puts the Jew far above all of mankind; and that means that the home where theBeis Yisroelis being built is a place where there should always be an aura of aristocracy, a feeling that this home is a place of nobility, a place set aside for accomplishing the most important of all endeavors. And when aYisroeltries to live up to this ideal of nobility so his behavior in the home is transformed. You know, it makes a big difference whether a man is a nobleman in his own esteem or whether he considers himself a commoner, a nothing. The things that a commoner will do, a noble man will not even consider. He can’t be be busy with novels and magazines – even Jewish magazines – that are filled with emptiness. He has more important things than that to accomplish, and so his mannerisms, his attitudes, and his aspirations are entirely different than the non aristocrat. The entire personality of a person is transformed when he realizes that he is a prince.EMULATING THE ROYAL FAMILYAnd when we live in a house where only princes live, so that house becomes something remarkable. Imagine there were princes who lived in a palace but because of some adversity they had to leave the palace. And now the princes, the royals, are living in a hut. But it’s not an ordinary farmer’s hut, it’s not a shepherd’s hut. It’s a hut of princes now. Their manners are of princes, they spend their time in the way of princes. Even their speech is that of princes.And therefore in a Jewish home it is of utmost importance to live up to the idea that we arebnei melachim.Before every move made in the home, they consult in their minds the model supplied by the awareness of their royalty; what they think royalty would do in such a case. A man and woman in the home should always be thinking: “What are the royal manners and the aristocratic ideals that should reign in the Jewish home?” Of course, we are all human beings and we can’t imagine that we will succeed in one fell swoop, but we have to always be aware of the perfection we are striving for. And it is those homes where this is kept in mind always that will never have to be plagued by the warning and lessons oftzara’as.THE JEWISH POLITICIANNow, in order to create an atmosphere of an aristocrat home, an institution where theAm Yisroelis being created, so a father and mother must appear before their children like actors on the stage. You can never be natural; no matter how you feel you must be to your children a hero. A politician,l’havdil, never appears in public acting like he really feels. He’s knocked out; he’s been traveling all night to get here after speaking someplace else. Now he’s over here and he has to get up on the stage; sometimes he even has to speak at the train station as soon as he gets off the train. You can be sure that he’s feeling grouchy and tired; all he wants to do is crawl into bed. Could be he’s just been told by his campaign manager that he’s trailing badly in the polls and that he’s headed for defeat. No matter, he’s waving and he’s wreathed in smiles as if all is wonderful. He displays cheer and confidence; he needs votes, what could he do?Now, a parent needs the votes of his children; he needs their votes to build the happy and successful home together and therefore he should always appear to them as confident; he always knows what to do. He’s never desperate or worried. “Never mind,” he tells his children with a smile, “Everything is under control; it’s going to be just fine.” He’s always happy. What he’s thinking inside, that’s not their business.You know thegemarasays that a person should betocho k’baro,his inside should be like his outside. Why doesn’t the gemara say that his outside should be like his inside?Chas v’shalom, that his outside should be like his inside! “Be genuine,” people say. No, if his outside would be like his inside, the home might become an Italian home, an Irish home. The ideal is that it should betochok’baro, his inside should be like his outside. The outside must always be good, only that the inside should attempt to follow the outside. But the outside always must be good!MUSSAR FROM PRESIDENT REAGANYou are the leader and leaders cannot be sad. A leader who shows sadness, who shows lack of confidence, is a failure. Evenl’havdilPresident Reagan, no matter how much he was insulted, he kept his bearings. Even when he was shot in the assassination attempt, as they were taking him to the hospital, he made a wisecrack to show he was cheerful. That’s because he knew how to act; President Reagan was a good president because he was a good actor. He didn’t concede, he wouldn’t admit that he had a setback.A good leader, a good mother and father, won’t show discouragement – they always maintain a good cheer. I’m not saying that you have to walk around with a big grin on your face, that’s nothing; but an underlying appearance, a facade of confidence and cheer, are essential in the home of aristocracy. It doesn’t pay for a leader to show discouragement; people don’t want discouraged leaders. A prince is a man of confidence. And even when he doesn’t have the confidence, he displays it in his demeanor and his countenance and in the way he talks, because the palace is too important for failure.ON STAGE: QUEEN MOMMYA mother should always appear like a queen before the children. Now, that’s not easy, particularly when the children are in the house all day long. But it’s not easy to be an actor; you have to go to one performance and then to another and then another. An actor would like to go home and kick off her shoes; to relax and lie down on the couch. But for glory you do it; or for money. So she appears on the stage each time like a shining queen. And that’s how a mother should view herself in the home, like an actor on the great stage, putting on the most important performance of her life.And therefore the ideal of aristocracy should be paramount when a couple builds a Jewish home. Not only should he consider his wife a queen and she should consider him a king, But they should considerthemselvesas kings and queens. And the children are princes and princesses. Always cheerful and confident and aware of their importance in building the Am Yisroel.THE FIVE MINUTEMESIBAHAnd it is that atmosphere that becomes the foundation for all the accomplishments ofavodas Hashemin the Jewish home – the home becomes the place, not only of happiness, but of accomplishment. The “mundane” days of the week become days of accomplishing; Shabbos becomes a day of achieving greatness;Yomtivis transformed intoavodas Hashem. How important it is for parents to train their children insimchas yomtiv!Now some parents think thatsimchas yomtivmeans taking out the children oncholhamo’edfor a ride to go to the park or the zoo. Nothing wrong, but that’ssimcha, notsimchas yomtiv.To train children, even little children, that today isyomtiv, today ischol hamo’ed, is so important for building the home. Sit down and make a littlemesibah, even a five minutemesibahl’kavod yomtiv; a little gathering. Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday afternoon. A littlemesibahis more important than two hours in the Bronx Zoo or who knows where. Agoyalso has the Bronx Zoo, but we want to have an aristocratic home of princes and princesses. Sit down and talk for a couple of minutes aboutyomtiv; tell the children, “Let’s sing the songAtah Bichartanu,or a different niggun.” And then say, suggest to them, “Kids, aren’t we having a good time,kinderlach?” And they all chime in, “Yes. Now let’s go to the zoo!” But that’s excellent – you accomplished your mission! Because those few minutes have laid a foundation.He made a special effort to create excitement for Shabbos and yamim tovim. He would do a little dance exclaim with gusto, “We’re having such a good time!” “It’s so much fun to have Yom Tov!” and “Shabbos is so much fun!” Grandchildren recall that when they came to visit on Yom Tov, he made a circle and danced a little jig, singing: “L’kavod Yom Tov, choo, choo, choo!”When his children were young, he took them on Chol Hamo’ed trips, such as to the zoo, but first he would remind them that it was Yom Tov and that Yom Tov was so much fun. Then, with genuine enthusiasm, he pointed out the wonders of Hashem’s creations.He made his children a melaveh malkah filled with exciting antics and then served ice-cream which was a real treat in those days. He made a whole production out of it, especially when dividing up the portions, to make them excited. When putting out the pieces of chametz for bedikas chometz, he put a piece of chocolate in with each piece to make it exciting.With his grandchildren as well he tried to make motzaei Shabbos fun. He had the grandchildren make a recording of themselves singing and then he played it back for them. He allotted fifteen minutes for this, and when the time was up he simply said, “Ah guteh voch,” and went back to his learning. In his later years, on motzaei Shabbos, all the young children who lived nearby would go upstairs to his apartment, where he would give them each a dollar and prizes.-Rav Avigdor Miller: His Life and His Revolutionp. 240-241Part III.The Wise WomanWOMEN IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESSNow, when we talk about building a home, about creating a home that finds favor in the eyes of Hashem, we are reminded of thepossukin Mishlei (14:1): חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ – “The wise woman builds up her house”. You know, Dovid Hamelech said: אֲנִי עַבְדְּךָ בֶּן אֲמָתֶךָ – “I am Your servant Hashem, the son of your maidservant” (Tehillim 116:16). He didn’t mention his father; his father was a great man, but Dovid said “I am your servant,becausemy mother was your maidservant.” You hear that?!That’s why one of the sages, Rabbi Yosi always called his wife: בֵּיתִי – “My home,” because she’s the one who really creates the home (Shabbos 118b); to a very great extent the success of a home depends on the atmosphere that is created by the mother in that home. Without her, the home is just a hollow shell, and she is the one who breathes the most success into the building of theBeis Yisroel.HOME OF PRAYERThe home should be a place oftefillahand it is the mother who must present herself as the symbol of prayer, the model oftefilahfor the Am Yisroel. Now, she can’t stand and pray long prayers; she’s busy with a lot of things in the house. But the mother must be a mother of prayer. Our mothers always prayed a great deal; a Jewish mother should pray even more than a man prays. Men have certain circumscribed duties and because of that, some of them, in order to discharge their duties, gallop through thedavenen. It’s just something that has to be done, so they do it. They gallop through a bigdavening. But Jewish mothers don’t do that. A Jewish mother in the home should be turning to Hashem all day long. The old-time Jewish women had a handbook of prayers – prayers for everything, for every kind of eventuality. She would be praying for help in the home, that her supper should come out tasting delicious. Or for a child who is not well and for a child who is not going exactly on the straight path. Today too, a mother prays constantly that the washing machine shouldn’t break down, that her husband should earn a livelihood, that he should find favor in the eyes of his boss and get a raise.So besides the fact that immediately, the first thing in the morning when the children wake up, they hear “Abba is davening inshul; Abba’s learning.” The children are always asking, “Did Totty come back fromshulyet?” and the mother tells them, “Totty is in shul talking to Hashem; he’ll be home soon.” That’s how the Jewish home starts out every day, but besides for that, the mother spends the rest of the day absorbed in speaking to Hashem about everything. In the olden days the Jewish mother actually was a symbol of prayer even more than the husband; it’s something that’s forgotten today but that is one of the greatest achievements in a Jewish home. A Jewish mother should always be praying and the children who grow up with that know that their house is a home where Hashem resides. The aristocratic Jewish home actually became a Beis Hamikdash.THE BRACHOS MASHGIACHThe Jewish home should be a place of sayingbrachos; all thebrachosshould be said out loud. Not long ago, it was the practice that when the family was about to eat, so they all washed, and the mother stood over them like amashgiachin ayeshivaand she paid attention as each child made thebrachaaloud, “Al netilas yadayim”; you could hear every word. And the mother said, “Amen.” And she had a watchful eye to see that nobody was cheating. And then they came to the table and each one had to makehamotziand the words resounded on all sides; every child thanked Hashem for the little piece of bread in front of him. And they sat around the table likekohanimaround themizbei’ach.When they live this way in the home, the children are raised with the understanding that they are living in something that’s more than four walls and a roof – they’re living in a palace and they begin to follow these principles.THE FOOLISH WOMANAnd now we turn to the end of thepossuk, חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ, “The wise woman spends her days building – וְאִוֶּלֶת, but the foolish woman, בְּיָדֶיהָ תֶהֶרְסֶנּוּ, with her own hands she overthrows the house.” No matter what ailment she is suffering, she must keep it to herself. Some people, usually women, but men too, think that if they constantly speak about what is bothering them it relieves them, they find relief. And it could be true, could be. But one thing is certain, it’s not relieving the home. The atmosphere of nobility, the atmosphere of aristocratic cheer and confidence is undermined by sadness and complaining in the home; the husband shuns his complaining wife’s company, and vica-versa when he complains, and the atmosphere of a place for achieving perfection is lost.Never pessimism, never complaining. Complaining is one of the forms of breaking down a home. Even if there is no quarrel between husband and wife and even if the children are behaving and are loyal, if there is a complaining person in the house – if the mother or father complain frequently – then the morale in the house is broken. You cannot have a successful home, even a non-Jewish home, if there is complaining.Nobody likes a complainer! And even though you feel you want sympathy, and you think that you deserve that they should lend their ears to your sighs and groans – and most probably you do deserve it – but you’re not making your home successful.THE JINGLE THAT RUINS THENESHAMASuppose you wake up one morning and it’s raining, sheets of rain are coming down from the sky, so the foolish mother complains “Oy, it’s raining outside. It’s terrible; I wanted to go out and now the rain spoiled all of our fun today.” So little Chanaleh, whenever she sees a rain come down, she’ll remember – without even thinking, she’ll forget where it came from, but her instincts hark back to that pattern that was first molded on her young plasticneshama, and she knows that rain is a disappointment, it spoils everything. Here you have a mother standing by the window with her children, looking out at the rain. And the children are waiting for the rain to stop; they want to go out and play already. “Rain rain go away.” They’re singing that foolish jingle. There are so many rainy days in life; isn’t it a pity for the child to be molded in the wrong way?If a mother could instill in her child the proper way to think; she says “Look Chanaleh, it’s raining outside. Isn’t that fun?” Chanaleh has no sense; she hasn’t developed an attitude towards rain yet. So Chanaleh says, “Yes it’s fun.” Her mother is still the fountain of all wisdom and so she agrees with her mother. And now for the rest of her life rain is going to be fun!This mother has the most wonderful opportunity. “Kinderlach,look at the beautiful rain coming down. Isn’t it beautiful?! Isn’t rain fun?! Hashem is sending us down all the food that we eat. It’s apples and cherries and danishes coming down from the sky. Rain brings down all good things for us. Let’s say together, ‘Thank You Hashem for the rain.’” Now the children might look at their mother with blank faces; Rain? Wonderful? But it sinks into their little heads that rain is beautiful; that Hashem is beautiful!YOUR NEVER-ENDING ROLEAnd so, no matter what the circumstances are, if a father and mother, a husband and wife, make it a principle always to display to each other and to the children a face of good cheer and confidence, then first of all they affect each other – they create in each other similar attitudes, and secondly they themselves become transformed.What you’re hearing now is of utmost importance. Always in the Jewish home there must reign an atmosphere of confidence and happiness. It’s very important to always remember that you have the role of an actor; you can’t be natural – being natural is not achochma, and you need chochma to build up the house. It’s easy to be sad, to be downcast. It’s easy to let your feelings go and ruin the atmosphere. It’s easy to be a failure.Don’t think that it doesn’t have any effect! When you speak of Hashem in the home, when you constantly talk about Torah ideals, you’re planting those ideals in their minds. Little by little you’re changing your children. You’re planting seeds in their minds and as they grow older, they will water those seeds with their own wisdom. And when they’re grown up, and they’re tending a beautiful garden in their mind, a garden of Torah attitudes permeated with thoughts of Hashem, that’s the garden that you planted so many years before with the words of your mouth.But to be a success, needs planning. And don’t think it’s not going to repay you. The happiness, the satisfaction of a successful day in the house is a reward without end. It’s a reward in this world and it’s a reward forever and ever in Olam Haba.THE TREASURE OF OPPORTUNITYAnd so, the misfortune of a home that was afflicted withtzara’ason its walls actually became the great gift of knowledge, the understanding of what a treasure a Jewish home is for a family. וְנָתַץ אֶת הַבַּיִת – “And he shall break down the house, אֶת אֲבָנָיו וְאֶת עֵצָיו, וְאֵת, כָּל עֲפַר הַבָּיִת – its stones and its timber and all the mortar of the house; וְהוֹצִיא אֶל מִחוּץ לָעִיר, אֶל מָקוֹם טָמֵא and he shall carry them out of the town into an unclean place” (Metzora 14:45). Athough a family might discover a treasure trove that was hidden between the stones of the wall, that was only symbolic of the true treasure that he was expected to discover as they watched the walls of the house being torn down.And that treasure is the awareness of what an opportunity a house is. The breaking down of the walls of a house is a tragedy of great proportions, but the greater tragedy is the breakdown of the Torah Home that had taken place there long before thenega tzaraasset in. The missed opportunities of לְהַעֲמִיד אֻמָּה הָעוֹבֶדֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם in that home are what really tore down the walls of that home.And as the homeowner and his family watch the physical destruction of the home, the lesson they are learning is the greatest treasure of all. Now they look back at the great happiness that the walls of the home afforded them, and which they failed to appreciate while they still possessed it. And you can be sure that it wasn’t only this family that learned this lesson. When the house is being torn down, and while the family stands outside watching and then begin to carry out of the city all the stone and wood that had once made up their home, all the neighbors watched in sadness and empathy, and if they were wise they also took the lesson to heart.And certainly the lesson wasn’t intended only for them, but even we today are expected to learn the eternal lessons ofnigei batim.And the least that we can do is to remind ourselves constantly, day in and day out, of gratitude for the walls of our own home as well as for the superb institution of the home, the place where the Am Yisroel is being built. And the use of the home foravodas Hashemin countless ways is indeed the duty of gratitude which Hashem expects most; the home where parents and children understand its purpose becomes a place where the child learns optimism, confidence and happiness. And that’s how he goes out to view the world for the rest of his life. And that’s going to make him anovedHashem m’toch simchaand he’ll bema’arich yomim in happiness.Go Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part I. Recognizing the GiftsTZARA’AS IS A GIFT?!כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה “When you shall come to the land which I give you as a possession, וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם and I shall give a plague of leprosy upon a house of the land of your possession” (Metzora 14:34). In studying this possuk the chachomim took note of the word nosati, “I shall give to you.” “I will give” a plague instead of the more common, וְשַׂמְתִּי “I will place” implies a gift of sorts, and remarkably, that’s how chazal understood these words. “These are good tidings to them that plagues would come upon them”, the chachomim say.Now, what good tidings could there be in a home that is contaminated with tzara’as, a home that has to be knocked down? So chazal tell us that upon hearing that the Am Yisroel was advancing towards them, the Canaanim had concealed their wealth; all of their gold and silver, in the walls of their houses (Vayikra Rabbah 17:6). And when the loyal Jew obeyed the law of nig’ei battim, and eventually he knocked down the walls as commanded in this week’s parsha, he discovered the wealth that had been hidden there all along.And so, it was the tzara’as that Hashem had “given” to the owner of this house that became the bearer of good tidings. Because this family had possessed a great store of wealth in the walls of their home, only that they weren’t aware of what they possessed. And it was only when the tzara’as came that they realized what a treasure they had in the home all along. The family might have lost a wall, and sometimes even the house in its entirety had to be demolished, but what they found in the process was a treasure that more than made up for the loss.THE CASE OF THE MISSING GOLDBut you have to know that gold and silver were not always found. Not every Canaanite had treasures – there were middle class Canaanites too – and even the wealthy Canaanite, maybe his wife was a spendthrift, a high roller who squandered her husband’s money and didn’t leave anything to hide away. And even the ones who had extra gold and silver, not every one of them hid his treasure between the stones of his wall – some found better hiding places than that.Now that’s a question, because Hashem says nosati, “I am giving you a treasure when I send tzara’as on your home.” And for many people, there were no treasures of gold and silver hiding in their walls. So what was the treasure for the family standing outside in the cold and rain, watching the walls of their house being demolished?And so we’ll say as follows: Even when no gold was found, the family gained an even greater wealth, because they discovered the treasure of the home itself. When a person discovers that there were opportunities available to him, that’s when he has found the greatest treasure; the opportunities for greatness that he will now make use of for the rest of his life. And that’s why Rabbi Yehuda, when explaining what gift was meant by nosati, “I will give you “a present” of tzara’as,” didn’t mention anything about a hidden treasure;he merely said: “These are good tidings that plagues will come upon them” (Sifra ibid). He didn’t consider it necessary to add that they might discover hidden gold and silver because the treasure they discovered was even more important than that.WHERE ARE WE SLEEPING TONIGHT?The first and most obvious treasure that this family discovered was that having a house is fun. Did you ever think about that? Forced to stand outside of their home as the kohen went inside to inspect the walls, the father and mother huddled together with their children, and they looked back to consider that maybe they had not been grateful enough to Hashem for the blessings of a home, blessings that were now slipping out of their hands. And it was cold outside; it would rain too. “It was so much fun to have walls; why didn’t we appreciate it when we had it?! Where are we going to sleep tonight?” And so the forlorn family standing there were now discovering the treasure that they had always had hidden “in their walls”; the treasure of having walls! Of having a roof over their heads – the treasure of having a home.And this lesson alone, to unearth that treasure of appreciating the walls of your home, that’s already enough of a reason for tzara’as to come onto a person’s walls. And that’s the lesson that we’re all expected to learn as we read the parsha – that we have to get busy appreciating the four walls of our homes and not wait for the lesson to be taught to us in the way it was taught to this family.REMAINING A CHILD FOREVERYou know that a little child doesn’t appreciate a home. He thinks of the street as wonderful, the sidewalk is wonderful – outside, that’s where the fun is. Try to bring a little boy back from the sidewalk into the house; you have to pull him with horses into the house. And most people never grow out of those childish ideas; they remain children all their lives unless they begin the work of thinking, of dilating on each benefit, and discovering the great treasure that the home is.Walls are really fun! What would life be without walls?! You know that if not for the walls, the winds would be blowing all the time, and the rains would come pouring in as well! It would be very cold in the winter if all you had was a roof! You know that in this place we like the rain and the winds; we appreciate them to no end. But we appreciate them most happily from the window, standing on this side of the wall and looking out.I was walking this week with a friend of mine and the snow was coming down. I was carrying an umbrella but he wasn’t prepared, he didn’t have an umbrella. So he said to me; he’s one of my people, so he said, “Snow is like ice cream.” I said, “You are correct, that’s a wonderful idea but ice cream in your ears is not comfortable.” We appreciate the snow, but we appreciate umbrellas too! So we’ll stand on this side of the wall and we’ll enjoy the rain and snow and cold. Of course, we enjoy it; but we don’t have to dive into it.SLEEPING ON OCEAN PARKWAYAnd so you have to learn how to be happy that you have a roof over your head. Here’s a poor woman, a homeless lady, a little bit demented; I see her pushing a shopping wagon on Ocean Parkway. All her possessions are in that shopping wagon; she has nothing. She doesn’t have a bathroom, she doesn’t have a kitchen, she doesn’t have a bed to sleep in. Where does she go when it’s raining? A pity on her. You see, she’s bedraggled, it’s mamish a heartbreak to look at her.If she could only have a place to sleep. But she sits down on a bench, it’s freezing weather, she’s trying to get a nap on a bench; on a park bench she’s trying to fall asleep. It’s freezing and she can’t warm up. And you, you have a house with a roof over your head! How lucky she would be if she could have a little place, a shack with a roof over her head; she’d be the happiest person right now. Even without any heat, she could lie down on the floor, at least, and sleep. She doesn’t have even that. So first learn to enjoy a roof over your head. It takes a long time. A roof over your head, what a happiness that is!FALLING OUT OF MY HOUSEAnd privacy! Ah, the pleasure of privacy that walls afford us! Life would be no fun at all if your neighbor would always be peeking over from his dining room into yours; it would be a miserable home. And I’ll tell you something else, and don’t laugh: Without walls it would be so easy to fall out from the house into the street. Life in the home would always be full of danger; you’d be living precariously all the time. I think about that all the time when I see the walls in my house. And I don’t live on the first floor; I live high up, so I enjoy my walls to no end.Now when you begin to think like that, so you realize that walls are not just walls. There’s a lot going on behind those walls. Plumbing pipes! Ah, a simcha! You have to tell your children the benefits of having running water in the house. When I went to Europe to learn in the yeshiva, the first thing that I noticed was that there was no running water in the house. You went out into the backyard, or a block away, where there was a well and you had to carry back a bucket of water with a yoke. It sat across my shoulders, one bucket hanging here and one bucket hanging there.It was a hard job to bring water to the house. And then you poured it into some kind of contraption that was nailed to a wall; and when you wanted to wash your hands you had to bang underneath on the nail, a big nail, and if banged hard enough some water dripped down along the nail. And you had to keep on banging to get your hands wet. You banged and banged as you washed your hands, so little by little the water came out. Each time the nail went up, a little water came out.TEA KETTLES AND BOOTS FOR THE BATHROOMAnd hot water in the home?! Hot water too?! Who could have imagined such a luxury?! In Europe when you wanted to take a bath, there was no bath in the house. So either you went to the schvitz baad, the public bathhouse, or they brought in a tin tub. Some balabatim had a big tin tub, and they boiled up water in a tea kettle; one after the other they poured it in, until the tub was half full. Then you bathed in that water, in a room someplace, in a bedroom. So you bathed in a tin tub in water which was boiled in tea kettles. When you got through with it, if you had a little brother, he bathed after you in the same water because they couldn’t afford to fill it up twice. I saw it happen that way.Nobody had a bathroom in the house! In the dead of winter, if you were unfortunate enough to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, so you had to put on your boots. We had to put on our woolen boots and stomp through the deep snow to go to the so called bathroom, there was no fancy toilet seat. And whatever was there remained there, until finally in the summertime when it already had a big aroma. That’s when a man with a horse and wagon came with a long wooden spade and he took it all out. And for miles around everybody knew what was going on that day, because of the fragrance that was wafted on the summer breeze.THOMAS EDISON AT HAVDALAHAnd you have lights in your home too, don’t you? I remember when there were no electric lights; we had gas lights. And fires used to take place because of them. I once was in a house and there was a fire; the ceiling caught fire from the gas flame. I was watching the firemen trying to put out the fire. And in the streets I remember the lamp lighters used to go around with ladders and light the gas lamps in the street. Of course, today if you speak about electric lights to most Jewish children they’ll laugh at you for appreciating such a thing; but that’s because they’re not being brought up as authentic Jews. An authentic Jew thanks Hashem for artificial light.Actually we do it every week; people don’t know that every week we thank Hashem for artificial light. Every day we thank Hashem for the natural light of the sun, Yotzer Ha’meoros, but for artificial light we thank once a week, on motzei Shabbos. Borei me’orei ha’aish. What’s that? Did you ever think about that? We’re thanking Hashem for artificial lights. Every week. Some people think it’s just a ceremony, a frumkeit. No! We’re makir tov for fire, electric lights, and all other forms of artificial illumination. After all, in the olden days when it was night time, what could you do? You could sit down and learn ba’al peh if you remembered. But if you didn’t remember you couldn’t learn. And now, boruch Hashem, Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave us lights.In 1879 Edison called together a company of scientists and he promised to show them a remarkable thing; for the first time in history an electric bulb was turned on, and they were amazed! They described it as if sunlight filled the room. There never had been such a light before! It’s important to explain that to children; It’s important to explain it to ourselves! To enjoy the light.And therefore you should constantly be telling your children, “Look how lucky we are to have a nice home to live in! It’s so much fun to have walls that keep us warm and dry and safe. Now the child might say, “What do you mean ‘a nice home’? This place is tiny! My friend Sarah down the street has a better house than we do. They have such a big kitchen and a better this and better that.” But you have to drown that out by constantly reiterating to your family all the benefits they are enjoying. They’ll keep complaining and you keep talking about the chasdei Hashem. And it sinks in; trust me it goes into their heads. And that’s the biggest hatzalah for the family, because it’s the family that doesn’t appreciate the chesed of a home, that’s the home that the nega tzara’as is bound to come upon, in order to teach them about the great treasure that a house is.Part II. The True TreasureAN OPPORTUNITY FOR REPENTANCEHowever, everything we’ve been speaking about is only scratching the surface of what the happiness of a home truly is; and it’s only the first lesson that Hashem intended by the gift of tzara’as that a family finds on the walls of its home. Because when a family found themselves homeless, they were expected to understand that it was an opportunity for repentance. They were expected to understand that the tribulation of losing their home was intended as a punishment for not using their home properly.Actually, a Jewish home is much more than the physical benefits of walls and a roof, much more than the blessings of privacy, shelter, plumbing, electricity and being protected from falling into the street. All of that is important, and it was the first and most obvious lesson that they learned. But it’s still only part of the treasure that a home is. The aristocratic home of the AmHashem is something much greater than four physical walls. And now when these walls are broken down, after such a drastic warning, this family was expected to exert themselves to begin to utilize the house as a place for avodas Hashem. What makes the Jewish home a true treasure is that it is the place where the Am Yisroel is built.BUILDING THE BEIS YISROEL IN FLATBUSHThat’s what our Avos and Imahos did – their career took place primarily in their tents. The Rambam says that: He writes that the sole intention of our Avos in everything that they did was לְהַעֲמִיד אֻמָּה הָעוֹבֶדֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם – in order to establish a nation that would be servants of Hashem (Moreh Nevuchim 3:51). And therefore that’s the job of the Avos and Imahostoday as well; we walk in the footsteps of our forefathers and we continue to build the Am Yisroel in our homes.And that is the greatest treasure, the greatest privilege, that could be afforded to anyone – the privilege of using the home for avodas Hashem. And it is that opportunity that was the great treasure that the family discovered when they were forced to leave their home. They were learning now that they had treated their home as just a place to live instead of a place of aristocracy, the palace that it really was meant to be. And that was the real treasure that they discovered by means of the tzara’as; and so when the family returned to their home again, they lived there with the knowledge of that treasure they had unearthed, and they were now ready to make use of it as intended by Hashem.DON’T KICK OFF YOUR SHOES JUST YETYou know, when we think of a home so we might consider it possibly as a place of relaxation; the place you come back to after a day of toil in the workplace, where you had to act towards people in an unnatural and artificial manner. And now you can come home and you can kick off your shoes, relax and behave naturally. Because your true career is in the home; it’s in the home that you should be acting your best.They tell about the old Telzer Rav, Rav Yosef Leib, that even in the hottest days of July and August – in those days they didn’t have air conditioners and not even electric fans – and yet he never took off his kapoteh in his house. All summer he wore his long coat, because in his house, he behaved like a prince in a palace. Now, everybody knew that in the house that Telzer Rav sometimes had to take off his coat. He wasn’t a malach; they knew he was a human being who couldn’t be a Rav in his long coat twenty four hours a day. But no matter; he didn’t want them to see him like that. Even for his wife and children he was always the Telzer Rav. He behaved like a prince in the home because he understood, and he wanted his family to understand, that the home is a palace, the place where the most important part of history was taking place – the building of the umah ovedes es Hashem.Yisroel is a name that puts the Jew far above all of mankind; and that means that the home where the Beis Yisroel is being built is a place where there should always be an aura of aristocracy, a feeling that this home is a place of nobility, a place set aside for accomplishing the most important of all endeavors. And when a Yisroel tries to live up to this ideal of nobility so his behavior in the home is transformed. You know, it makes a big difference whether a man is a nobleman in his own esteem or whether he considers himself a commoner, a nothing. The things that a commoner will do, a noble man will not even consider. He can’t be be busy with novels and magazines – even Jewish magazines – that are filled with emptiness. He has more important things than that to accomplish, and so his mannerisms, his attitudes, and his aspirations are entirely different than the non aristocrat. The entire personality of a person is transformed when he realizes that he is a prince.EMULATING THE ROYAL FAMILYAnd when we live in a house where only princes live, so that house becomes something remarkable. Imagine there were princes who lived in a palace but because of some adversity they had to leave the palace. And now the princes, the royals, are living in a hut. But it’s not an ordinary farmer’s hut, it’s not a shepherd’s hut. It’s a hut of princes now. Their manners are of princes, they spend their time in the way of princes. Even their speech is that of princes.And therefore in a Jewish home it is of utmost importance to live up to the idea that we are bnei melachim. Before every move made in the home, they consult in their minds the model supplied by the awareness of their royalty; what they think royalty would do in such a case. A man and woman in the home should always be thinking: “What are the royal manners and the aristocratic ideals that should reign in the Jewish home?” Of course, we are all human beings and we can’t imagine that we will succeed in one fell swoop, but we have to always be aware of the perfection we are striving for. And it is those homes where this is kept in mind always that will never have to be plagued by the warning and lessons of tzara’as.THE JEWISH POLITICIANNow, in order to create an atmosphere of an aristocrat home, an institution where the Am Yisroel is being created, so a father and mother must appear before their children like actors on the stage. You can never be natural; no matter how you feel you must be to your children a hero. A politician, l’havdil, never appears in public acting like he really feels. He’s knocked out; he’s been traveling all night to get here after speaking someplace else. Now he’s over here and he has to get up on the stage; sometimes he even has to speak at the train station as soon as he gets off the train. You can be sure that he’s feeling grouchy and tired; all he wants to do is crawl into bed. Could be he’s just been told by his campaign manager that he’s trailing badly in the polls and that he’s headed for defeat. No matter, he’s waving and he’s wreathed in smiles as if all is wonderful. He displays cheer and confidence; he needs votes, what could he do?Now, a parent needs the votes of his children; he needs their votes to build the happy and successful home together and therefore he should always appear to them as confident; he always knows what to do. He’s never desperate or worried. “Never mind,” he tells his children with a smile, “Everything is under control; it’s going to be just fine.” He’s always happy. What he’s thinking inside, that’s not their business.You know the gemara says that a person should be tocho k’baro, his inside should be like his outside. Why doesn’t the gemara say that his outside should be like his inside? Chas v’shalom, that his outside should be like his inside! “Be genuine,” people say. No, if his outside would be like his inside, the home might become an Italian home, an Irish home. The ideal is that it should be tocho k’baro, his inside should be like his outside. The outside must always be good, only that the inside should attempt to follow the outside. But the outside always must be good!MUSSAR FROM PRESIDENT REAGANYou are the leader and leaders cannot be sad. A leader who shows sadness, who shows lack of confidence, is a failure. Even l’havdil President Reagan, no matter how much he was insulted, he kept his bearings. Even when he was shot in the assassination attempt, as they were taking him to the hospital, he made a wisecrack to show he was cheerful. That’s because he knew how to act; President Reagan was a good president because he was a good actor. He didn’t concede, he wouldn’t admit that he had a setback.A good leader, a good mother and father, won’t show discouragement – they always maintain a good cheer. I’m not saying that you have to walk around with a big grin on your face, that’s nothing; but an underlying appearance, a facade of confidence and cheer, are essential in the home of aristocracy. It doesn’t pay for a leader to show discouragement; people don’t want discouraged leaders. A prince is a man of confidence. And even when he doesn’t have the confidence, he displays it in his demeanor and his countenance and in the way he talks, because the palace is too important for failure.ON STAGE: QUEEN MOMMYA mother should always appear like a queen before the children. Now, that’s not easy, particularly when the children are in the house all day long. But it’s not easy to be an actor; you have to go to one performance and then to another and then another. An actor would like to go home and kick off her shoes; to relax and lie down on the couch. But for glory you do it; or for money. So she appears on the stage each time like a shining queen. And that’s how a mother should view herself in the home, like an actor on the great stage, putting on the most important performance of her life.And therefore the ideal of aristocracy should be paramount when a couple builds a Jewish home. Not only should he consider his wife a queen and she should consider him a king, But they should consider themselves as kings and queens. And the children are princes and princesses. Always cheerful and confident and aware of their importance in building the Am Yisroel.THE FIVE MINUTE MESIBAHAnd it is that atmosphere that becomes the foundation for all the accomplishments of avodas Hashem in the Jewish home – the home becomes the place, not only of happiness, but of accomplishment. The “mundane” days of the week become days of accomplishing; Shabbos becomes a day of achieving greatness; Yomtiv is transformed into avodas Hashem. How important it is for parents to train their children in simchas yomtiv! Now some parents think that simchas yomtiv means taking out the children on chol hamo’edfor a ride to go to the park or the zoo. Nothing wrong, but that’s simcha, not simchas yomtiv. To train children, even little children, that today is yomtiv, today is chol hamo’ed, is so important for building the home. Sit down and make a little mesibah, even a five minute mesibah l’kavod yomtiv; a little gathering. Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday afternoon. A little mesibah is more important than two hours in the Bronx Zoo or who knows where. A goy also has the Bronx Zoo, but we want to have an aristocratic home of princes and princesses. Sit down and talk for a couple of minutes about yomtiv; tell the children, “Let’s sing the song Atah Bichartanu, or a different niggun.” And then say, suggest to them, “Kids, aren’t we having a good time, kinderlach?” And they all chime in, “Yes. Now let’s go to the zoo!” But that’s excellent – you accomplished your mission! Because those few minutes have laid a foundation.He made a special effort to create excitement for Shabbos and yamim tovim. He would do a little dance exclaim with gusto, “We’re having such a good time!” “It’s so much fun to have Yom Tov!” and “Shabbos is so much fun!” Grandchildren recall that when they came to visit on Yom Tov, he made a circle and danced a little jig, singing: “L’kavod Yom Tov, choo, choo, choo!”When his children were young, he took them on Chol Hamo’ed trips, such as to the zoo, but first he would remind them that it was Yom Tov and that Yom Tov was so much fun. Then, with genuine enthusiasm, he pointed out the wonders of Hashem’s creations.He made his children a melaveh malkah filled with exciting antics and then served ice-cream which was a real treat in those days. He made a whole production out of it, especially when dividing up the portions, to make them excited. When putting out the pieces of chametz for bedikas chometz, he put a piece of chocolate in with each piece to make it exciting.With his grandchildren as well he tried to make motzaei Shabbos fun. He had the grandchildren make a recording of themselves singing and then he played it back for them. He allotted fifteen minutes for this, and when the time was up he simply said, “Ah guteh voch,” and went back to his learning. In his later years, on motzaei Shabbos, all the young children who lived nearby would go upstairs to his apartment, where he would give them each a dollar and prizes.-Rav Avigdor Miller: His Life and His Revolution p. 240-241Part III. The Wise WomanWOMEN IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESSNow, when we talk about building a home, about creating a home that finds favor in the eyes of Hashem, we are reminded of the possuk in Mishlei (14:1): חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ – “The wise woman builds up her house”. You know, Dovid Hamelech said: אֲנִי עַבְדְּךָ בֶּן אֲמָתֶךָ – “I am Your servant Hashem, the son of your maidservant” (Tehillim 116:16). He didn’t mention his father; his father was a great man, but Dovid said “I am your servant, because my mother was your maidservant.” You hear that?!That’s why one of the sages, Rabbi Yosi always called his wife: בֵּיתִי – “My home,” because she’s the one who really creates the home (Shabbos 118b); to a very great extent the success of a home depends on the atmosphere that is created by the mother in that home. Without her, the home is just a hollow shell, and she is the one who breathes the most success into the building of the Beis Yisroel.HOME OF PRAYERThe home should be a place of tefillah and it is the mother who must present herself as the symbol of prayer, the model of tefilah for the Am Yisroel. Now, she can’t stand and pray long prayers; she’s busy with a lot of things in the house. But the mother must be a mother of prayer. Our mothers always prayed a great deal; a Jewish mother should pray even more than a man prays. Men have certain circumscribed duties and because of that, some of them, in order to discharge their duties, gallop through the davenen. It’s just something that has to be done, so they do it. They gallop through a big davening. But Jewish mothers don’t do that. A Jewish mother in the home should be turning to Hashem all day long. The old-time Jewish women had a handbook of prayers – prayers for everything, for every kind of eventuality. She would be praying for help in the home, that her supper should come out tasting delicious. Or for a child who is not well and for a child who is not going exactly on the straight path. Today too, a mother prays constantly that the washing machine shouldn’t break down, that her husband should earn a livelihood, that he should find favor in the eyes of his boss and get a raise.So besides the fact that immediately, the first thing in the morning when the children wake up, they hear “Abba is davening in shul; Abba’s learning.” The children are always asking, “Did Totty come back from shul yet?” and the mother tells them, “Totty is in shul talking to Hashem; he’ll be home soon.” That’s how the Jewish home starts out every day, but besides for that, the mother spends the rest of the day absorbed in speaking to Hashem about everything. In the olden days the Jewish mother actually was a symbol of prayer even more than the husband; it’s something that’s forgotten today but that is one of the greatest achievements in a Jewish home. A Jewish mother should always be praying and the children who grow up with that know that their house is a home where Hashem resides. The aristocratic Jewish home actually became a Beis Hamikdash.THE BRACHOS MASHGIACHThe Jewish home should be a place of saying brachos; all the brachos should be said out loud. Not long ago, it was the practice that when the family was about to eat, so they all washed, and the mother stood over them like a mashgiach in a yeshiva and she paid attention as each child made the bracha aloud, “Al netilas yadayim”; you could hear every word. And the mother said, “Amen.” And she had a watchful eye to see that nobody was cheating. And then they came to the table and each one had to make hamotzi and the words resounded on all sides; every child thanked Hashem for the little piece of bread in front of him. And they sat around the table like kohanim around the mizbei’ach.When they live this way in the home, the children are raised with the understanding that they are living in something that’s more than four walls and a roof – they’re living in a palace and they begin to follow these principles.THE FOOLISH WOMANAnd now we turn to the end of the possuk, חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ, “The wise woman spends her days building – וְאִוֶּלֶת, but the foolish woman, בְּיָדֶיהָ תֶהֶרְסֶנּוּ, with her own hands she overthrows the house.” No matter what ailment she is suffering, she must keep it to herself. Some people, usually women, but men too, think that if they constantly speak about what is bothering them it relieves them, they find relief. And it could be true, could be. But one thing is certain, it’s not relieving the home. The atmosphere of nobility, the atmosphere of aristocratic cheer and confidence is undermined by sadness and complaining in the home; the husband shuns his complaining wife’s company, and vica-versa when he complains, and the atmosphere of a place for achieving perfection is lost.Never pessimism, never complaining. Complaining is one of the forms of breaking down a home. Even if there is no quarrel between husband and wife and even if the children are behaving and are loyal, if there is a complaining person in the house – if the mother or father complain frequently – then the morale in the house is broken. You cannot have a successful home, even a non-Jewish home, if there is complaining.Nobody likes a complainer! And even though you feel you want sympathy, and you think that you deserve that they should lend their ears to your sighs and groans – and most probably you do deserve it – but you’re not making your home successful.THE JINGLE THAT RUINS THE NESHAMASuppose you wake up one morning and it’s raining, sheets of rain are coming down from the sky, so the foolish mother complains “Oy, it’s raining outside. It’s terrible; I wanted to go out and now the rain spoiled all of our fun today.” So little Chanaleh, whenever she sees a rain come down, she’ll remember – without even thinking, she’ll forget where it came from, but her instincts hark back to that pattern that was first molded on her young plastic neshama, and she knows that rain is a disappointment, it spoils everything. Here you have a mother standing by the window with her children, looking out at the rain. And the children are waiting for the rain to stop; they want to go out and play already. “Rain rain go away.” They’re singing that foolish jingle. There are so many rainy days in life; isn’t it a pity for the child to be molded in the wrong way?If a mother could instill in her child the proper way to think; she says “Look Chanaleh, it’s raining outside. Isn’t that fun?” Chanaleh has no sense; she hasn’t developed an attitude towards rain yet. So Chanaleh says, “Yes it’s fun.” Her mother is still the fountain of all wisdom and so she agrees with her mother. And now for the rest of her life rain is going to be fun!This mother has the most wonderful opportunity. “Kinderlach, look at the beautiful rain coming down. Isn’t it beautiful?! Isn’t rain fun?! Hashem is sending us down all the food that we eat. It’s apples and cherries and danishes coming down from the sky. Rain brings down all good things for us. Let’s say together, ‘Thank You Hashem for the rain.’” Now the children might look at their mother with blank faces; Rain? Wonderful? But it sinks into their little heads that rain is beautiful; that Hashem is beautiful!YOUR NEVER-ENDING ROLEAnd so, no matter what the circumstances are, if a father and mother, a husband and wife, make it a principle always to display to each other and to the children a face of good cheer and confidence, then first of all they affect each other – they create in each other similar attitudes, and secondly they themselves become transformed.What you’re hearing now is of utmost importance. Always in the Jewish home there must reign an atmosphere of confidence and happiness. It’s very important to always remember that you have the role of an actor; you can’t be natural – being natural is not a chochma, and you need chochma to build up the house. It’s easy to be sad, to be downcast. It’s easy to let your feelings go and ruin the atmosphere. It’s easy to be a failure.Don’t think that it doesn’t have any effect! When you speak of Hashem in the home, when you constantly talk about Torah ideals, you’re planting those ideals in their minds. Little by little you’re changing your children. You’re planting seeds in their minds and as they grow older, they will water those seeds with their own wisdom. And when they’re grown up, and they’re tending a beautiful garden in their mind, a garden of Torah attitudes permeated with thoughts of Hashem, that’s the garden that you planted so many years before with the words of your mouth.But to be a success, needs planning. And don’t think it’s not going to repay you. The happiness, the satisfaction of a successful day in the house is a reward without end. It’s a reward in this world and it’s a reward forever and ever in Olam Haba.THE TREASURE OF OPPORTUNITYAnd so, the misfortune of a home that was afflicted with tzara’as on its walls actually became the great gift of knowledge, the understanding of what a treasure a Jewish home is for a family. וְנָתַץ אֶת הַבַּיִת – “And he shall break down the house, אֶת אֲבָנָיו וְאֶת עֵצָיו, וְאֵת, כָּל עֲפַר הַבָּיִת – its stones and its timber and all the mortar of the house; וְהוֹצִיא אֶל מִחוּץ לָעִיר, אֶל מָקוֹם טָמֵא and he shall carry them out of the town into an unclean place” (Metzora 14:45). Athough a family might discover a treasure trove that was hidden between the stones of the wall, that was only symbolic of the true treasure that he was expected to discover as they watched the walls of the house being torn down.And that treasure is the awareness of what an opportunity a house is. The breaking down of the walls of a house is a tragedy of great proportions, but the greater tragedy is the breakdown of the Torah Home that had taken place there long before the nega tzaraas set in. The missed opportunities of לְהַעֲמִיד אֻמָּה הָעוֹבֶדֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם in that home are what really tore down the walls of that home.And as the homeowner and his family watch the physical destruction of the home, the lesson they are learning is the greatest treasure of all. Now they look back at the great happiness that the walls of the home afforded them, and which they failed to appreciate while they still possessed it. And you can be sure that it wasn’t only this family that learned this lesson. When the house is being torn down, and while the family stands outside watching and then begin to carry out of the city all the stone and wood that had once made up their home, all the neighbors watched in sadness and empathy, and if they were wise they also took the lesson to heart.And certainly the lesson wasn’t intended only for them, but even we today are expected to learn the eternal lessons of nigei batim. And the least that we can do is to remind ourselves constantly, day in and day out, of gratitude for the walls of our own home as well as for the superb institution of the home, the place where the Am Yisroel is being built. And the use of the home for avodas Hashem in countless ways is indeed the duty of gratitude which Hashem expects most; the home where parents and children understand its purpose becomes a place where the child learns optimism, confidence and happiness. And that’s how he goes out to view the world for the rest of his life. And that’s going to make him an oved Hashem m’toch simchaand he’ll be ma’arich yomim in happiness.Go Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part I.Understanding SacrificeGETTING HASHEM TO LIKE MEAs we read through this week’sparsha, and actually, the wholeSeder Vayikra,there’s a theme that’s constantly reiterated, and that’s the subject of finding favor in Hashem’s eyes. Now, if you would ask someone on the street how to get Hashem to like you, he might have some ideas. Maybe you should say the whole Tehillim a few times; or fast on Mondays and Thursdays. But ourparshadoesn’t leave the way to achieve Hashem’s favor up to our imagination. And surprisingly we’re told again and again that we can find the especial favor of Hashem by means of animal sacrifice. יקריב אותו לרצונו – “He shall bring it for his favor before Hashem” (Vayikra 1:3). לרצונכם תזבחוהו “For your favor you shall slaughter it.” לרצונך “For your favor” (see 19:5, 22:19, 22:29, 23:11).Now you should pay good attention to these words because it’s a very big thing to find favor in the eyes of Hashem; it’s actually the major achievement of life. I want to quote to you from the Chovos Halevavos (Shaar Avodas Elokim, Perek 3). He tells us that צריך שיתברר, “It must become clear to a person, שהתמורה עודפת עליו – that the effort he puts into making himself better in this world will be rewarded with a very great exchange.” He’ll get back much more than he puts in. If you improve yourself in this world, says the Chovos Halevavos, you’ll get much more back in return.What will you get? What’s the great thing you’ll get in exchange? Listen to the words of the Chovos Halevavos: והוא רצות הא-ל אותו – “That Hashem will like you; He’ll think well of you.” Now we know that אהבתי אתכם נאום השם, “I love all of you,” says Hashem, but we’re learning now that it’s possible to findespecialfavor in the eyes of Hashem, above and beyond the intense love that Hashem has for all of the Am Yisroel.והוא רצות הא-ל, and that is that Hashem should favor you; it’s the approval, the regard of your Creator. Now, we’renottalking about reward here; we’renottalking about Gan Eden. What is the great success of a man? Hashem is going to like you! There’s nothing as important as that!FORGET ABOUT THE REWARD!I would like you to listen to a quote from the Sefer Hayashar, from Rabeinu Tam: הנני מפרש לך, “I want to make clear to you, he says, כי אין תועלת גדולה כאהבת הבורא לאדם, that there is no greater benefit for a man than that Hashem should love him.” That Hashem should love you; that’s the pinnacle of success! That you should find favor in the eyes of Hashem; there’s nothing better than that. Of course, included in Hashem’s love for you will be greatest of rewardsas well,but the reward isnotthe great success. And therefore says Rabeinu Tam, אין לנו לחקור איך יהיה הגמול הטוב, we don’t have to be concerned about what and how the reward will be. Because the wise man understands that what really matters for a person is that he should find favor in the eyes of Hashem.And so, once we understand that theavodas hakorbanoscan elevate a man and bestow upon him such excellence that he deserves to find favor in the eyes of Hashem, we learn how important ourparshais. And therefore, if you have a desire that Hakodosh Boruch Hu should look down at you and say, “My child, I am happy with you; it’syouwho has found favor in My eyes,” then don’t go home yet because the subject of the night,korbanos, is for you.WHAT’S IT ALL FOR?!When we hear aboutkorbanostoday, so to many people it is really a quandary, it’s a big puzzle. Some people think that in the olden days it was justified; everybody broughtkorbanos, all the pagan nations of antiquity placed a great emphasis on such things, so we did as well. But nowadays, who needskorbanos?! Slaughtering the neck of an animal?! “It’s arachmanus,” we think. It’stza’ar ba’alei chayim! What it’s all for?! For the one untrained in Torah attitudes theBeis Hamikdashseems to be a butcher shop; blood all over the place! And they’re burning the body parts and thecheilev!Gevalt!And so if we’re going to properly studyParshas Vayikra,theparshathat introduces us tokorbanos, then we’ll be acquiring new minds; new attitudes that will give us at least some insight into whykorbanosare the path towards finding the favor of Hashem. And so we’ll go step by step and understand this as best as we can.THE ANIMAL; YOUR SHALIACHOne of the first requirements of the one who brings akorbanissmichah. When a person approached themizbei’achto offer akorbanit says: וסמך את ידו על ראש העולה – “And he shall lean his hand on the head of theolah” (ibid. 1:4). He leans his weight on it. Now, why does the one offering thekorbanhave to lean on it? And the answer is that when you put your hands on the animal you’re making thebeheimahyour agent, your representative. The leaning of your hands on thekorbansignifies the appointment of the offering as ashaliach, a substitute, for the owner of the animal. Like when Moshe Rabeinu put his hands on the head of Yehoshua, ויסמוך את ידיו עליו (Bamidbar 27:23), so from then on Yehoshua took over; he was theshaliachof Moshe Rabeinu, his agent to take over as the leader of the nation. And in the same sense, the man that lays his hands upon the head of his offering thereby makes it his agent, and it’s as if he himself is being offered up to Hashem.And that’s why thehalachahis that סמיכה בכל כחו – “When you press down on the head of the animal you have to useall of your strength” (Chagigah 16b). You can’t just give a little bit of a lean, something superficial, and that’s all. No, there’s nothing superficial about this! You press down with all of your strength; you put “yourneshamah”into thatsmichah. And that was like a stick of dynamite exploding in your mind; it was sinking in now that this animal was representingyou! And so you realized that yourolahis not merely a lamb that is beingshechtedand brought up on the fire –it’s you!THE SECRET OF A KORBANAnd that brings us to the secret ofkorbanos.Because what do we do? We bring a little lamb to themizbei’ach. Now the poor little lamb is a live creature, and his heart is pumping blood throughout his body. And he wants to live. But what do you do? You cut its neck and the blood comes gushing out, and you put thedamon themizbei’ach. And while you do that, you think, “That should be me! But for the mercy of Hashem, that would bemyblood being sprinkled on themizbei’ach. Really that’s what I owe You Hashem for giving me life, for giving me all the delights of being alive.”We like being alive! I say “like” – we love it! I’ll prove it to you. Here’s a man lying in his hospital bed; he’s anxious, distraught. Why? The doctors came into his room yesterday and showed him the test results. And now his days in this sweet world are numbered. Oh yes,nowhe realizes how delicious life is. “Ohhh!” he says. “If I could just get out in the street again. If I could just live, and walk around again! What a happiness it would be!” He looks down from the hospital window and he sees the heads of the people walking on the street; going to work, the regular grind of life, with all of its ups and downs. And he’s jealous. He’s so jealous of that. They’re walking carefree, outside of the hospital. They’re living, they’re alive, and for him it will soon be all over. And we my friends are the people he sees walking the streets, the people this man envies. And so, how are we going to express our gratitude to Hashem? What could we do already?So we bring akorban, a lamb, instead of ourselves. And we lean in on the lamb with all our strength, concentrating on the fact that this lamb is aboutto take our place.DON’T RUN AWAY!And that’s why the Torah requires that תיכף לסמיכה שחיטה – “Theshechitahmust be done immediately after the leaning” (Brachos 42a). You symbolically transferred yourself onto that animal, and right away you cut the neck. And that leaves no time for the owner of thebeheimahto escape the scene. Even if he’s not going to do theshechitah– often he would do theshechitahhimself too;shechitah k’sheirah b’zar (Brachos 31b) – but even if he wouldn’t do it, hesawit. The owner of the offering was always present to witness how “he”is vicariously being slaughtered as an offering to Hashem. He can’t avoid witnessing the Kohenshechttheolah.He’s watching as the neck is cut – the neck of hisbeheimah –and thedamgushes out. It’sdamcoming fromhiscut neck! And he looks at it and is overwhelmed. “That’s me!” he thinks; it’s a very powerful scene to watch.IT LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE HUMAN SACRIFICE!And it didn’t stop there. You know, when they brought akorban olah,a burnt offering, there was amitzvahofhefshet, to skin it, to take the skin off the animal. Now why do you need this? It’s anolahafter all; you’re burning the whole animal on themizbei’ach. So why can’t you just burn it in its entirety, together with the skin? “No,” Hashem says, “First thing, I want you to remove the hide.”And that’s because after theshechitah, when the animal is carried up to themizbei’ach, if the hide would still be there, so it would look like abeheimah. The hide is a giveaway! It’s a lamb, a sheep! But Hashem wants it to look like a human, not like a lamb. So the hide is peeled off and now it looks very much like a human being. If you ever saw an animal being skinned you would know that in some ways your body shares a resemblance to a skinned carcass; and that’s what Hashem wants here, that it should look likeyou. That’s the reason for thehefshet; it should look like a human being is being offered up to Hashem.THE SECRET OFNITU’ACHAnd after thehefshet, the next step in theavodas hakorbanosis themitzvahofnitu’ach: ונתח אותה לנתחיה –“And he should cut it into its pieces” (ibid. 1:6). The animal is not brought to themizbei’achas one whole unit, but it is divided into parts according to its limbs. You have to cut it up into its separate limbs; the legs separate, the hands separate, every part separate. And oneeiverat a time is placed onto themizbei’ach.So we learn that gratitude to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, is not sufficiently fulfilled by expressing thanks for the entire body at once. Just to say, “Thank You Hashem for life, for my body,” and to feel absolved of your obligation is a failing. What’s life? You could live and be a plant. You could live like a mushroom. That’s also life. Saying that you’re grateful for “everything” is really saying nothing! We’re going to lump it together andpaturourselves? Being indebted to Hashem begins by considering each limb separately, and by understanding that each detail of the body is a gift that stands on its own; each one is a gift from Hakodosh Boruch Hu that doesn’t belong to us, and that He can take back at any moment.THE KORBAN PARADE!And it was all done with fanfare, with great pomp. Thekohanimlined up in a procession, like a parade: כולן עומדין בשורה והאברים בידם – “All of thekohanimwere standing in a row with the limbs in their hands” (Tamid 4:3). Onekohenwas holding a head, and anotherkohenbehind him holding two legs; and behind him a line ofkohanimcarrying limbs and organs. It was a scene to behold; and it was done withmachshavah, with introspection.And therefore, as the Kohen walked slowly up the ramp, the owner of thekorbanwould watch as each separate limb was offered up. You know, once it’s skinned and cut into its limbs, it doesn’t look like a lamb’s thigh or leg anymore.It looks like your leg!Andthe head of the lamb, skinned and separated, bears resemblance to your head. Thechazeh, that’s the chest, it looks likeyourchest. And so on. That’s how it is; the skinned limbs, dissected, begin to resemble more readily the limbs of man. Suppose you saw partof your bodybeing offered up on the fire; you’d be tremendously excited! You’d faint from excitement! Anolahgoing up to Hashem meansweare going up to Hashem in gratitude. And therefore the man who wants to find favor in the eyes of Hashem would be thinking thoughts of gratitude to Hashem for that specific limb. “I’m thanking you for this limb Hashem. And that limb. And that one, and this one as well.” Separately, one by one, a man recognized the gifts from Hashem,the gifts that Hashem was letting him keep!YOUR HEAD IS “A CABINET FULL OF INSTRUMENTS”They bring, let’s say, the head of theolah.“I should be giving my head back to Hashem in gratitude. I’ve used it already for so many years. Fifty years already I’m using this gift that Hashem gave me and I’ve enjoyed it to no end. A head is very important – you realize you couldn’t live without a head. Ahh! How good is my head! I say “head,” like it’s one thing – a head is a cabinet full of instruments. It’s gifts upon gifts upon gifts that you have sitting there on your shoulders. A head is a precious thing, and it works so well, so perfectly. And so when the head of the lamb is placed onto the fire, you’re a changed man forever. Because you would leave theBeis Hamikdashnot only with your head, but with an appreciation of the gift that Hashem is continuing to give you, acknowledging that you don’t have any intrinsic right to it.And now he’s carrying up the heart. The heart! We’re amazed at the creation of a pump that pumps without stop day and night, day and night. So many tens of years! You have a healthy heart? You’re a lucky man! Look how many people are in great trouble. They’re thinking, “Sooner or later I have to make a bypass operation,chalilah.” They’re putting it off. They’re scared and they’re uncomfortable, they’re taking pills in the meantime. They don’t know what’s going to be. And so when you see the heart being carried up ramp to themizbei’achyou’re thinking, “That’smyheart being put onto the fires of themizbei’ach, only that Hashem will let me leave here with a new ‘loaner’ heart, it’s not mine at all.”It was a very great excitement to bring akorban.After experiencing such an event, you weren’t the same person anymore. Actually, allmitzvos, all service of Hashem, are a result of the attitudes gained by animal sacrifice. Someone who brought an offering put on histefillinvery differently the next morning. He had a new head! Can you imagine that? Yesterday I didn’t have a head, I offered it up on themizbei’ach! But Hashem gave me back a new head! I am overwhelmed with gratitude! So when you put ontefillinit flowed directly from the attitudes you gained in theBeis Hamikdash. Everything you did in life was because of מה אשיב להשם כל תגמולוהי עלי – How can I repay You for all that you have bestowed upon me?!”CAN YOU DO A FAVOR FOR HASHEM?Thus our forefathers served Hashem with the deep realization that they were actually not doing anything for Hashem at all. You know today if someone puts ontefillinhe thinks he’s a good Jew already, and if he prayedb’tzibbur, he thinks he deserves a medal, he did atoivahto Hakadosh Baruch Hu! But in the days of old when we hadkorbanos, we had the marvelous opportunity to stop and recognize all the good that Hashem does for us. We saw and felt that actually we are so indebted to Him and we can never do enough to repay Him!Thekorbanostaught the old-time Jews that their bodies, their very lives, were not theirs at all. Suppose your friend loaned you a car, and you’re riding around enjoying yourself for a couple of days, and then he says, “My friend, can you please give me back my car tomorrow, just for tomorrow?” So you’ll say, “What do you mean, ‘Give back the car?!’ I’m enjoying it to no end. I don’t want to give it back.” You wouldn’t say that! Only for one day? That’s a bargain! You’d give it back even for two weeks! And so someone who witnessed that great spectacle in theBeis Hamikdash, when thekorbanosdemonstrated that his very life belongs to Hashem, willingly submitted himself toevery service of Hashem.Korbanosare calledAvodahbecause all service of Hashem flowed from it. When a Jew left theBeis Hamikdashhis heart was on fire, he was ablaze in gratitude to Hashem.NO NEED TO BENTCHIt’s like the boy who asked his father: “Pa, do I have tobentchevery day? So his father said, “No; only when you eat.” For looking at bread you don’t make anybrachah. So just look and don’t eat!Why do you have to put ontefillinon your head? Because you have a head! You don’t want to put ontefillin, so give back the head. Everyday I’m giving you a head; and it’s a very valuable gift. So when you put ontefillinyou’re doing it because of מה אשיב להשם כל תגמולוהי עלי – How can I repay You for all that you have bestowed on me?!”At that moment of bringing an offering a person realized that he was living in anoilamsh’eino shelo,a world that doesn’t belong to him – that actually nothing at all is his! And it’s only when one actually feels indebted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu for the gift of life in all of its details, that He can begin to serve Hashem.Part II.The Source of EverythingPLEASE GIVE THE PILLAR BACK!And that’s why theavodas hakorbanosis one of the pillars that supports the world:על שלשה דברים העולם עומד – “On three things the world stands” (Avos 1:2), and one of them is theavodah. You know, some people say thatavodahmeanskorbanosalso; yes, of course, that too. They won’t deny that. But the trueavodah, they’ll tell you, istefillah. But that is wrong. Theavodahthat is meant here, the pillar of the world – iskorbanos, animal sacrifice; only that today, because we have no choice, sotefillahstands in place ofkorbanos(Berachos 26b).And that’s why we’re not satisfied today with what we have, because we wanttherealthing. We say ברוך אתה השם שומע תפלה – “Yes, Hashem, You listen to ourtefillos; I know that you’re listening when I speak to You.” And thatavodah she’bileivis so important. And yet, what’s the next thing we say right away? רצה השם אלוקינו בעמך ישראל והשב את העבודה – “Please return to us theavodahofkorbanos.” We’re not satisfied withtefillah, with theavodahof the heart. We want the real thing; we’re asking for theavodashakorbanos,for the opportunity to bring up animals onto the fire of themizbei’ach. And therefore when you finishshemonah esrei,you feel like a person who ate a meal without anything solid, you’re not full yet. And so you say יהי רצון מלפניך השם אלוקינו שיבנה בית המקדש – Hashem, give us back theavodahonce more. Then we’ll be serving You for real!LEAVING MITZRAYIM TO SHECHT ANIMALSYou remember when Moshe Rabeinu came to Pharaoh to negotiate for the release of the Bnei Yisroel from Mitzrayim, so he said in the name of Hashem, שלח את עמי ויעבדוני – “Send out My people and they shouldserveMe” (Shemos 7:26). So people think that “Serve Me” means that they should maybe come together for a minyan, they should domitzvos, or learn Torah. But that’s not it; it’s included, yes, all that and much more is included inv’ya’avduni,but what it means primarily is that they should serve Meby bringing korbanos.Animal sacrifice, that’s theavodah! שלח את עמי – “Send out My people!” And for what? ויעבדוני – “So that they should sacrifice animals to Me.”Now for modern minds it may seem queer.It’s incongruous.When we think about service of Hashem we want to talk about righteousness,tzedek umishpat, ideals, halachos, chesed, learning Torah, mitzvos.There’s so much we want to talk about! And all that is true, absolutely. But what is the foundation of all of thisavodah? שלח את עמי, I’m going to take My people out of Mitzrayim, ויעבדוני, so that they can fulfillParshasVayikra, theparshaofkorbanos. Because it was theavodas hakorbanosthat most sharply and undeniably defined for a person his place in this world, how indebted he is to Hashem.LEAVING THE MIKDASH WITH A NEW CAREERAnd so the man who walked out of theBeis Hamikdashwith all his limbs and all of his organs still intact, that man had a new career ahead of him. Because it was by means of thekorbanin the Beis Hamikdash, that he acknowledged that it’s all a gift from Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Life itself, and all its dissected details, his legs, his head, his heart – everything! – is on loan to him from Hashem. And now his career could begin; because using these gifts as intended by the Giver, that’s his new course in life.Here’s something we say always but I think we would all benefit from studying it a little more: כל עצמותי תאמרנה השם מי כמוך– “All my bones – not only bones, but all my limbs and all my organs, say “Hashem who is like You” (Tehillim 35:10). We say it every Shabbos. What does it mean “All my parts say”? So some people say that it means you must exert your body to participate in the act ofhoda’ah, that you have toshake your bodywhen you daven. And there was at one time some people who used to leap up and down and work their arms and legs; they didn’t want any part of their body to be left out of this work ofhodaah! But that’s not thepshat. It’s not a bad idea to move your body when you daven; you can do it if you wish, but it’s not the wholepshathowever. Because whatever you’ll do – you could flail your arms and kick your legs, you could even do somersaults; but there are parts of the body that just cannot participate. Your kidneys can’t participate, your liver can’t participate in that way. But they must!Kolatzmosai! “Allmy parts must sing out and say, ‘Who is like You, Hashem?!’” So howdoall our body parts sing? And we’ll explain as follows.YOUR STOMACH IS SINGING; SING ALONG!Each body part has a message for you; each limb sings its own song of praise and gratitude to Hashem.Your head is talking, your shoulders are talking, your stomach is talking, your feet are talking. Every part of your body, every limb, every organ, is filled with so much wisdom and so muchchesed, that it’s calling out to you, singing out to you, and asking you to join in the chorus of gratitude and indebtedness to Hashem.And how do you join the chorus? And the answer isby means of the mind! When you put your mind to thinking about what it means to have feet, what it means to have a heart, a liver, kidneys, eyes, fingers– like your ancestor did so many years ago when he brought akorban– so you would begin to sing along. You sing with your head; you sing with your eyes; you sing with your heart; with your lungs, with your stomach, with your feet, your liver, kidneys. They’re all singing. You know if you look in the books, it’s remarkable.There’s never any end to the discoveries that are being made. It’s so complicated and all of it is so purposeful, so full of חכמה עמוקה שאין לו קץ; bottomless wisdom. The more they learn, the more they realize they don’t know. And the truth is that only by studying the details for many years can you begin to appreciate thechochmaandchesedin your body.THE MISER SPENDS A FEW DOLLARSYou have to count your gifts. Like a miser who hides in his home – he pulls down his window shades when his wife goes out shopping – and he takes out his shopping bags of money that he’s been saving all the years. And he starts counting them. His twenties and his hundreds. And as he counts them, his eyes glisten and his heart rejoices. That’s the joy of his life. All day long he waits for that moment. He even gives his wife a few dollars to go shopping to get her out of the house so that he can have a few moments alone to enjoy the great happiness of counting his thousands.But that’s only amashalfor the real happiness of life. Because all of that money is not worth his being alive. If it was his last day and he could give it all away to keep living, to live as a poor man on welfare, he would do it. And not only for life itself; for lungs! He would give it all away to keep his lungs. And so there’s another kind of miser, the miser who knows what it means to count the real money of life. And that’s the person who counts the wealth that he gained by bringing akorban.THE CHOFETZ CHAIM KNEW HOW TO “COUNT MONEY”Like the Chofetz Chaim used to do. When no one was around he would say, “Ribono Shel Olam, I am grateful to you for keeping me alive for so many years. I lived through last year and now I’m living this year again. And the year before last, it was a blessing. And the year before that.” The Chofetz Chaim was counting his “money.” “My lungs are still functioning, and my knees.” And this limb and that limb. And so the Chofetz Chaim hauled out his blessings and gloated over them. And as he counted his “money” his eyes glistened and his heart rejoiced.And that’s what Dovid Hamelech said, במעשי ידיך ארנן, I sing at the deeds of your hands (Tehillim 92:5). You have to beso happy, that you sing. Singing means that you’ve studied the details of the gifts and that you’re actually grateful and indebted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. But when a person does it as a duty, he praises, he thanks as a duty – of course it’s a good thing and we wish all the Jews would do that, but that man is not really anoived Hashem. He’s serving Hashem without any motivation; he doesn’t feel that there’s really anything to be thankful for; he doesn’t understand how happy life really is and so for him, all of his service of Hashem is “him bestowing benefits on Hashem” instead of the other way around.LEARN TO BE A MISER!But if you want to be a success in this world, if you want your life to bel’ratzon, a life filled with finding favor in the eyes of Hashem, then you’re going to have to practice being a “Chofetz Chaim miser” as well; you have to get busy counting your wealth. Now, you won’t be able to do it all at once – and you shouldn’t. One limb, one organ, at a time, the way it was cut in theBeis Hamikdash. But you have to start. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you’re beset with pangs of regret about missed opportunities.You know what it would mean to have to give back your kidneys?! Here’s a man who can’t even urinate. So he has to go to the hospital to be hooked up to a machine, let’s say, three times a week, for three hours at a time, a kidney machine to clean his body instead of his kidneys that aren’t working. If he could get his kidneys back, he would sing! So you’re thanking Hashem, “You let me keep my kidneys!”You know how much fun it is to have kidneys? If they weren’t functioning you’d pay good money for new kidneys; piles and piles of money! And you don’t have to – you have two perfect ones. You don’t even notice they’re there because they’re functioning so smoothly. Now, you don’t take them out for themizbei’ach– let them stay right where they are. But in your mind, take them out and gloat over them. Spend one day counting the blessings of a kidney.MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDYou know what asimchait is to come out of thebeis ha’kissei! You accomplished “your mission” successfully. Boruch Hashem! רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות. It’s a miracle! You know themeforshimtry to explain exactly what is this miracle.Maflee la’asosmeans that it’s a miracle. But the truth is that you don’t have to search for the miracle, you don’t have to look for a reason. It’s a miracle, as clear as day. Your kidneys are able to take a small amount of blood and continually cleanse it. That same blood courses through your body again and again. And your kidneys are constantly cleaning out your blood. You should think about that when you sayAsher Yatzar.At least that you can do. To say thank you with a sincere feeling of gratitude before the One who is giving you a healthy kidney and is not asking for it back.If you’d study the liver you would appreciate what it means to have a great chemical laboratory that’s functioning within you, and you would ‘sing along’ with your liver in gratitude to Hashem כל עצמותי תאמרנה השם מי כמוך. You never heard of liver disease? Someone who had an operation on his liver or takes pills or treatment for his liver? You don’t even know that you have a liver; it’s only “emunah” on your part; you were told you have a liver somewhere in there so you believe in it, you’re ama’amin. You don’t feel it in there but you “accept” what they tell you.You’re lucky that you don’t feel it. It’s quiet, it’s efficient, it’s doing its work without bothering you. Day and night it’s doing perfectly what it was created to do. And so when you hear that someone else is suffering from his liver, you have to start singing, you have to begin appreciating what it means to have a healthy liver. Because this other fellow is actually being “makriv” his liver on themizbei’ach, while Hashem is allowingyouto keep yours!TIME FOR HOMEWORK!And you’ll have opportunities for expressing gratitude all day long. Now a little homework, I’ll give you. When you come to theBeis Haknessesand you hearkaddishbeing said, so instead of sayingYehei shmei rabbahjust as a donation, “Let His great name be blessed;” and you’re thinking “Why not?” What do you care? It doesn’t cost you any money to say it: “Let other people bless His name,” that’s what it means.L’olam ul’olmai olmaya, forever and ever, sometime in the far off future, forever and ever, other people should get busy blessing His name.No,you’rethe one who should be blessing His name. And don’t wait for the future; it should be happening right now. Think of one specific thing when you sayYehei Shmei Rabbah;it’s a good idea to prepare.As soon as thechazzanstarts sayingYisgadal, think, “What part of my body am I going to thank for this time.” Think fast! It would be better if you thought beforehand; thiskaddishwill be for my fingers, and this one for my elbows. My ears, my teeth, and then my nerves. Preparing beforehand is best, but even at the last second you can think of one thing to thank Hashem for.TAKINGPESUKEI D’ZIMRAWITH YOUAnd you have many other opportunities for this as well. As you’re sayingHodu, Ashrei,or theHallelukahs,you’re saying the words anyway, so think, “Today I’m singing about my lungs.” If you pay attention to the words you’re saying you’ll see that it’s all songs and praises; but if you’re not thinking then you’re wasting the precious opportunity to thank Hashem for your lungs. And that day, all day long whenever you’re walking down the street you’re singing to Hashem, “I’m counting my breath and thanking Hashem for my lungs.”That’s how to do it. It’s a good idea to say, “Today is the ear day.” “Tomorrow is nose day.” “The next day is heart day.” Ooh, ahh, that’s a big day! And then comes lung day. And brain day. And every day you dedicate to thinking about another body part. So when you get to ‘leg day,’ so that day all yourpesukei d’zimraare all about your legs. “Ah, what a pleasure it is to have the ability to walk!” You’re not a prisoner, stuck in a bed. Boruch Hashem you have two Rolls Royces underneath you;better than any other wheels. It’s the biggest happiness that you can walk. And it’s allnissei nissim. You know what the muscles are doing when you walk? Every muscle has a reflex, one is pulling and one is shoving. And it’s pulling and shoving back and forth every second, in perfect coordination. How those muscles work is one of the most wonderful arrangements that you’ll find in the world.THANK HASHEM FOR JELLYAnd your thighs aren’t just moving; they’re moving in a socket. The thigh moves all day in this socket, moving and twisting and pressing. So why don’t you feel any friction there? There’s a kind of jelly there in between, the synovial fluid, and it’s lubricating the joints. And the jelly is always being replenished by additional materials. So as you walk down the street, don’t waste the opportunity. As your thigh swings forward in effortless motion, consider the miracle of the smoothly functioning joints; your joints bend this way and that way, and you feel no pain! You hear any moving, any scraping? No, it’s beautifully quiet. And therefore we say ברוך אתה השם המכין מצעדי גבר, I thank You Hashem for establishing the footsteps of man. How wonderful it is to walk!And your eyes! You’re able to see? Ah, ah, ah! Oh, is this a pleasure. It says סומא חשוב כמת, a blind man is in a way a dead man. You lose so much of life when you cannot see. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you have to tap your way on Kings Highway. You come to an intersection and you’re at a loss what to do. You want to find the right store to enter; you don’t want to bump into people. You can’t see the blue sky; you can’t see the foliage of the trees; you can’t see people; you can’t see motion; you can’t see life. People who can’t see, if they could have working eyes, they would go delirious with ecstasy that their eyesight was restored. They wouldn’t be able to stop singing.RAV MILLER’S BEAUTIFUL EYESYou have to rejoice in the great gift of two beautiful orbs. Once I went to an eye doctor and he looked into my eyes. Now I don’t have especially beautiful eyes, but he said, “You have two beautiful orbs!” In the darkness the human eye is shining with a beautiful light. “You have two beautiful orbs,” he said. You have to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu for your eyesight; He’s giving you a gift!Seeing is one of the great delights of life. It’s a pleasure to be able to open your eyes and see what’s going on around you. Take a peek into the eye doctor’s office and you’ll see people waiting there with bandages covering their eyes. All kinds of eye ailments. This one needs this operation, and the other fellow a different operation. And you don’t need any operation on your eyes! Boruch Hashem! כל עמצותי תאמרנה, Sing along with your eyes!KORBANOSON OCEAN PARKWAYSo you’re thinking and thanking and singing all day long. You’re fulfilling theavodas hakorbanos, right here on Ocean Parkway. Because theavodas hakorbanosis teaching us that it’s not enough for us to merely say ‘thank you’ to Hashem for life in general. A genuine attitude of gratitude will only develop from thanking Hashem for all the individual kindnesses. If you want to fulfill theavodahof thekorbanostoday, even when theBeis Hamikdashis not standing, then you must study each detail of thechesed Hashem, and sing a song of gratitude for that detail in particular.And that’s why Hashem took you out ofMitzrayim. שלח את עמי ויעבדוני. I’m taking you out ofMitzrayimso that you should offerkorbanosto Me, and sing to Me all your life along with youratzamos. Because although thekorbanoshave many purposes, the first of all the intentions is the expression of gratitude, for taking us out ofMitzrayimto be His people, and for all the thousands and tens of thousands of kindnesses that He bestows upon us always, without taking them back. The list of gifts is endless. Boruch Hashem, you areloaded downwith blessings. You’re a lucky fellow! You’re not putting your eyes on themizbei’ach. You’re not carrying your own leg up the ramp. Hashem says, “Keep everything. Enjoy My gifts. But remember Me. At least that. Remember Me.”KEEP YOUR HEAD TO YOURSELFAnd so thekorbanosare an expression of the highest form of gratitude to Hashem. Boruch Hashem, He gives me my life every day, and all my organs are functioning perfectly more or less.And so I express my gratitude by giving him back “my” head, “my” leg, “my” kidneys, “my”cheilev– my everything! We get to keep our legs and our hearts. We get to keep ourcheilevin ourselves. We keep ourk’layosto ourselves. Our kidneys, our head; everything we get to keep and we use them everyday. And instead we burn all the parts of theolahto Hashem, and by means of that we understand our place in this world, a world where we’re being given gifts and gifts without end. And it’s for those gifts that we are forever indebted to the Giver, and we serve Him and sing to Him all the days of our lives. And by means of our overflowing gratitude to Hashem we find favor in His eyes, because we are achieving our purpose in this world.Singing to Hashem is the purpose of life, and one who joins the choir will be rewarded with even more years to sing: “Themizbei’achwas made in order to lengthen a man’s life” (Middos 3:4). The secret of thekorbanosis recognition of thechesed Hashemthat pervades one’s life, and Hashem bestows more life upon those that who utilize their time here to recognize Him. And they thereby achieve the chief purpose of life: יראת השם לחיים – “Awareness of Hashem causes life” (Mishlei 19:23). And therefore, even today, when we can’t yet bringkorbanos, we can continue to sing always to Hashem we thereby achieve the greatness of the days of theBeis Hamikdashand find favor in the eyes of Hashem in this world and the next. HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOSGo Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part I. Understanding SacrificeGETTING HASHEM TO LIKE MEAs we read through this week’s parsha, and actually, the whole Seder Vayikra, there’s a theme that’s constantly reiterated, and that’s the subject of finding favor in Hashem’s eyes. Now, if you would ask someone on the street how to get Hashem to like you, he might have some ideas. Maybe you should say the whole Tehillim a few times; or fast on Mondays and Thursdays. But our parsha doesn’t leave the way to achieve Hashem’s favor up to our imagination. And surprisingly we’re told again and again that we can find the especial favor of Hashem by means of animal sacrifice. יקריב אותו לרצונו – “He shall bring it for his favor before Hashem” (Vayikra 1:3). לרצונכם תזבחוהו “For your favor you shall slaughter it.” לרצונך “For your favor” (see 19:5, 22:19, 22:29, 23:11).Now you should pay good attention to these words because it’s a very big thing to find favor in the eyes of Hashem; it’s actually the major achievement of life. I want to quote to you from the Chovos Halevavos (Shaar Avodas Elokim, Perek 3). He tells us that צריך שיתברר, “It must become clear to a person, שהתמורה עודפת עליו – that the effort he puts into making himself better in this world will be rewarded with a very great exchange.” He’ll get back much more than he puts in. If you improve yourself in this world, says the Chovos Halevavos, you’ll get much more back in return.What will you get? What’s the great thing you’ll get in exchange? Listen to the words of the Chovos Halevavos: והוא רצות הא-ל אותו – “That Hashem will like you; He’ll think well of you.” Now we know that אהבתי אתכם נאום השם, “I love all of you,” says Hashem, but we’re learning now that it’s possible to find especialfavor in the eyes of Hashem, above and beyond the intense love that Hashem has for all of the Am Yisroel. והוא רצות הא-ל, and that is that Hashem should favor you; it’s the approval, the regard of your Creator. Now, we’re not talking about reward here; we’re not talking about Gan Eden. What is the great success of a man? Hashem is going to like you! There’s nothing as important as that!FORGET ABOUT THE REWARD!I would like you to listen to a quote from the Sefer Hayashar, from Rabeinu Tam: הנני מפרש לך, “I want to make clear to you, he says, כי אין תועלת גדולה כאהבת הבורא לאדם, that there is no greater benefit for a man than that Hashem should love him.” That Hashem should love you; that’s the pinnacle of success! That you should find favor in the eyes of Hashem; there’s nothing better than that. Of course, included in Hashem’s love for you will be greatest of rewards as well, but the reward is not the great success. And therefore says Rabeinu Tam, אין לנו לחקור איך יהיה הגמול הטוב, we don’t have to be concerned about what and how the reward will be. Because the wise man understands that what really matters for a person is that he should find favor in the eyes of Hashem.And so, once we understand that the avodas hakorbanos can elevate a man and bestow upon him such excellence that he deserves to find favor in the eyes of Hashem, we learn how important our parsha is. And therefore, if you have a desire that Hakodosh Boruch Hu should look down at you and say, “My child, I am happy with you; it’s you who has found favor in My eyes,” then don’t go home yet because the subject of the night, korbanos, is for you.WHAT’S IT ALL FOR?!When we hear about korbanostoday, so to many people it is really a quandary, it’s a big puzzle. Some people think that in the olden days it was justified; everybody brought korbanos, all the pagan nations of antiquity placed a great emphasis on such things, so we did as well. But nowadays, who needskorbanos?! Slaughtering the neck of an animal?! “It’s a rachmanus,” we think. It’s tza’ar ba’alei chayim! What it’s all for?! For the one untrained in Torah attitudes the Beis Hamikdashseems to be a butcher shop; blood all over the place! And they’re burning the body parts and the cheilev! Gevalt!And so if we’re going to properly study Parshas Vayikra, the parsha that introduces us to korbanos, then we’ll be acquiring new minds; new attitudes that will give us at least some insight into why korbanos are the path towards finding the favor of Hashem. And so we’ll go step by step and understand this as best as we can.THE ANIMAL; YOUR SHALIACHOne of the first requirements of the one who brings a korban is smichah. When a person approached the mizbei’ach to offer a korban it says: וסמך את ידו על ראש העולה – “And he shall lean his hand on the head of the olah” (ibid. 1:4). He leans his weight on it. Now, why does the one offering the korban have to lean on it? And the answer is that when you put your hands on the animal you’re making the beheimah your agent, your representative. The leaning of your hands on the korbansignifies the appointment of the offering as a shaliach, a substitute, for the owner of the animal. Like when Moshe Rabeinu put his hands on the head of Yehoshua, ויסמוך את ידיו עליו (Bamidbar 27:23), so from then on Yehoshua took over; he was the shaliach of Moshe Rabeinu, his agent to take over as the leader of the nation. And in the same sense, the man that lays his hands upon the head of his offering thereby makes it his agent, and it’s as if he himself is being offered up to Hashem.And that’s why the halachah is that סמיכה בכל כחו – “When you press down on the head of the animal you have to use all of your strength” (Chagigah 16b). You can’t just give a little bit of a lean, something superficial, and that’s all. No, there’s nothing superficial about this! You press down with all of your strength; you put “your neshamah” into that smichah. And that was like a stick of dynamite exploding in your mind; it was sinking in now that this animal was representing you! And so you realized that your olah is not merely a lamb that is being shechted and brought up on the fire – it’s you!THE SECRET OF A KORBANAnd that brings us to the secret of korbanos. Because what do we do? We bring a little lamb to the mizbei’ach. Now the poor little lamb is a live creature, and his heart is pumping blood throughout his body. And he wants to live. But what do you do? You cut its neck and the blood comes gushing out, and you put the dam on the mizbei’ach. And while you do that, you think, “That should be me! But for the mercy of Hashem, that would be my blood being sprinkled on the mizbei’ach. Really that’s what I owe You Hashem for giving me life, for giving me all the delights of being alive.”We like being alive! I say “like” – we love it! I’ll prove it to you. Here’s a man lying in his hospital bed; he’s anxious, distraught. Why? The doctors came into his room yesterday and showed him the test results. And now his days in this sweet world are numbered. Oh yes, now he realizes how delicious life is. “Ohhh!” he says. “If I could just get out in the street again. If I could just live, and walk around again! What a happiness it would be!” He looks down from the hospital window and he sees the heads of the people walking on the street; going to work, the regular grind of life, with all of its ups and downs. And he’s jealous. He’s so jealous of that. They’re walking carefree, outside of the hospital. They’re living, they’re alive, and for him it will soon be all over. And we my friends are the people he sees walking the streets, the people this man envies. And so, how are we going to express our gratitude to Hashem? What could we do already? So we bring a korban, a lamb, instead of ourselves. And we lean in on the lamb with all our strength, concentrating on the fact that this lamb is about to take our place.DON’T RUN AWAY!And that’s why the Torah requires that תיכף לסמיכה שחיטה – “The shechitah must be done immediately after the leaning” (Brachos 42a). You symbolically transferred yourself onto that animal, and right away you cut the neck. And that leaves no time for the owner of the beheimah to escape the scene. Even if he’s not going to do the shechitah – often he would do the shechitah himself too; shechitah k’sheirah b’zar (Brachos 31b) – but even if he wouldn’t do it, he saw it. The owner of the offering was always present to witness how “he” is vicariously being slaughtered as an offering to Hashem. He can’t avoid witnessing the Kohen shecht the olah.He’s watching as the neck is cut – the neck of his beheimah – and the dam gushes out. It’s dam coming from his cut neck! And he looks at it and is overwhelmed. “That’s me!” he thinks; it’s a very powerful scene to watch.IT LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE HUMAN SACRIFICE!And it didn’t stop there. You know, when they brought a korban olah, a burnt offering, there was a mitzvah of hefshet, to skin it, to take the skin off the animal. Now why do you need this? It’s an olah after all; you’re burning the whole animal on the mizbei’ach. So why can’t you just burn it in its entirety, together with the skin? “No,” Hashem says, “First thing, I want you to remove the hide.”And that’s because after the shechitah, when the animal is carried up to the mizbei’ach, if the hide would still be there, so it would look like a beheimah. The hide is a giveaway! It’s a lamb, a sheep! But Hashem wants it to look like a human, not like a lamb. So the hide is peeled off and now it looks very much like a human being. If you ever saw an animal being skinned you would know that in some ways your body shares a resemblance to a skinned carcass; and that’s what Hashem wants here, that it should look like you. That’s the reason for the hefshet; it should look like a human being is being offered up to Hashem.THE SECRET OF NITU’ACHAnd after the hefshet, the next step in the avodas hakorbanos is the mitzvah of nitu’ach: ונתח אותה לנתחיה – “And he should cut it into its pieces” (ibid. 1:6). The animal is not brought to the mizbei’ach as one whole unit, but it is divided into parts according to its limbs. You have to cut it up into its separate limbs; the legs separate, the hands separate, every part separate. And one eiver at a time is placed onto the mizbei’ach.So we learn that gratitude to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, is not sufficiently fulfilled by expressing thanks for the entire body at once. Just to say, “Thank You Hashem for life, for my body,” and to feel absolved of your obligation is a failing. What’s life? You could live and be a plant. You could live like a mushroom. That’s also life. Saying that you’re grateful for “everything” is really saying nothing! We’re going to lump it together and patur ourselves? Being indebted to Hashem begins by considering each limb separately, and by understanding that each detail of the body is a gift that stands on its own; each one is a gift from Hakodosh Boruch Hu that doesn’t belong to us, and that He can take back at any moment.THE KORBAN PARADE!And it was all done with fanfare, with great pomp. The kohanimlined up in a procession, like a parade: כולן עומדין בשורה והאברים בידם – “All of the kohanim were standing in a row with the limbs in their hands” (Tamid 4:3). One kohen was holding a head, and another kohen behind him holding two legs; and behind him a line of kohanim carrying limbs and organs. It was a scene to behold; and it was done with machshavah, with introspection.And therefore, as the Kohen walked slowly up the ramp, the owner of the korban would watch as each separate limb was offered up. You know, once it’s skinned and cut into its limbs, it doesn’t look like a lamb’s thigh or leg anymore. It looks like your leg! Andthe head of the lamb, skinned and separated, bears resemblance to your head. The chazeh, that’s the chest, it looks like your chest. And so on. That’s how it is; the skinned limbs, dissected, begin to resemble more readily the limbs of man. Suppose you saw part of your body being offered up on the fire; you’d be tremendously excited! You’d faint from excitement! An olah going up to Hashem means we are going up to Hashem in gratitude. And therefore the man who wants to find favor in the eyes of Hashem would be thinking thoughts of gratitude to Hashem for that specific limb. “I’m thanking you for this limb Hashem. And that limb. And that one, and this one as well.” Separately, one by one, a man recognized the gifts from Hashem, the gifts that Hashem was letting him keep!YOUR HEAD IS “A CABINET FULL OF INSTRUMENTS”They bring, let’s say, the head of the olah. “I should be giving my head back to Hashem in gratitude. I’ve used it already for so many years. Fifty years already I’m using this gift that Hashem gave me and I’ve enjoyed it to no end. A head is very important – you realize you couldn’t live without a head. Ahh! How good is my head! I say “head,” like it’s one thing – a head is a cabinet full of instruments. It’s gifts upon gifts upon gifts that you have sitting there on your shoulders. A head is a precious thing, and it works so well, so perfectly. And so when the head of the lamb is placed onto the fire, you’re a changed man forever. Because you would leave the Beis Hamikdash not only with your head, but with an appreciation of the gift that Hashem is continuing to give you, acknowledging that you don’t have any intrinsic right to it.And now he’s carrying up the heart. The heart! We’re amazed at the creation of a pump that pumps without stop day and night, day and night. So many tens of years! You have a healthy heart? You’re a lucky man! Look how many people are in great trouble. They’re thinking, “Sooner or later I have to make a bypass operation, chalilah.” They’re putting it off. They’re scared and they’re uncomfortable, they’re taking pills in the meantime. They don’t know what’s going to be. And so when you see the heart being carried up ramp to the mizbei’ach you’re thinking, “That’s my heart being put onto the fires of the mizbei’ach, only that Hashem will let me leave here with a new ‘loaner’ heart, it’s not mine at all.”It was a very great excitement to bring a korban. After experiencing such an event, you weren’t the same person anymore. Actually, all mitzvos, all service of Hashem, are a result of the attitudes gained by animal sacrifice. Someone who brought an offering put on his tefillin very differently the next morning. He had a new head! Can you imagine that? Yesterday I didn’t have a head, I offered it up on the mizbei’ach! But Hashem gave me back a new head! I am overwhelmed with gratitude! So when you put on tefillin it flowed directly from the attitudes you gained in the Beis Hamikdash. Everything you did in life was because of מה אשיב להשם כל תגמולוהי עלי – How can I repay You for all that you have bestowed upon me?!”CAN YOU DO A FAVOR FOR HASHEM?Thus our forefathers served Hashem with the deep realization that they were actually not doing anything for Hashem at all. You know today if someone puts on tefillin he thinks he’s a good Jew already, and if he prayed b’tzibbur, he thinks he deserves a medal, he did a toivah to Hakadosh Baruch Hu! But in the days of old when we had korbanos, we had the marvelous opportunity to stop and recognize all the good that Hashem does for us. We saw and felt that actually we are so indebted to Him and we can never do enough to repay Him!The korbanos taught the old-time Jews that their bodies, their very lives, were not theirs at all. Suppose your friend loaned you a car, and you’re riding around enjoying yourself for a couple of days, and then he says, “My friend, can you please give me back my car tomorrow, just for tomorrow?” So you’ll say, “What do you mean, ‘Give back the car?!’ I’m enjoying it to no end. I don’t want to give it back.” You wouldn’t say that! Only for one day? That’s a bargain! You’d give it back even for two weeks! And so someone who witnessed that great spectacle in the Beis Hamikdash, when the korbanos demonstrated that his very life belongs to Hashem, willingly submitted himself to every service of Hashem. Korbanosare called Avodah because all service of Hashem flowed from it. When a Jew left the Beis Hamikdash his heart was on fire, he was ablaze in gratitude to Hashem.NO NEED TO BENTCHIt’s like the boy who asked his father: “Pa, do I have to bentchevery day? So his father said, “No; only when you eat.” For looking at bread you don’t make any brachah. So just look and don’t eat! Why do you have to put on tefillin on your head? Because you have a head! You don’t want to put on tefillin, so give back the head. Everyday I’m giving you a head; and it’s a very valuable gift. So when you put on tefillin you’re doing it because of מה אשיב להשם כל תגמולוהי עלי – How can I repay You for all that you have bestowed on me?!”At that moment of bringing an offering a person realized that he was living in an oilam sh’eino shelo, a world that doesn’t belong to him – that actually nothing at all is his! And it’s only when one actually feels indebted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu for the gift of life in all of its details, that He can begin to serve Hashem.Part II. The Source of EverythingPLEASE GIVE THE PILLAR BACK!And that’s why the avodas hakorbanos is one of the pillars that supports the world:על שלשה דברים העולם עומד – “On three things the world stands” (Avos 1:2), and one of them is the avodah. You know, some people say that avodah meanskorbanos also; yes, of course, that too. They won’t deny that. But the true avodah, they’ll tell you, is tefillah. But that is wrong. The avodah that is meant here, the pillar of the world – is korbanos, animal sacrifice; only that today, because we have no choice, so tefillah stands in place of korbanos (Berachos 26b).And that’s why we’re not satisfied today with what we have, because we want the realthing. We say ברוך אתה השם שומע תפלה – “Yes, Hashem, You listen to our tefillos; I know that you’re listening when I speak to You.” And that avodah she’bileivis so important. And yet, what’s the next thing we say right away? רצה השם אלוקינו בעמך ישראל והשב את העבודה – “Please return to us the avodah of korbanos.” We’re not satisfied with tefillah, with the avodah of the heart. We want the real thing; we’re asking for the avodas hakorbanos, for the opportunity to bring up animals onto the fire of the mizbei’ach. And therefore when you finish shemonah esrei, you feel like a person who ate a meal without anything solid, you’re not full yet. And so you say יהי רצון מלפניך השם אלוקינו שיבנה בית המקדש – Hashem, give us back the avodah once more. Then we’ll be serving You for real!LEAVING MITZRAYIM TO SHECHT ANIMALSYou remember when Moshe Rabeinu came to Pharaoh to negotiate for the release of the Bnei Yisroel from Mitzrayim, so he said in the name of Hashem, שלח את עמי ויעבדוני – “Send out My people and they should serveMe” (Shemos 7:26). So people think that “Serve Me” means that they should maybe come together for a minyan, they should do mitzvos, or learn Torah. But that’s not it; it’s included, yes, all that and much more is included in v’ya’avduni,but what it means primarily is that they should serve Me by bringing korbanos. Animal sacrifice, that’s the avodah! שלח את עמי – “Send out My people!” And for what? ויעבדוני – “So that they should sacrifice animals to Me.”Now for modern minds it may seem queer. It’s incongruous. When we think about service of Hashem we want to talk about righteousness, tzedek umishpat, ideals, halachos, chesed, learning Torah, mitzvos. There’s so much we want to talk about! And all that is true, absolutely. But what is the foundation of all of this avodah? שלח את עמי, I’m going to take My people out of Mitzrayim, ויעבדוני, so that they can fulfill Parshas Vayikra, the parsha of korbanos. Because it was the avodas hakorbanos that most sharply and undeniably defined for a person his place in this world, how indebted he is to Hashem.LEAVING THE MIKDASH WITH A NEW CAREERAnd so the man who walked out of the Beis Hamikdash with all his limbs and all of his organs still intact, that man had a new career ahead of him. Because it was by means of the korban in the Beis Hamikdash, that he acknowledged that it’s all a gift from Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Life itself, and all its dissected details, his legs, his head, his heart – everything! – is on loan to him from Hashem. And now his career could begin; because using these gifts as intended by the Giver, that’s his new course in life.Here’s something we say always but I think we would all benefit from studying it a little more: כל עצמותי תאמרנה השם מי כמוך – “All my bones – not only bones, but all my limbs and all my organs, say “Hashem who is like You” (Tehillim 35:10). We say it every Shabbos. What does it mean “All my parts say”? So some people say that it means you must exert your body to participate in the act of hoda’ah, that you have to shake your body when you daven. And there was at one time some people who used to leap up and down and work their arms and legs; they didn’t want any part of their body to be left out of this work of hodaah! But that’s not the pshat. It’s not a bad idea to move your body when you daven; you can do it if you wish, but it’s not the whole pshat however. Because whatever you’ll do – you could flail your arms and kick your legs, you could even do somersaults; but there are parts of the body that just cannot participate. Your kidneys can’t participate, your liver can’t participate in that way. But they must! Kol atzmosai! “All my parts must sing out and say, ‘Who is like You, Hashem?!’” So how doall our body parts sing? And we’ll explain as follows.YOUR STOMACH IS SINGING; SING ALONG!Each body part has a message for you; each limb sings its own song of praise and gratitude to Hashem. Your head is talking, your shoulders are talking, your stomach is talking, your feet are talking. Every part of your body, every limb, every organ, is filled with so much wisdom and so much chesed, that it’s calling out to you, singing out to you, and asking you to join in the chorus of gratitude and indebtedness to Hashem.And how do you join the chorus? And the answer is by means of the mind! When you put your mind to thinking about what it means to have feet, what it means to have a heart, a liver, kidneys, eyes, fingers – like your ancestor did so many years ago when he brought a korban – so you would begin to sing along. You sing with your head; you sing with your eyes; you sing with your heart; with your lungs, with your stomach, with your feet, your liver, kidneys. They’re all singing. You know if you look in the books, it’s remarkable. There’s never any end to the discoveries that are being made. It’s so complicated and all of it is so purposeful, so full of חכמה עמוקה שאין לו קץ; bottomless wisdom. The more they learn, the more they realize they don’t know. And the truth is that only by studying the details for many years can you begin to appreciate the chochma and chesed in your body.THE MISER SPENDS A FEW DOLLARSYou have to count your gifts. Like a miser who hides in his home – he pulls down his window shades when his wife goes out shopping – and he takes out his shopping bags of money that he’s been saving all the years. And he starts counting them. His twenties and his hundreds. And as he counts them, his eyes glisten and his heart rejoices. That’s the joy of his life. All day long he waits for that moment. He even gives his wife a few dollars to go shopping to get her out of the house so that he can have a few moments alone to enjoy the great happiness of counting his thousands.But that’s only a mashal for the real happiness of life. Because all of that money is not worth his being alive. If it was his last day and he could give it all away to keep living, to live as a poor man on welfare, he would do it. And not only for life itself; for lungs! He would give it all away to keep his lungs. And so there’s another kind of miser, the miser who knows what it means to count the real money of life. And that’s the person who counts the wealth that he gained by bringing a korban.THE CHOFETZ CHAIM KNEW HOW TO “COUNT MONEY”Like the Chofetz Chaim used to do. When no one was around he would say, “Ribono Shel Olam, I am grateful to you for keeping me alive for so many years. I lived through last year and now I’m living this year again. And the year before last, it was a blessing. And the year before that.” The Chofetz Chaim was counting his “money.” “My lungs are still functioning, and my knees.” And this limb and that limb. And so the Chofetz Chaim hauled out his blessings and gloated over them. And as he counted his “money” his eyes glistened and his heart rejoiced.And that’s what Dovid Hamelech said, במעשי ידיך ארנן, I sing at the deeds of your hands (Tehillim 92:5). You have to be so happy, that you sing. Singing means that you’ve studied the details of the gifts and that you’re actually grateful and indebted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. But when a person does it as a duty, he praises, he thanks as a duty – of course it’s a good thing and we wish all the Jews would do that, but that man is not really an oived Hashem. He’s serving Hashem without any motivation; he doesn’t feel that there’s really anything to be thankful for; he doesn’t understand how happy life really is and so for him, all of his service of Hashem is “him bestowing benefits on Hashem” instead of the other way around.LEARN TO BE A MISER!But if you want to be a success in this world, if you want your life to be l’ratzon, a life filled with finding favor in the eyes of Hashem, then you’re going to have to practice being a “Chofetz Chaim miser” as well; you have to get busy counting your wealth. Now, you won’t be able to do it all at once – and you shouldn’t. One limb, one organ, at a time, the way it was cut in the Beis Hamikdash. But you have to start. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you’re beset with pangs of regret about missed opportunities.You know what it would mean to have to give back your kidneys?! Here’s a man who can’t even urinate. So he has to go to the hospital to be hooked up to a machine, let’s say, three times a week, for three hours at a time, a kidney machine to clean his body instead of his kidneys that aren’t working. If he could get his kidneys back, he would sing! So you’re thanking Hashem, “You let me keep my kidneys!”You know how much fun it is to have kidneys? If they weren’t functioning you’d pay good money for new kidneys; piles and piles of money! And you don’t have to – you have two perfect ones. You don’t even notice they’re there because they’re functioning so smoothly. Now, you don’t take them out for the mizbei’ach – let them stay right where they are. But in your mind, take them out and gloat over them. Spend one day counting the blessings of a kidney.MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDYou know what a simcha it is to come out of the beis ha’kissei! You accomplished “your mission” successfully. Boruch Hashem! רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות. It’s a miracle! You know the meforshim try to explain exactly what is this miracle. Maflee la’asos means that it’s a miracle. But the truth is that you don’t have to search for the miracle, you don’t have to look for a reason. It’s a miracle, as clear as day. Your kidneys are able to take a small amount of blood and continually cleanse it. That same blood courses through your body again and again. And your kidneys are constantly cleaning out your blood. You should think about that when you say Asher Yatzar. At least that you can do. To say thank you with a sincere feeling of gratitude before the One who is giving you a healthy kidney and is not asking for it back.If you’d study the liver you would appreciate what it means to have a great chemical laboratory that’s functioning within you, and you would ‘sing along’ with your liver in gratitude to Hashem כל עצמותי תאמרנה השם מי כמוך. You never heard of liver disease? Someone who had an operation on his liver or takes pills or treatment for his liver? You don’t even know that you have a liver; it’s only “emunah” on your part; you were told you have a liver somewhere in there so you believe in it, you’re a ma’amin. You don’t feel it in there but you “accept” what they tell you.You’re lucky that you don’t feel it. It’s quiet, it’s efficient, it’s doing its work without bothering you. Day and night it’s doing perfectly what it was created to do. And so when you hear that someone else is suffering from his liver, you have to start singing, you have to begin appreciating what it means to have a healthy liver. Because this other fellow is actually being “makriv” his liver on the mizbei’ach, while Hashem is allowing you to keep yours!TIME FOR HOMEWORK!And you’ll have opportunities for expressing gratitude all day long. Now a little homework, I’ll give you. When you come to the Beis Haknesses and you hear kaddish being said, so instead of saying Yehei shmei rabbah just as a donation, “Let His great name be blessed;” and you’re thinking “Why not?” What do you care? It doesn’t cost you any money to say it: “Let other people bless His name,” that’s what it means. L’olam ul’olmai olmaya, forever and ever, sometime in the far off future, forever and ever, other people should get busy blessing His name.No, you’re the one who should be blessing His name. And don’t wait for the future; it should be happening right now. Think of one specific thing when you say Yehei Shmei Rabbah; it’s a good idea to prepare. As soon as the chazzan starts saying Yisgadal, think, “What part of my body am I going to thank for this time.” Think fast! It would be better if you thought beforehand; this kaddish will be for my fingers, and this one for my elbows. My ears, my teeth, and then my nerves. Preparing beforehand is best, but even at the last second you can think of one thing to thank Hashem for.TAKING PESUKEI D’ZIMRAWITH YOUAnd you have many other opportunities for this as well. As you’re saying Hodu, Ashrei, or the Hallelukahs, you’re saying the words anyway, so think, “Today I’m singing about my lungs.” If you pay attention to the words you’re saying you’ll see that it’s all songs and praises; but if you’re not thinking then you’re wasting the precious opportunity to thank Hashem for your lungs. And that day, all day long whenever you’re walking down the street you’re singing to Hashem, “I’m counting my breath and thanking Hashem for my lungs.”That’s how to do it. It’s a good idea to say, “Today is the ear day.” “Tomorrow is nose day.” “The next day is heart day.” Ooh, ahh, that’s a big day! And then comes lung day. And brain day. And every day you dedicate to thinking about another body part. So when you get to ‘leg day,’ so that day all your pesukei d’zimraare all about your legs. “Ah, what a pleasure it is to have the ability to walk!” You’re not a prisoner, stuck in a bed. Boruch Hashem you have two Rolls Royces underneath you; better than any other wheels. It’s the biggest happiness that you can walk. And it’s all nissei nissim. You know what the muscles are doing when you walk? Every muscle has a reflex, one is pulling and one is shoving. And it’s pulling and shoving back and forth every second, in perfect coordination. How those muscles work is one of the most wonderful arrangements that you’ll find in the world.THANK HASHEM FOR JELLYAnd your thighs aren’t just moving; they’re moving in a socket. The thigh moves all day in this socket, moving and twisting and pressing. So why don’t you feel any friction there? There’s a kind of jelly there in between, the synovial fluid, and it’s lubricating the joints. And the jelly is always being replenished by additional materials. So as you walk down the street, don’t waste the opportunity. As your thigh swings forward in effortless motion, consider the miracle of the smoothly functioning joints; your joints bend this way and that way, and you feel no pain! You hear any moving, any scraping? No, it’s beautifully quiet. And therefore we say ברוך אתה השם המכין מצעדי גבר, I thank You Hashem for establishing the footsteps of man. How wonderful it is to walk!And your eyes! You’re able to see? Ah, ah, ah! Oh, is this a pleasure. It says סומא חשוב כמת, a blind man is in a way a dead man. You lose so much of life when you cannot see. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you have to tap your way on Kings Highway. You come to an intersection and you’re at a loss what to do. You want to find the right store to enter; you don’t want to bump into people. You can’t see the blue sky; you can’t see the foliage of the trees; you can’t see people; you can’t see motion; you can’t see life. People who can’t see, if they could have working eyes, they would go delirious with ecstasy that their eyesight was restored. They wouldn’t be able to stop singing.RAV MILLER’S BEAUTIFUL EYESYou have to rejoice in the great gift of two beautiful orbs. Once I went to an eye doctor and he looked into my eyes. Now I don’t have especially beautiful eyes, but he said, “You have two beautiful orbs!” In the darkness the human eye is shining with a beautiful light. “You have two beautiful orbs,” he said. You have to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu for your eyesight; He’s giving you a gift!Seeing is one of the great delights of life. It’s a pleasure to be able to open your eyes and see what’s going on around you. Take a peek into the eye doctor’s office and you’ll see people waiting there with bandages covering their eyes. All kinds of eye ailments. This one needs this operation, and the other fellow a different operation. And you don’t need any operation on your eyes! Boruch Hashem! כל עמצותי תאמרנה, Sing along with your eyes!KORBANOS ON OCEAN PARKWAYSo you’re thinking and thanking and singing all day long. You’re fulfilling the avodas hakorbanos, right here on Ocean Parkway. Because the avodas hakorbanos is teaching us that it’s not enough for us to merely say ‘thank you’ to Hashem for life in general. A genuine attitude of gratitude will only develop from thanking Hashem for all the individual kindnesses. If you want to fulfill the avodah of the korbanos today, even when the Beis Hamikdash is not standing, then you must study each detail of the chesed Hashem, and sing a song of gratitude for that detail in particular.And that’s why Hashem took you out of Mitzrayim. שלח את עמי ויעבדוני. I’m taking you out of Mitzrayim so that you should offer korbanos to Me, and sing to Me all your life along with your atzamos. Because although the korbanos have many purposes, the first of all the intentions is the expression of gratitude, for taking us out of Mitzrayim to be His people, and for all the thousands and tens of thousands of kindnesses that He bestows upon us always, without taking them back. The list of gifts is endless. Boruch Hashem, you are loaded down with blessings. You’re a lucky fellow! You’re not putting your eyes on the mizbei’ach. You’re not carrying your own leg up the ramp. Hashem says, “Keep everything. Enjoy My gifts. But remember Me. At least that. Remember Me.”KEEP YOUR HEAD TO YOURSELFAnd so the korbanos are an expression of the highest form of gratitude to Hashem. Boruch Hashem, He gives me my life every day, and all my organs are functioning perfectly more or less. And so I express my gratitude by giving him back “my” head, “my” leg, “my” kidneys, “my” cheilev – my everything! We get to keep our legs and our hearts. We get to keep our cheilev in ourselves. We keep our k’layos to ourselves. Our kidneys, our head; everything we get to keep and we use them everyday. And instead we burn all the parts of the olah to Hashem, and by means of that we understand our place in this world, a world where we’re being given gifts and gifts without end. And it’s for those gifts that we are forever indebted to the Giver, and we serve Him and sing to Him all the days of our lives. And by means of our overflowing gratitude to Hashem we find favor in His eyes, because we are achieving our purpose in this world.Singing to Hashem is the purpose of life, and one who joins the choir will be rewarded with even more years to sing: “The mizbei’ach was made in order to lengthen a man’s life” (Middos 3:4). The secret of the korbanos is recognition of the chesed Hashem that pervades one’s life, and Hashem bestows more life upon those that who utilize their time here to recognize Him. And they thereby achieve the chief purpose of life: יראת השם לחיים – “Awareness of Hashem causes life” (Mishlei 19:23). And therefore, even today, when we can’t yet bring korbanos, we can continue to sing always to Hashem we thereby achieve the greatness of the days of the Beis Hamikdashand find favor in the eyes of Hashem in this world and the next. HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOSGo Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Shechina Rests on YisroelPart I.TheShechinaFinds a HomeTHE MISHKAN IN A NUTSHELLWhen Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave the command to erect aMishkan, the firstBeis Hamikdash, so He stated, ועשו לי מקדש – “And they shall make for Me a place of holiness, an especial place for Me, ושכנתי בתוכם, and I will dwell in their midst” (Terumah 25:8) Now these words are of the utmost importance because we are learning in a nutshell what is meant by theMishkan, and later theBeis Hamikdash– that it’s the place of thehashra’ashashechinah– the place where the Presenceof Hashem comes down to reside. TheMishkanwasn’t a place of prayer and service; it was that too, but actually it was much more than that. It wasthe dwelling place of Hashem.This we must know, that there is such a concept, a fact, that although Hashem is everywhere, there is such a thing as Hashem concentrating HisShechinahin a certain place. ושכנתי בתוכם – “And I will reside among them,” He told us. Hashem chose that He should rest His Presence by theAm Yisroel. It’s an especial afflatus, that Hakodosh Boruch Hu comes to rest in theMishkan, among His people, in an especial way that is not found anywhere else.A NEW NEIGHBOR FOR THE JEWSNow among all the statements found in the Torah, none could be as breathtaking as that one: “I will dwell among My people!” The Creator of the Universe, the מלא כל הארץ כבודו, the One Whose Presence fills the remote distances of space, is coming down to live among us?! Yes, that’s exactly what the Torah states, “Make Me a home, and I shall dwell in their midst. I have chosen theAm Yisroelas that place where I will take up residence.” Hashem forsakes the high heavens and moves into the encampment of the Am Yisroel!It’s a new “neighbor” for the Jewish people!You know, we don’t really think too much when we read thechumash, so we gloss over these words without too much thought, but actually it was an enormouschiddushwhen the Creator of the Universe declared that His Presence would reside in an edifice erected by men. What could be more stunning, more astonishing, than the thought that the Creator of the Universe, whose glory fills the endless remoteness of space, should choose to live in a tabernacle of wood and cloth?! Because what was theMishkanafter all? It wasn’t even a royal palace; it was a portable house made of boards, bars and sockets. Could Hashem reside in such a place? Hashem is infinite and not physical, and His reality transcends any space measurement. He can’t live in a home; it defies all logic.STUNNING MOSHE RABBEINUAnd that’s exactly what Moshe Rabeinu said when he heard these words of Hakodosh Boruch Hu: התחיל מתמיה ואומר – “Moshe was stupefied and he said, כבודו של הקדוש ברוך הוא מלא עליונים ותחתונים והוא אומר עשה לי משכן – The glory of Hashem fills the upper and lower worlds, and yet He says, “Make for Me a place to live?!” It didn’t make any sense to Moshe Rabeinu. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לא כשם שאתה סובר אני סובר – So Hakodosh Boruch Hu said to Moshe, “Not as you think, do I think, אלא עשרים קרש בצפון ועשרים בדרום ושמונה במערב – “Just make for Me twenty planks on the north side, twenty on the south, eight on the west side, and that’s enough for Me” (Shemos Rabbah: 34)Now if these words so stunned Moshe Rabeinu that Hakodosh Boruch Hu had to tell him, “Moshe, My servant, You and I think differently,” so we would be well-served if we spent some time studying this stupendous concept that Hashem rested His Presence among theAm Yisroel.What’s so important about an especial building erected for theShechinah? Why is it so important that theShechinahshould come there more than anywhere else? Of course, like I said before, it’s such a vast concept that it can’t be explained in a couple of sentences, but whatever it was, it was an enormous demonstration that Hashem was making: “My Presence will dwell inMachaneh Yisroel,in the encampment of the Jewish Nation in a way that cannot be found anywhere else.” Such a stupendous idea, it pays for us to understand at least superficially.WILDERNESS TOURS LTD.Imagine we are standing on a hill, we’re visiting in themidbar. Let’s say we came from Moav or from Edom as visitors. And one of theBnei Yisroelis standing with us and he’s pointing out to us the sights. So you’re looking out into the distance at theMachaneh Yisroel, the camp of the people. Thousands of tents, all arranged in an orderly fashion. There were roads between the tents, and theshevatimwere all encamped surrounding themachaneh levi’im, the place where thelevi’imlived. And in the middle, in the center of the camp, was themachaneh shechinahwhere a large wooden hut was standing. That’s what you saw as you stood on this hill looking out at theAm Yisroel.So your Jewish tour guide says, “You see there, over there, that’sReuvenin that corner. All those thousands of tents, that’sShevet Reuven.And over there, on the other side, that’s therivevosEfraim. And look on that side, over there, you can see thealfeiMenasheh.” And then he says – he tells you to look through the binoculars, “You see that tent over there, that’s where Betzalel lives. And over there on the left, that’s where Aharon Hakohen resides. And that tent, that’s where Moshe Rabeinu is right now teaching Torah to thezekeinim.”THE EDOMITE LAMDANAnd then, the guide who is showing you the sights, points with his finger, and says, “And there, you see that tent in the middle, that’s where Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the Creator of the World, lives.” So you gasp; you weren’t expecting to hearthat! You’re only a visitor after all. So you look at your guide incredulously, “What do you mean Helivesthere?” So he tells you matter of factly, “Yes, that’s His address. That’s where the Creator of the world lives!”So let’s say you’re a bit of alamdan. Imagine such a thing, alamdanfromEdom. So you ask, “Doesn’t it say (Yeshaya 66:1): כה אמר השם השמים כסאי – “Hashem says, ‘The heavens is My throne,’ והארץ הדום רגלו – and the earth is just a resting stool for My feet.’” The heaven is nothing but a throne for Hashem, and the earth is where He rests His feet. איזה בית אשר תבנו לי – “What kind of house could you build for Me?” So you have akasha, it’s a very goodkashayou asked. But the guide stubbornly tells you, “Look, you can quote all thepesukimyou wish, but this is what Hashem told us. He forsook the high heavens; He has left all of space, the billions of space miles, and He has come down and He has chosenthis placeto dwell. He lives there, among the people.” Now if you were not from theBnei Yisroel,if you were a visitor from some other nation, so you might shrug your shoulders. It’s an interesting thought, but it doesn’t mean much for you. But you’d still be impressed by the conviction and sincerity of the Jewish people.THE MEN OF PERFECTIONBut let’s understand not what a tourist fromEdomor fromAramwould see. What wouldthe Bnei Yisroel themselvessee? When theBnei Yisroellooked at the various tents of the distinguished ones of theAm Yisroel,it wasn’t merely as a person seeing the sights; for them it was a great pride and encouragement. Because these were very great men who lived among us, men of great stature, men of perfection. And our nation was inordinately proud that these great men lived among them. It was such a happiness to pass by the tent of Betzalel and to know that we possess a Betzalel, the man of unmatched artistic abilities who built themishkan– that Betzalel was ours, was a great pride. We were so lucky to have such a rare personality among us.And they were even more proud when they could point to Aharon Hakohen. Aharon is unequaled in history.Aharon k’dosh Hashem, Aharon the holy man of Hashem. Aharon was cited as the apotheosis, the summit of kindliness. בשלום ובמישור הלך עמדי ורבים השיב מעוון. (Malachi 2:6) Aharon was anoheiv shalomand arodef shalom, a man who loved peace. But not in the sense we understand it. Everyone loves peace. But Aharon loved peace with every fiber of his being. He was a man who pursued peace, which means he did everything possible to cause peace, tranquility and happiness between human beings. His life was devoted to that. אוהב את הבריות, He loved people, ומקרבן לתורה, and he brought them close to Torah too. And therefore when they pointed to his tent and they said, “This is the residence ofAharonk’dosh Hashem,” they said it with an inspiration and a pride.SMELLY NEIGHBORSSuppose somebody would be able to point out, “In my neighborhood there lives, let’s say – now I’m sorry I have to use such a comparison; I want to wash my mouth when I get through, but let’s say someone would say, “You see down the block; Beethoven lives over there!” Beethoven! The rents would go up in all the apartments in the neighborhood; the price of real estate would skyrocket. Now really it should plummet! Everybody should move out as quickly as possible. Because wherever these big musical geniuses lived, if you had an especial ability to smell, you would have to hold your nose. Because musical ability and purity of character by no means have to go together. And often they don’t. Like somebody gave me a clipping this week; the great musician Leopold Stokowski, the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, acclaimed the world over as a musical genius. So he boasted, he himself boasted to his musician friends, that he utilized the wives of the members of his orchestra. You understand now, that’s the bravado, the boasting heroics from one musician to another. So I’m sorry that we have to sink to such depths in order to appreciate this subject. But it’s important for us to understand the subject at hand.Now if Stokowski lived on this block I’m afraid people would not hold their noses. I’m afraid they would vie with each other to try to move in. And they’d like to be somewhere on the block when pictures are being snapped of him. At least they could point someday and say, “You see that little dot way out in in the background? That’s me!” And it would be such a pride that they’d show it to their grandchildren. That’s because people today lost their sense of smell altogether.VISITING PARSHANDASA’S HOMEBoruch Hashem, we don’t have to take pride in Stokowskis. We can take pride in those who are truly great men. If we could visit the sanctuary where Rashi Hakodosh spent his years! It’s in a little town in Germany, in Worms, Vermeiseh. It’s kept as a museum today, but that means nothing to us. If we would walk into that place, we’d walk in on tip-toe; it’sadmas kodesh. You’re walking into a place that is the heart of the Jewish people, thekodesh kodoshimof our nation. The place where Rashi sat and studied the Torah, and the room where he wrote his commentaries on the entireTalmud Bavliand the entireTanach. Rashi is the teacher of the wholeAm Yisroel.Every word in Rashi is sweet as honey. If you’re an expert inlanguageyou could appreciate how Rashi made hard things soft, he made the difficult things unravel. Rashi was a master expert in explaining. He’s calledParshan Dasa,that’s the nickname he was given. It means “The one who explains the Torah.”And so if you walk into that holy of holies, to Rashi’s study in his Beis Hamedrash, it’s the greatest of privileges. You can feel thekedushahof these ancient walls permeating your personality, entering the marrow of your bones. You’re not the same person once you visited Rashi’sbeis hamedrash. Of course, I’m talking about someone who knows what it’s all about. Rashi is the beloved teacher of theAm Yisroel.You have to appreciate the great personality who once lived here and expressed his soul here, in his writings. Only that it’s pity that it’s there in Europe. Had that place been inEretz Yisroelit would have become a shrine. No question people would come there in the hundreds of thousands and pour out their hearts to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And with thezechusof Rashi their prayers would go up to Hashem. Only that it’s in the accursed land of Germany, in the uncleangolus. And even there, it’skodesh kodoshim.TENT OF INTOXICATIONAnd so now we come back to theMachaneh Yisroelin theMidbar. We could point to the tent of Moshe Rabeinu, the place where Moshe Rabeinu resided. The tent of Moshe Rabeinu! The intense emotion of pride that such a thing caused is indescribable! “I’m living in the neighborhood of Moshe!” It was a great happiness, a great pride, to know that Moshe lived among us.But to be able to point out the tent of Moshe Rabeinu was nothing at all when compared to being able to point at the tent of Hakodosh Boruch Hu! No concept could be more astonishing than the thought that the Creator of the Universe, Whose glory fills the endless remoteness of space, would choose to dwell in a tabernacle. We can picture the intoxication of ecstatic excitement that seized upon Moshe and the people at this announcement. The knowledge, more than knowledge – the sight – of the residence of Hashem in the midst of the camp was a vivid reminder for the people that they were chosen by the Creator of the Universe forever. We shouldn’t overlook the effect of theMishkanupon the tent-homes of the Am Yisroel. TheMishkanwas of course a larger tent, but because it stood among the tents of the camp it had an unfailing effect on every tent in the camp. And the most outstanding effect was the demonstration that Hashem had chosen us from all the nations. We are the center of the Universe, for Hashem here declared ושכנתי בתוכם – “I will dwell in your midst.” Because even more than a demonstration of His presence, even more than the constant reminder that we were standing before Hashem, was the pride that theMishkangenerated in the people: “Hashem chose us; He chose to dwell among us!”Now there’s no question that the nation gained many blessings by having the Presence of theShechinahamong them. I’m not capable of telling you everything that was gained but there’s no doubt that every individual gained a great deal of perfection of soul; the mind of every man, woman and child was filled with an Awareness that would have been otherwise impossible to achieve. But of all the blessings, of all the achievements, most important was the knowledge that Hashem chose to live among us forever. The fact that there was a special abode, a house where the King of the Universe residedamong us,was so impressive that all of theBnei Yisroel,even those who never had the chance to come visit that house, were entirely transformed because of that. It made such a deep impression that it lasted with them all throughout their lives and it accompanied them into the world to come.THE SIMPLE FACTNow when theBnei Yisroelsaw the house of Hakodosh Boruch Hu – and they saw it every day – so they certainly became accustomed to it. There’s no question that seeing the same thing every day is going to make you hardened and you’re not going to be excited anymore. But that’s what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wanted, that they should become so accustomed to the thought that Hashem dwells in their midst that it should be beyond any doubt in their minds. It became a simple matter of fact that Hakodosh Boruch Hu resides among us.And for forty years theBnei Yisroelin themidbarwere able to point out to their children, “My son, over there, that’s the tent of Aharon Hakohen. And there’s the tent of Moshe Rabeinu. And over there, that’s the Mishkan, the tent of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And it became a phlegmatic matter of fact, it became part of their world outlook that Hashem theBorei Kol Ha’olamos, the One who had created all the worlds, had forsaken the infinity of all the universes, all the remoteness of space, and He now dwellsb’soch Bnei Yisroel. It went into the marrow of their bones.Now this is what you should be thinking about always. The Torah is full ofpesukimdedicated to this idea, and it’s a shame to let it go to waste. And even though we have never seen theMishkan,but thepesukimwe have read hundreds of times, and it pays to think into it a bit. That the Creator of the Universe, the One who fills the whole universe with His presence, מלא כל הארץ כבודו, He created the stars in the remotest distances of space; He is the ruler of millions of star worlds, and nevertheless He has forsaken everything and He has chosen to reside on our people. Now no matter how difficult that concept is, that’s the fundamental teaching of the Torah. You can’t be a Jew unless you understand the teaching that Hashem is with us forever. Not just that He will help us forever, no, it’s much more than that.He dwells among us forever. The Presence of Hashem – His actual Presence – is upon our nation forever.PART II.Pride of YisroelCRASH COURSE IN BRACHOSAnd it’s something we thank Hashem for every day. Every day we say it, only we don’t realize what we’re thanking for. And that’s a tragedy, because it’s such an important attitude that we should be living with, that it pays to make use of every opportunity to impress it upon our minds. Every day inshemoneh esreiwe say thebrachaברוך אתה השם הא-ל הקדוש. Now all thebrachos, you know,are blessings of gratitude.Boruchmeans we’rethankingHim. InMagen Avraham, we thank Hashem; He’s the shield of Avraham, it means He’s the shield of our nation; He protects us because of Avraham.מחיה המתים, the secondbracha, we thank Hashem for giving us food, and for healing the sick and for giving us rain; all the good things enumerated there. And one day He’ll revive the dead, and we thank Him for that too. And then there’s ברוך אתה השם חונן הדעת – You, Hashem bestow sanity! You’re thanking Hashem that you’re not in an insane asylum, that you’re not depressed. You’re full of gratitude that you’re not crazy, that you’re not paranoid or psychotic. You don’t think about that, do you? So you’re notdaveningproperly. And when you look, you’ll see that everybrachais abrachaof gratitude.But there’s onebrachathat’s difficult to understand: ברוך אתה השם הא-ל הקדוש – We thank You Hashem that You are the holy G-d. We’re thanking Him because He’s holy?! What gratitude is required because He is Holy? I want you to hear the question. On everything inshemonah esreithere is a benefit for which we are thanking.Boruchmeans that we are grateful, and we bend our knees to You in gratitude. But when we come to thebrachaof הא-ל הקדוש we find that the entire bracha speaks of no kindliness at all – all we do is speak about the holiness, the perfection of Hashem. So what are we thanking Him for? What gratitude is it that we’re supposed to be feeling?ARE YOU PROUD OF YOUR BOSS?So listen now and you’ll learn what you’re thanking Hashem for when you say הא-ל הקדוש. Tonight when you davenmaariv, for the first time in your life you’ll be able to thank Hashem for being the א-ל הקדוש, the Perfect G-d. And if you forget to have it mind, there’sshacharistomorrow, andminchatoo. Don’t squander the opportunities. So we’ll explain it like this. Let’s say you have a boss over you.The boss himself is an underling, a nobody, but he’s your boss, what can you do. There’s no great pride there. You won’t pride yourself that you work for the colored man in the warehouse. Nothing wrong with working for a colored man, but it’s no great pride.But let’s say somebody is an assistant to the president, so he feels important already. And if he’s an assistant let’s say toDovid Melech Yisroel,lehavdil, sohe’s surely important.It’s like a man who was elevated by the king.The king chose a certain man, let’s call him Wilfred, and made him a duke. So instead of being a commoner, now he’s Duke of Worchester. Instead of being Wilfred, now he’s nobility; connected to the royal family. And he walks the streets of England with pride: “I was chosen by the king!”WE’RE ECSTATIC WITH OUR LOT!Now, if we’re assistants to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if He choseusand He considersusHis beloved ones and His entire interest is only in us, as we’re going to seebli neder,so that’s our pride in this world; we’re happy – not happy, we’re ecstatic – that we have such a G-d.That’s what it says להודות לשם קדשיך להשתבח בתהלתך – ““We give thanks to Your holy name, and we commend ourselves, we praise ourselves, by Your praise” (Tehillim 106:47). According to the holiness, the perfection, of Hashem, so much greater is the honor, pride and security of the nation He chose to rest His Presence on.And that’s why we say thank you to Hashem for being so perfect. BecauseHisperfection isourglory. We boast in the praise of Hashem because that’s our honor and glory. The Holy One, the Perfect G-d, that’s our G-d.And we thank Him because of that, we say, “Thank You Hashem for being הא-ל הקדוש , for being so great. We take pride that we have such a G-d, שאין כמוהו, and it’s our happiness.He chose us; we are His people and that’s an unequaled pride. “Thank You Hashem for being so perfect that it’s a glory for me to be connected to You.”And so we begin to see what it means when people say it’s not easy to be a Jew.A person said once that:s’iz shver tzu zein a Yid, it’s difficult to be a Jew. But he didn’t understand what it meant. What it means is that there is a great responsibility in being part of the nation upon which Hashem actually rests His Presence. A Jew has to have in mind a great deal of meditation, a great deal of reflection, in order to appreciate his position in this world.He must constantly be aware of the greatness of his history.The reason that you find Jewish people who are ashamed of their Jewishness is because they’re ignorant of their past.If you learnChumashproperly, if you learnTanachproperly, you’ll begin to understand what a great privilege it is to belong to theAm Yisroel.אשריכם ישראל, how fortunate you are Yisrael, מי כמוך, who is like you?” Moshe Rabeinu said that. Who is like you?! Nobody! אשרי העם שככה לו, how fortunate is the nation that thus is his lot.And what is that lot that makes us so fortunate? אשרי העם שהשם אלקיו, because Hashem chose you.And therefore at all times we sing אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו, how fortunate we are.A Jew has to sing at all times! At least in his heart he should always be singing in happiness because of the great honor that he possesses.His heart should sing within him because Hakadosh Baruch Hu has elevated him. A proud Jew, a Jew who understands that Hashem resides among us always, walks the streets, whatever street it may be, he’s walking on air. He’s happy always!HASHEM SAYS SHEMA TOONow in ourtefillinit’s written,Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu –“Listen all of you, Hashem isourG-d.” He doesn’t belong to the Polish people, or to the Mexicans or the Israelis. He’s ours.Hashem Echad –He’s One. What does that mean, “He’s One”? It means a lot of things but we’ll say now one of the importantpeirushimthat you should think about always. And that is that He is The Only One in all of our thoughts and deeds. He is the one purpose of our lives, and we must love Him and serve Him with all of our strength – everything we do should be for Him. That’s not such an easy task, but that’s what you’re saying every day, so it’s a good idea to get busy thinking about how to do that.So that’s ourtefillin. But thegemara(Brachos 6a) says Hakadosh Baruch Hu puts ontefillintoo. That’s a remarkable statement: Hakodosh Boruch Hu wearstefillinon His head. And why shouldn’t He?Tefillinis a sign of royalty, so He surely deserves to weartefillin. Now what’s written in Histefillin, thegemaraasks? What’s written in Hisparshiyos?So thegemarasays in Histefillinis thepossuk,מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ – “Who is like you My nation Yisroel; You are the one nation on earth.Goyechaaaaadddddd. The one and only nation in the world! That’s how Hashem says it.Only He says it longer than we do.We get tired but Hashem doesn’t get tired:Echaaaaaaaaadddddddd!He says it forever and ever, “They’re My One nation in the world. That’s all I care about.Echad– “They are Myoneconcern. Everything is done for you, My children.” Now when Hashem chooses us, it means much more than we could imagine, but what it surely means is that we are the center of His thoughts, and that everything He does – and He doeseverything– is for us.JEWS REALLY DO CONTROL THE WORLDThat’s what it says, הוא השם אלקנו, He is ours, בכל הארץ משפטיו – In all the world are His judgments (Tehillim 105:7) Whatever happens in the world, we shouldn’t make any mistake, it’smishpatav, it’sHisjudgements; Hashem is pulling the strings. But the preface to that is:Hu Hashem Elokeinu, He is Hashem our King, and therefore anything that happens in the world is donebecause of us.Everything that happensb’chol ha’aretz,in the whole world, are His judgements. And how does He do the judgments? In the role ofHashem Elokeinu, of beingourG-d!And so if you hear that there is a lack of rain in a certain state and people are suffering, Hashem is doing itbecause of us.Now how that works, that’s a question.It’s a good question.But it’s because of us. If gold was discovered in a certain state, it’s because of us.If there’s a hurricane, it’s because of us.There’s no question about that.Because it’s made by Hashem; and who is Hashem?הוא השם אלקנו, He is our G-d, and בכל הארץ משפטיו, His judgments throughout the world are all being done as “our G-d”.Now I know that most people don’t think this way.They think likegoyim; even thefrumJews think likegoyim. But you have to study what is written in thekisvei hakodeshand you have to attune your mind to this truth of the Torah.IT’S A RACHMANUS ON THEIR PRIDENow, if that’s the case so we begin to see what an obligation there is upon the Am Yisrael to be proud.Ga’avah! Now that doesn’t mean the Jewish pride you find outside in the street. For a Jew just to be proud that he’s a Jew, that doesn’t mean much. Because we’re not talking about the pride like the African-Americans say, “We’re proud that we’re black.” They’re not proud anyhow. They’re doing their bestnotto be black.You see they go to beauty parlors and they spend millions of dollars on lotions in order to lighten their complexion.Thousands and thousands of dollars on creams to cause their hair to straighten out. Some put on wigs that you shouldn’t see their kinky hair.They do everything to look like whites. They would give their souls if they could turn white.What could they donebach,so they say “We’re proud to be black.” And it’s the same with every nation. Every Puerto Rican says the same thing, “I’m proud to be a Puerto Rican.” He waves a little flag, he eats Puerto Rican food; that’s his pride. And the Israeli is proud to be Israeli. Every nation, they’re proud to be what they are.Alright, let them be proud.It’s arachmanuson them.But that’s not what we mean! When we say we’re proud, we have to understand that we’re saying it becauseHakadosh Baruch Hu said that to us. Hashem told us we’re great. And if He said it, we believe it. It’s not our fault, we didn’t do it ourselves. Hashem said it and we won’t argue with Him. בנים אתם, “You are My children of Mine !” Hashem said. If He says we’re His children, are we going to argue with Him?!And so we look up to what we possess, we look up to theShechinahthat isshorehby us, and we have to know that He is our greatness – our greatness in this world and our greatness in the World to Come. You have to study that; you have to take the time to ponder and understand what it means to believe implicitly that Hakodosh Boruch Hu chooses a certain place, a certain people, on whom He is concentrating the Presence of HisShechinah. And that it is a covenant that He has made forever and ever with our nation. “For the mountains may depart and the hills may be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says Hashem who loves you” (Yeshayah 54:10).DON’T BE A DEMOCRAT!When you get analiyahto the Torah you say אשר בחר בנו.What is it?Just a formula to knock off, just to beyotzei? No, it’s our duty to impress onto our minds that Hashem wasבחר בנו מכל העמים, that Hashem chose us from all the nations. You can’t just say the words – you have to live with that thought! As you walk in the street you must think you’re a prince. And thatga’avasan shel Yisroel,that pride of being a true Torah Jew, knowing that Hashem lives only among us, should make us look down on everything outside of our world. Because we know that there isabsolutely nothingto look for among the nations of the world.Ga’avasan shel Yisroel,the pride that we’re speaking about here, is anikar ha’emunah; it’s a fundamental attitude that a Jew must have. Without it you’re missing the fundamental of Judaism. You must hammer that into your head because to be proud that you’re aYisroelmeans that you believe in one of the most important cardinal principles of the Torah. And it’s so stupendous of a concept that when we say it today, even among Orthodox Jews, it’s not well received. With the spirit of democracy and western ideals it’s not easy to convince people about this great principle. I’m not talking now about asking themactually feel it, that I’m not even speaking about. But even to convince them that it’s a true principle is not easy. And that is the principle that the world was created for the Jewish people. Don’t say, “Everybody is the people of Hashem.”Don’t be a democrat! You have no right to give away what doesn’t belong to you.You have no right to hand out honors to the other nations of the world.JEWISH CHUTZPAHNow that’s not easy for us Orthodox Jews to accept. Do we have the nerve, do we have a boldness, to be so conceited and praise ourselves? And the answer is absolutely!And if we don’t, then we are backsliding, we’re being remiss in our duties as Jews. And let that sink in! It’s going to hurt. You’re going to rebel, you’re going to kick when you hear that. So take a deep breath, pay attention, and hold on tight.All of Mankind is considered nothing compared to theAm Yisroel! I’ll say it again to make sure you hear me: All the nations of the world are nothing in the eyes of Hashem when compared to us. So you’ll ask me, “Rabbi Miller, where do you get the audacity to make such a statement?” Look in thechumash! The Torah was given to us for the purpose of letting us know the great principles that otherwise we would not know. What is the Torah after all if not the thoughts of Hashem? And in the thoughts of Hashem you see that the histories of theumos haolamare ignored completely. Now if there was a lot of Torahs in the world, a Polish Torah that Hashem gave, all right.In the Polish Torah He would talk about the Polish.If there would be an African Torah, so He talks about Africa in the African Torah.But there’s only one Torah however, and even the Polish say that there’s only one Torah.They don’t say there are two Torahs.They agree that there was only one Torah. And the Africans agree with the Polish.All the Christians and Mohammedans says there’s only Torah. Only that Mohammed came along and wrote something later; but they agree that the Jews received the Torah.And what was written in the Jewish Torah?It’s written that Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose us – forever.HASHEM NEVER SPOKE TO PATRICKAnd so, anybody who feels he wants to be ananav, he wants to feel meek and humble and not be superior to anybody else, then that person is akofer b’chol hatorah kulah, fromBereishis barauntill’einei chol Yisroel, the last words in the Torah. What does the Torah talk about? There’s a Torah after all; what’s it all about? Isn’t that a queer question? Now pay attention. The entire Torah talks only about two subjects.The Torah is about two subjects and nothing more.One subject is Hashem, that’s the main subject of the Torah. But it talks about something more than just Hashem.It also talks about theAmYisroel. The whole Torah is nothing but the Jewish Nation. The whole Torah is וידבר השם אל משה לאמר. The whole thing! Look through every page and you won’t find even onceVa’yidabeir Hashem el Patrick leimor!The Torah is filled with nothing but the Jewish nation. Wherever you look, it’s only our people, our people. Nothing is said about Irishmen, about Polish people, nothing. Only Jews! From beginning to end, the entireTanachdeals only with our people.So what do we see?That’s the importance of theAm Yisroeliskol hatorah kulah.And therefore we have to say that the pride in being a Jew is just as fundamental as believing inkol hatorah kulah.And anyone who doesn’t understand this concept in its fullness, so he doesn’t really understand the Torah. Actually he’s akofer b’ikar; he’s rebelling against the wholeTanach. It’s as open as could be that this is the chief function of all the writings in theTanach, to tell us first that there is a Creator, and number two that He has a chosen nation.WE DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAYNow, today this second principle is frequently overlooked. Pious Jews will say, “Yes, certainly; we’re chosen to do commandments. But you have to look at everyone else tolerantly. They’re like us. They also have ways of living, they also are nations and they also have cultures.” Now I know that some people here read newspapers, they watch television and they listen to goyim talking on the radio. So their minds are brainwashed- not brainwashed, dirt washed, bilge-water washed, and therefore it hurts them to hear the words I’m saying here. But what could I do? After all, it’s an elementary principle of the Torah that we are Hashem’s chosen people. And if you don’t believe that, then goodbye! You don’t belong. If you don’t believe we are His people, then you don’t belong to us.We don’t care what the world says. We believe implicitly in these two cardinal principles – we believe in Hashem and we believe we are His people. No matter what the world says. They wouldn’t like to hear that, but we don’t care, we still know thatweare His people. That’s the Torah! That’s the purpose of the Torah, to tell us who we are.SOME THINGS NEED TO STAY A SECRETNow, of course you shouldn’t despise anybody.You shouldn’t show contempt for anybody,The public disrespect that is evident among some of our fellow Jews is not prudent. Not at all. It’s silly and it’s not ak’vod shamayim. However, in your heart there’s no question what you should think. Because there is no question that when you know that you’re superior, then definitely you consider the other one inferior. It’s unavoidable!Now, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to go around shouting from the rooftops that someone else is inferior. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to have to upset the gentile nations. We’re not looking to start up with nations of the world today; they have their own religions and they’ll become angry at us. But amongst ourselves, when we speak to each other, of course we say the truth. Among ourselves we speak about the truthall the time.We must spread the good news among our families and among our friends, of course. Absolutely we must do that. No doubt about it! Only that one has to be wise enough and respectful enough to not let our gentile neighbors know what we are thinking.THE GREAT TEST OF OPPOSITIONNow the truth is that nobody is capable of appreciating what this means, but at least to a certain extent a Jew must understand that he is an aristocrat, the chosen of Hashem. However, there’s a great test, a very great test, because of the opposition of theumos haolam,the constant hammering away of the anti-Semites and also the Jewish anti-Semites today who are constantly belittling thefrumJews, all the time.And now we begin to understand what thenisayonof life is.We’re being tested all the time.Because if we were the majority, it would be easy for us to be superior.We would easily fulfill thisemunahthat we are the chosen people.We’re the bosses, we dominate the world, so what’s the question?! Only that if you’re a minority and you walk in the street and a WASP driving by in a car calls you “Kike” or a boy riding by on a bike says “Get out of my way, Jew,” there’s a tendency to feel a little bit inferior.If you see all around you people who look down on you; some of them are nice enough not to say it, but in their hearts you know what they’re thinking. They despise you.They hate you.There’s no question about it.And don’t tell me not; I know the gentiles much better than you. And the truth is that today we have so many Jews who hate us; we have a double test.Once upon a time onlygoyimhated us.Today Jews hate us and the majority of Jews hatefrumJews. It’s a constant barrage, a greatnisayon,and that’s why we’re in this world, to overcome theshekerof the world and to never lose sight of the great principle that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has taught us: that we are His people, His only people forever and ever.BANG ON THE TABLE!That’s what Moshe Rabeinu said when he came to Pharaoh. He hammered on the table and said: כה אמר השם בני בכורי ישראל, like it or not, this is what Hashem said: “TheAmYisroelis My firstborn, My favorite.” And that’s what we have to be telling ourselves always. We have to hear it though. We have to bang on the table and say it to ourselves again and again, and remind ourselves who we are at all times. We are the בני א-ל חי, we are the children of the living G-d. בנים אתם להשם אלוקיכם, we are children to Hashem. And we have to walk with our heads high, always cognizant of the great pride that Hakadosh Baruch Hu bestowed on us, no matter what the world says. Don’t believe in democracy; don’t believe in pluralism. He chose us, and that’s it!I always tell the same stories so you heard this already. But I’ll tell it again. Reb Moshe Montefiore was the Lord Mayor of England. And he was also a baron. He was knighted by the king. That’s why he was Sir Montefiore. When he heard that in Russia they were persecuting the Jews, he decided to go to Russia and intervene with the Czar on behalf of his fellow Jews. So he travelled all the way across Russia with his own chariots. His own horsemen and a fancy carriage. The horsemen sat in the front, driving. And he was in the back. And on the side of the carriage were like private guards who could protect him if needed. And he was riding through Poland. He was riding through the streets of Warsaw. In Warsaw, in Poland of old, they were all anti-Semites. They hated the Jews. And here they saw a Jew riding in a carriage. A Jew who’s a big k’nocker. So there was a goy who couldn’t contain himself. A boy, a shaygetz, came running after him and he shouted, “Zhid!” Zhid means Jew in Polish. It was a derogatory way of referring to a Jew. So Reb Moshe Montefiore stopped the carriage and told his footmen to go run and catch the goy. They caught the goy and he was trembling because he knew that this Jew was a powerful Jew. They brought him to Reb Moshe and his hands and feet were trembling. So Reb Moshe Montefiore said, “Look here. In London they call me the Lord Mayor of London. The Sheriff of this and this district. Baron and Sir and so on and so on. But the biggest, the most important title, is the one you called me.Zhid! There’s nothing greater than that in the world.” And Reb Moshe Montefiore gave the boy a quid – a half pound – and he sent him away. He thanked him and sent him away.THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSEOh, how important it is for the Jew to recognize his greatness. A Jew must always remember how important he is, and never lose sight of our distinctiveness as the central feature of the universe. That’s why the universe exists, for the sake of theAm Yisroel,and you should be proud and arrogant, and therefore you know that you have to always strive for perfection and not be satisfied to remain mediocre. TheAm Yisroelmust always remind themselves that they are superior and that they should never lower themselves to the level of the nations.And what ourparshais teaching us is that one of the most important lessons of theMishkanwas this lesson of the pride of theAm Yisroel.It was the symbol of our glory.ושכנתי בתוכם. Hashem lives with us! Those two words are a stunning declaration of the principle that Hashem’s interest is not in the vast distances of space and in the millions of star-worlds, but in Man alone. And of all men, Hashem chose the Am Yisroel and made them the center of the universe by bringing His Presence to rest among them.GETTING DIZZY FROM THE MISHKAN“Behold, the Lord your God possesses the heavens, and the heavens above them, and the earth and all therein, but in your fathers alone did He delight to love them, and He chose their seed after them,you,above all the nation, even to this day” (Dvarim 10:14-15). This stupendous but abstract concept was now concretized in a visible form. “They shall make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them” (Shemos 25:8). Thenceforth, the multitude of Israel, whenever they saw the Mishkan, pointed to it as the dwelling place of the Master of the Universe. And in this tangible form, this dizzyingly sublime idea was hammered constantly into the mind of theAm Yisroel.Now the nations of the world will never yield to that thesis. But the time will come however when יושב בשמים ישחק, the One who dwells in the heavens will laugh at them, השם ילעג למו, Hashem will mock them. And theAm Yisroelwill then open its mouth in happy laughter as well, as the glory of ours that we were always well aware of, now becomes visible to all. And when Hashem laughs at the nations of the world, we too will indulge in laughter to our hearts content. We will laugh and laugh in proud happiness about the glory that was always ours!אז ימלא שחוק פינו, then our mouths will be full of laughter. And we will laugh forever and ever rejoicing in the fact that in this world and in the next world theShechinarests only on theAm Hashem. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Shechina Rests on YisroelPart I. The Shechina Finds a HomeTHE MISHKAN IN A NUTSHELLWhen Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave the command to erect a Mishkan, the first Beis Hamikdash, so He stated, ועשו לי מקדש – “And they shall make for Me a place of holiness, an especial place for Me, ושכנתי בתוכם, and I will dwell in their midst” (Terumah 25:8) Now these words are of the utmost importance because we are learning in a nutshell what is meant by the Mishkan, and later the Beis Hamikdash – that it’s the place of the hashra’ashashechinah – the place where the Presenceof Hashem comes down to reside. The Mishkanwasn’t a place of prayer and service; it was that too, but actually it was much more than that. It was the dwelling place of Hashem.This we must know, that there is such a concept, a fact, that although Hashem is everywhere, there is such a thing as Hashem concentrating His Shechinah in a certain place. ושכנתי בתוכם – “And I will reside among them,” He told us. Hashem chose that He should rest His Presence by the Am Yisroel. It’s an especial afflatus, that Hakodosh Boruch Hu comes to rest in the Mishkan, among His people, in an especial way that is not found anywhere else.A NEW NEIGHBOR FOR THE JEWSNow among all the statements found in the Torah, none could be as breathtaking as that one: “I will dwell among My people!” The Creator of the Universe, the מלא כל הארץ כבודו, the One Whose Presence fills the remote distances of space, is coming down to live among us?! Yes, that’s exactly what the Torah states, “Make Me a home, and I shall dwell in their midst. I have chosen the Am Yisroel as that place where I will take up residence.” Hashem forsakes the high heavens and moves into the encampment of the Am Yisroel! It’s a new “neighbor” for the Jewish people!You know, we don’t really think too much when we read the chumash, so we gloss over these words without too much thought, but actually it was an enormous chiddush when the Creator of the Universe declared that His Presence would reside in an edifice erected by men. What could be more stunning, more astonishing, than the thought that the Creator of the Universe, whose glory fills the endless remoteness of space, should choose to live in a tabernacle of wood and cloth?! Because what was the Mishkanafter all? It wasn’t even a royal palace; it was a portable house made of boards, bars and sockets. Could Hashem reside in such a place? Hashem is infinite and not physical, and His reality transcends any space measurement. He can’t live in a home; it defies all logic.STUNNING MOSHE RABBEINUAnd that’s exactly what Moshe Rabeinu said when he heard these words of Hakodosh Boruch Hu: התחיל מתמיה ואומר – “Moshe was stupefied and he said, כבודו של הקדוש ברוך הוא מלא עליונים ותחתונים והוא אומר עשה לי משכן – The glory of Hashem fills the upper and lower worlds, and yet He says, “Make for Me a place to live?!” It didn’t make any sense to Moshe Rabeinu. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לא כשם שאתה סובר אני סובר – So Hakodosh Boruch Hu said to Moshe, “Not as you think, do I think, אלא עשרים קרש בצפון ועשרים בדרום ושמונה במערב – “Just make for Me twenty planks on the north side, twenty on the south, eight on the west side, and that’s enough for Me” (Shemos Rabbah: 34)Now if these words so stunned Moshe Rabeinu that Hakodosh Boruch Hu had to tell him, “Moshe, My servant, You and I think differently,” so we would be well-served if we spent some time studying this stupendous concept that Hashem rested His Presence among the Am Yisroel.What’s so important about an especial building erected for the Shechinah? Why is it so important that the Shechinahshould come there more than anywhere else? Of course, like I said before, it’s such a vast concept that it can’t be explained in a couple of sentences, but whatever it was, it was an enormous demonstration that Hashem was making: “My Presence will dwell in Machaneh Yisroel, in the encampment of the Jewish Nation in a way that cannot be found anywhere else.” Such a stupendous idea, it pays for us to understand at least superficially.WILDERNESS TOURS LTD.Imagine we are standing on a hill, we’re visiting in the midbar. Let’s say we came from Moav or from Edom as visitors. And one of the Bnei Yisroel is standing with us and he’s pointing out to us the sights. So you’re looking out into the distance at theMachaneh Yisroel, the camp of the people. Thousands of tents, all arranged in an orderly fashion. There were roads between the tents, and the shevatim were all encamped surrounding the machaneh levi’im, the place where the levi’im lived. And in the middle, in the center of the camp, was the machaneh shechinah where a large wooden hut was standing. That’s what you saw as you stood on this hill looking out at the Am Yisroel.So your Jewish tour guide says, “You see there, over there, that’s Reuven in that corner. All those thousands of tents, that’s Shevet Reuven. And over there, on the other side, that’s the rivevosEfraim. And look on that side, over there, you can see the alfeiMenasheh.” And then he says – he tells you to look through the binoculars, “You see that tent over there, that’s where Betzalel lives. And over there on the left, that’s where Aharon Hakohen resides. And that tent, that’s where Moshe Rabeinu is right now teaching Torah to the zekeinim.”THE EDOMITE LAMDANAnd then, the guide who is showing you the sights, points with his finger, and says, “And there, you see that tent in the middle, that’s where Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the Creator of the World, lives.” So you gasp; you weren’t expecting to hear that! You’re only a visitor after all. So you look at your guide incredulously, “What do you mean He lives there?” So he tells you matter of factly, “Yes, that’s His address. That’s where the Creator of the world lives!”So let’s say you’re a bit of a lamdan. Imagine such a thing, a lamdan from Edom. So you ask, “Doesn’t it say (Yeshaya 66:1): כה אמר השם השמים כסאי – “Hashem says, ‘The heavens is My throne,’ והארץ הדום רגלו – and the earth is just a resting stool for My feet.’” The heaven is nothing but a throne for Hashem, and the earth is where He rests His feet. איזה בית אשר תבנו לי – “What kind of house could you build for Me?” So you have a kasha, it’s a very good kasha you asked. But the guide stubbornly tells you, “Look, you can quote all the pesukim you wish, but this is what Hashem told us. He forsook the high heavens; He has left all of space, the billions of space miles, and He has come down and He has chosen this place to dwell. He lives there, among the people.” Now if you were not from the Bnei Yisroel, if you were a visitor from some other nation, so you might shrug your shoulders. It’s an interesting thought, but it doesn’t mean much for you. But you’d still be impressed by the conviction and sincerity of the Jewish people.THE MEN OF PERFECTIONBut let’s understand not what a tourist from Edom or from Aramwould see. What would the Bnei Yisroel themselves see? When the Bnei Yisroel looked at the various tents of the distinguished ones of the Am Yisroel, it wasn’t merely as a person seeing the sights; for them it was a great pride and encouragement. Because these were very great men who lived among us, men of great stature, men of perfection. And our nation was inordinately proud that these great men lived among them. It was such a happiness to pass by the tent of Betzalel and to know that we possess a Betzalel, the man of unmatched artistic abilities who built the mishkan – that Betzalel was ours, was a great pride. We were so lucky to have such a rare personality among us.And they were even more proud when they could point to Aharon Hakohen. Aharon is unequaled in history. Aharon k’dosh Hashem, Aharon the holy man of Hashem. Aharon was cited as the apotheosis, the summit of kindliness. בשלום ובמישור הלך עמדי ורבים השיב מעוון. (Malachi 2:6) Aharon was an oheiv shalom and a rodef shalom, a man who loved peace. But not in the sense we understand it. Everyone loves peace. But Aharon loved peace with every fiber of his being. He was a man who pursued peace, which means he did everything possible to cause peace, tranquility and happiness between human beings. His life was devoted to that. אוהב את הבריות, He loved people, ומקרבן לתורה, and he brought them close to Torah too. And therefore when they pointed to his tent and they said, “This is the residence of Aharon k’dosh Hashem,” they said it with an inspiration and a pride.SMELLY NEIGHBORSSuppose somebody would be able to point out, “In my neighborhood there lives, let’s say – now I’m sorry I have to use such a comparison; I want to wash my mouth when I get through, but let’s say someone would say, “You see down the block; Beethoven lives over there!” Beethoven! The rents would go up in all the apartments in the neighborhood; the price of real estate would skyrocket. Now really it should plummet! Everybody should move out as quickly as possible. Because wherever these big musical geniuses lived, if you had an especial ability to smell, you would have to hold your nose. Because musical ability and purity of character by no means have to go together. And often they don’t. Like somebody gave me a clipping this week; the great musician Leopold Stokowski, the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, acclaimed the world over as a musical genius. So he boasted, he himself boasted to his musician friends, that he utilized the wives of the members of his orchestra. You understand now, that’s the bravado, the boasting heroics from one musician to another. So I’m sorry that we have to sink to such depths in order to appreciate this subject. But it’s important for us to understand the subject at hand.Now if Stokowski lived on this block I’m afraid people would not hold their noses. I’m afraid they would vie with each other to try to move in. And they’d like to be somewhere on the block when pictures are being snapped of him. At least they could point someday and say, “You see that little dot way out in in the background? That’s me!” And it would be such a pride that they’d show it to their grandchildren. That’s because people today lost their sense of smell altogether.VISITING PARSHANDASA’S HOMEBoruch Hashem, we don’t have to take pride in Stokowskis. We can take pride in those who are truly great men. If we could visit the sanctuary where Rashi Hakodosh spent his years! It’s in a little town in Germany, in Worms, Vermeiseh. It’s kept as a museum today, but that means nothing to us. If we would walk into that place, we’d walk in on tip-toe; it’s admas kodesh. You’re walking into a place that is the heart of the Jewish people, the kodesh kodoshim of our nation. The place where Rashi sat and studied the Torah, and the room where he wrote his commentaries on the entire Talmud Bavli and the entire Tanach. Rashi is the teacher of the whole Am Yisroel. Every word in Rashi is sweet as honey. If you’re an expert in languageyou could appreciate how Rashi made hard things soft, he made the difficult things unravel. Rashi was a master expert in explaining. He’s called Parshan Dasa, that’s the nickname he was given. It means “The one who explains the Torah.”And so if you walk into that holy of holies, to Rashi’s study in his Beis Hamedrash, it’s the greatest of privileges. You can feel the kedushah of these ancient walls permeating your personality, entering the marrow of your bones. You’re not the same person once you visited Rashi’s beis hamedrash. Of course, I’m talking about someone who knows what it’s all about. Rashi is the beloved teacher of the Am Yisroel. You have to appreciate the great personality who once lived here and expressed his soul here, in his writings. Only that it’s pity that it’s there in Europe. Had that place been in Eretz Yisroel it would have become a shrine. No question people would come there in the hundreds of thousands and pour out their hearts to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And with the zechus of Rashi their prayers would go up to Hashem. Only that it’s in the accursed land of Germany, in the unclean golus. And even there, it’s kodesh kodoshim.TENT OF INTOXICATIONAnd so now we come back to the Machaneh Yisroel in the Midbar. We could point to the tent of Moshe Rabeinu, the place where Moshe Rabeinu resided. The tent of Moshe Rabeinu! The intense emotion of pride that such a thing caused is indescribable! “I’m living in the neighborhood of Moshe!” It was a great happiness, a great pride, to know that Moshe lived among us.But to be able to point out the tent of Moshe Rabeinu was nothing at all when compared to being able to point at the tent of Hakodosh Boruch Hu! No concept could be more astonishing than the thought that the Creator of the Universe, Whose glory fills the endless remoteness of space, would choose to dwell in a tabernacle. We can picture the intoxication of ecstatic excitement that seized upon Moshe and the people at this announcement. The knowledge, more than knowledge – the sight – of the residence of Hashem in the midst of the camp was a vivid reminder for the people that they were chosen by the Creator of the Universe forever. We shouldn’t overlook the effect of the Mishkan upon the tent-homes of the Am Yisroel. The Mishkan was of course a larger tent, but because it stood among the tents of the camp it had an unfailing effect on every tent in the camp. And the most outstanding effect was the demonstration that Hashem had chosen us from all the nations. We are the center of the Universe, for Hashem here declared ושכנתי בתוכם – “I will dwell in your midst.” Because even more than a demonstration of His presence, even more than the constant reminder that we were standing before Hashem, was the pride that the Mishkangenerated in the people: “Hashem chose us; He chose to dwell among us!”Now there’s no question that the nation gained many blessings by having the Presence of the Shechinah among them. I’m not capable of telling you everything that was gained but there’s no doubt that every individual gained a great deal of perfection of soul; the mind of every man, woman and child was filled with an Awareness that would have been otherwise impossible to achieve. But of all the blessings, of all the achievements, most important was the knowledge that Hashem chose to live among us forever. The fact that there was a special abode, a house where the King of the Universe resided among us, was so impressive that all of the Bnei Yisroel, even those who never had the chance to come visit that house, were entirely transformed because of that. It made such a deep impression that it lasted with them all throughout their lives and it accompanied them into the world to come.THE SIMPLE FACTNow when the Bnei Yisroel saw the house of Hakodosh Boruch Hu – and they saw it every day – so they certainly became accustomed to it. There’s no question that seeing the same thing every day is going to make you hardened and you’re not going to be excited anymore. But that’s what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wanted, that they should become so accustomed to the thought that Hashem dwells in their midst that it should be beyond any doubt in their minds. It became a simple matter of fact that Hakodosh Boruch Hu resides among us.And for forty years the Bnei Yisroel in the midbar were able to point out to their children, “My son, over there, that’s the tent of Aharon Hakohen. And there’s the tent of Moshe Rabeinu. And over there, that’s the Mishkan, the tent of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And it became a phlegmatic matter of fact, it became part of their world outlook that Hashem the Borei Kol Ha’olamos, the One who had created all the worlds, had forsaken the infinity of all the universes, all the remoteness of space, and He now dwells b’soch Bnei Yisroel. It went into the marrow of their bones.Now this is what you should be thinking about always. The Torah is full of pesukim dedicated to this idea, and it’s a shame to let it go to waste. And even though we have never seen the Mishkan, but the pesukim we have read hundreds of times, and it pays to think into it a bit. That the Creator of the Universe, the One who fills the whole universe with His presence, מלא כל הארץ כבודו, He created the stars in the remotest distances of space; He is the ruler of millions of star worlds, and nevertheless He has forsaken everything and He has chosen to reside on our people. Now no matter how difficult that concept is, that’s the fundamental teaching of the Torah. You can’t be a Jew unless you understand the teaching that Hashem is with us forever. Not just that He will help us forever, no, it’s much more than that. He dwells among us forever. The Presence of Hashem – His actual Presence – is upon our nation forever.PART II. Pride of YisroelCRASH COURSE IN BRACHOSAnd it’s something we thank Hashem for every day. Every day we say it, only we don’t realize what we’re thanking for. And that’s a tragedy, because it’s such an important attitude that we should be living with, that it pays to make use of every opportunity to impress it upon our minds. Every day in shemoneh esrei we say the bracha ברוך אתה השם הא-ל הקדוש. Now all the brachos, you know, are blessings of gratitude. Boruch means we’re thankingHim. In Magen Avraham, we thank Hashem; He’s the shield of Avraham, it means He’s the shield of our nation; He protects us because of Avraham.מחיה המתים, the second bracha, we thank Hashem for giving us food, and for healing the sick and for giving us rain; all the good things enumerated there. And one day He’ll revive the dead, and we thank Him for that too. And then there’s ברוך אתה השם חונן הדעת – You, Hashem bestow sanity! You’re thanking Hashem that you’re not in an insane asylum, that you’re not depressed. You’re full of gratitude that you’re not crazy, that you’re not paranoid or psychotic. You don’t think about that, do you? So you’re not davening properly. And when you look, you’ll see that every bracha is a bracha of gratitude.But there’s one bracha that’s difficult to understand: ברוך אתה השם הא-ל הקדוש – We thank You Hashem that You are the holy G-d. We’re thanking Him because He’s holy?! What gratitude is required because He is Holy? I want you to hear the question. On everything in shemonah esrei there is a benefit for which we are thanking. Boruch means that we are grateful, and we bend our knees to You in gratitude. But when we come to the bracha of הא-ל הקדוש we find that the entire bracha speaks of no kindliness at all – all we do is speak about the holiness, the perfection of Hashem. So what are we thanking Him for? What gratitude is it that we’re supposed to be feeling?ARE YOU PROUD OF YOUR BOSS?So listen now and you’ll learn what you’re thanking Hashem for when you say הא-ל הקדוש. Tonight when you daven maariv, for the first time in your life you’ll be able to thank Hashem for being the א-ל הקדוש, the Perfect G-d. And if you forget to have it mind, there’s shacharistomorrow, and mincha too. Don’t squander the opportunities. So we’ll explain it like this. Let’s say you have a boss over you. The boss himself is an underling, a nobody, but he’s your boss, what can you do. There’s no great pride there. You won’t pride yourself that you work for the colored man in the warehouse. Nothing wrong with working for a colored man, but it’s no great pride.But let’s say somebody is an assistant to the president, so he feels important already. And if he’s an assistant let’s say to Dovid Melech Yisroel, lehavdil, so he’s surely important. It’s like a man who was elevated by the king. The king chose a certain man, let’s call him Wilfred, and made him a duke. So instead of being a commoner, now he’s Duke of Worchester. Instead of being Wilfred, now he’s nobility; connected to the royal family. And he walks the streets of England with pride: “I was chosen by the king!”WE’RE ECSTATIC WITH OUR LOT!Now, if we’re assistants to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if He chose us and He considers usHis beloved ones and His entire interest is only in us, as we’re going to see bli neder, so that’s our pride in this world; we’re happy – not happy, we’re ecstatic – that we have such a G-d.That’s what it says להודות לשם קדשיך להשתבח בתהלתך – ““We give thanks to Your holy name, and we commend ourselves, we praise ourselves, by Your praise” (Tehillim 106:47). According to the holiness, the perfection, of Hashem, so much greater is the honor, pride and security of the nation He chose to rest His Presence on. And that’s why we say thank you to Hashem for being so perfect. Because His perfection is ourglory. We boast in the praise of Hashem because that’s our honor and glory. The Holy One, the Perfect G-d, that’s our G-d. And we thank Him because of that, we say, “Thank You Hashem for being הא-ל הקדוש , for being so great. We take pride that we have such a G-d, שאין כמוהו, and it’s our happiness. He chose us; we are His people and that’s an unequaled pride. “Thank You Hashem for being so perfect that it’s a glory for me to be connected to You.”And so we begin to see what it means when people say it’s not easy to be a Jew. A person said once that: s’iz shver tzu zein a Yid, it’s difficult to be a Jew. But he didn’t understand what it meant. What it means is that there is a great responsibility in being part of the nation upon which Hashem actually rests His Presence. A Jew has to have in mind a great deal of meditation, a great deal of reflection, in order to appreciate his position in this world. He must constantly be aware of the greatness of his history. The reason that you find Jewish people who are ashamed of their Jewishness is because they’re ignorant of their past. If you learn Chumash properly, if you learn Tanach properly, you’ll begin to understand what a great privilege it is to belong to the Am Yisroel. אשריכם ישראל, how fortunate you are Yisrael, מי כמוך, who is like you?” Moshe Rabeinu said that. Who is like you?! Nobody! אשרי העם שככה לו, how fortunate is the nation that thus is his lot. And what is that lot that makes us so fortunate? אשרי העם שהשם אלקיו, because Hashem chose you. And therefore at all times we sing אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו, how fortunate we are. A Jew has to sing at all times! At least in his heart he should always be singing in happiness because of the great honor that he possesses. His heart should sing within him because Hakadosh Baruch Hu has elevated him. A proud Jew, a Jew who understands that Hashem resides among us always, walks the streets, whatever street it may be, he’s walking on air. He’s happy always!HASHEM SAYS SHEMA TOONow in our tefillin it’s written, Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu – “Listen all of you, Hashem is our G-d.” He doesn’t belong to the Polish people, or to the Mexicans or the Israelis. He’s ours. Hashem Echad – He’s One. What does that mean, “He’s One”? It means a lot of things but we’ll say now one of the important peirushim that you should think about always. And that is that He is The Only One in all of our thoughts and deeds. He is the one purpose of our lives, and we must love Him and serve Him with all of our strength – everything we do should be for Him. That’s not such an easy task, but that’s what you’re saying every day, so it’s a good idea to get busy thinking about how to do that.So that’s our tefillin. But the gemara (Brachos 6a) says Hakadosh Baruch Hu puts on tefillin too. That’s a remarkable statement: Hakodosh Boruch Hu wears tefillin on His head. And why shouldn’t He? Tefillin is a sign of royalty, so He surely deserves to wear tefillin. Now what’s written in His tefillin, the gemara asks? What’s written in His parshiyos? So the gemarasays in His tefillin is the possuk,מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ – “Who is like you My nation Yisroel; You are the one nation on earth. Goy echaaaaadddddd. The one and only nation in the world! That’s how Hashem says it. Only He says it longer than we do. We get tired but Hashem doesn’t get tired: Echaaaaaaaaadddddddd! He says it forever and ever, “They’re My One nation in the world. That’s all I care about. Echad – “They are My one concern. Everything is done for you, My children.” Now when Hashem chooses us, it means much more than we could imagine, but what it surely means is that we are the center of His thoughts, and that everything He does – and He does everything – is for us.JEWS REALLY DO CONTROL THE WORLDThat’s what it says, הוא השם אלקנו, He is ours, בכל הארץ משפטיו – In all the world are His judgments (Tehillim 105:7) Whatever happens in the world, we shouldn’t make any mistake, it’s mishpatav, it’s His judgements; Hashem is pulling the strings. But the preface to that is: Hu Hashem Elokeinu, He is Hashem our King, and therefore anything that happens in the world is done because of us. Everything that happens b’chol ha’aretz, in the whole world, are His judgements. And how does He do the judgments? In the role of Hashem Elokeinu, of being our G-d!And so if you hear that there is a lack of rain in a certain state and people are suffering, Hashem is doing it because of us. Now how that works, that’s a question. It’s a good question. But it’s because of us. If gold was discovered in a certain state, it’s because of us. If there’s a hurricane, it’s because of us. There’s no question about that. Because it’s made by Hashem; and who is Hashem? הוא השם אלקנו, He is our G-d, and בכל הארץ משפטיו, His judgments throughout the world are all being done as “our G-d”.Now I know that most people don’t think this way. They think like goyim; even the frum Jews think like goyim. But you have to study what is written in the kisvei hakodesh and you have to attune your mind to this truth of the Torah.IT’S A RACHMANUS ON THEIR PRIDENow, if that’s the case so we begin to see what an obligation there is upon the Am Yisrael to be proud. Ga’avah! Now that doesn’t mean the Jewish pride you find outside in the street. For a Jew just to be proud that he’s a Jew, that doesn’t mean much. Because we’re not talking about the pride like the African-Americans say, “We’re proud that we’re black.” They’re not proud anyhow. They’re doing their best not to be black. You see they go to beauty parlors and they spend millions of dollars on lotions in order to lighten their complexion. Thousands and thousands of dollars on creams to cause their hair to straighten out. Some put on wigs that you shouldn’t see their kinky hair. They do everything to look like whites. They would give their souls if they could turn white. What could they do nebach, so they say “We’re proud to be black.” And it’s the same with every nation. Every Puerto Rican says the same thing, “I’m proud to be a Puerto Rican.” He waves a little flag, he eats Puerto Rican food; that’s his pride. And the Israeli is proud to be Israeli. Every nation, they’re proud to be what they are. Alright, let them be proud. It’s a rachmanus on them. But that’s not what we mean! When we say we’re proud, we have to understand that we’re saying it because Hakadosh Baruch Hu said that to us. Hashem told us we’re great. And if He said it, we believe it. It’s not our fault, we didn’t do it ourselves. Hashem said it and we won’t argue with Him. בנים אתם, “You are My children of Mine !” Hashem said. If He says we’re His children, are we going to argue with Him?!And so we look up to what we possess, we look up to the Shechinah that is shoreh by us, and we have to know that He is our greatness – our greatness in this world and our greatness in the World to Come. You have to study that; you have to take the time to ponder and understand what it means to believe implicitly that Hakodosh Boruch Hu chooses a certain place, a certain people, on whom He is concentrating the Presence of His Shechinah. And that it is a covenant that He has made forever and ever with our nation. “For the mountains may depart and the hills may be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says Hashem who loves you” (Yeshayah 54:10).DON’T BE A DEMOCRAT!When you get an aliyah to the Torah you say אשר בחר בנו. What is it? Just a formula to knock off, just to be yotzei? No, it’s our duty to impress onto our minds that Hashem was בחר בנו מכל העמים, that Hashem chose us from all the nations. You can’t just say the words – you have to live with that thought! As you walk in the street you must think you’re a prince. And that ga’avasan shel Yisroel, that pride of being a true Torah Jew, knowing that Hashem lives only among us, should make us look down on everything outside of our world. Because we know that there is absolutely nothing to look for among the nations of the world.Ga’avasan shel Yisroel, the pride that we’re speaking about here, is an ikar ha’emunah; it’s a fundamental attitude that a Jew must have. Without it you’re missing the fundamental of Judaism. You must hammer that into your head because to be proud that you’re a Yisroelmeans that you believe in one of the most important cardinal principles of the Torah. And it’s so stupendous of a concept that when we say it today, even among Orthodox Jews, it’s not well received. With the spirit of democracy and western ideals it’s not easy to convince people about this great principle. I’m not talking now about asking them actually feel it, that I’m not even speaking about. But even to convince them that it’s a true principle is not easy. And that is the principle that the world was created for the Jewish people. Don’t say, “Everybody is the people of Hashem.” Don’t be a democrat! You have no right to give away what doesn’t belong to you. You have no right to hand out honors to the other nations of the world.JEWISH CHUTZPAHNow that’s not easy for us Orthodox Jews to accept. Do we have the nerve, do we have a boldness, to be so conceited and praise ourselves? And the answer is absolutely! And if we don’t, then we are backsliding, we’re being remiss in our duties as Jews. And let that sink in! It’s going to hurt. You’re going to rebel, you’re going to kick when you hear that. So take a deep breath, pay attention, and hold on tight.All of Mankind is considered nothing compared to the Am Yisroel! I’ll say it again to make sure you hear me: All the nations of the world are nothing in the eyes of Hashem when compared to us. So you’ll ask me, “Rabbi Miller, where do you get the audacity to make such a statement?” Look in the chumash! The Torah was given to us for the purpose of letting us know the great principles that otherwise we would not know. What is the Torah after all if not the thoughts of Hashem? And in the thoughts of Hashem you see that the histories of the umos haolam are ignored completely. Now if there was a lot of Torahs in the world, a Polish Torah that Hashem gave, all right. In the Polish Torah He would talk about the Polish. If there would be an African Torah, so He talks about Africa in the African Torah. But there’s only one Torah however, and even the Polish say that there’s only one Torah. They don’t say there are two Torahs. They agree that there was only one Torah. And the Africans agree with the Polish. All the Christians and Mohammedans says there’s only Torah. Only that Mohammed came along and wrote something later; but they agree that the Jews received the Torah. And what was written in the Jewish Torah? It’s written that Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose us – forever.HASHEM NEVER SPOKE TO PATRICKAnd so, anybody who feels he wants to be an anav, he wants to feel meek and humble and not be superior to anybody else, then that person is a kofer b’chol hatorah kulah, from Bereishis bara until l’einei chol Yisroel, the last words in the Torah. What does the Torah talk about? There’s a Torah after all; what’s it all about? Isn’t that a queer question? Now pay attention. The entire Torah talks only about two subjects. The Torah is about two subjects and nothing more. One subject is Hashem, that’s the main subject of the Torah. But it talks about something more than just Hashem. It also talks about the Am Yisroel. The whole Torah is nothing but the Jewish Nation. The whole Torah is וידבר השם אל משה לאמר. The whole thing! Look through every page and you won’t find even once Va’yidabeir Hashem el Patrick leimor! The Torah is filled with nothing but the Jewish nation. Wherever you look, it’s only our people, our people. Nothing is said about Irishmen, about Polish people, nothing. Only Jews! From beginning to end, the entire Tanach deals only with our people.So what do we see? That’s the importance of the Am Yisroel is kol hatorah kulah. And therefore we have to say that the pride in being a Jew is just as fundamental as believing in kol hatorah kulah.And anyone who doesn’t understand this concept in its fullness, so he doesn’t really understand the Torah. Actually he’s a kofer b’ikar; he’s rebelling against the whole Tanach. It’s as open as could be that this is the chief function of all the writings in the Tanach, to tell us first that there is a Creator, and number two that He has a chosen nation.WE DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAYNow, today this second principle is frequently overlooked. Pious Jews will say, “Yes, certainly; we’re chosen to do commandments. But you have to look at everyone else tolerantly. They’re like us. They also have ways of living, they also are nations and they also have cultures.” Now I know that some people here read newspapers, they watch television and they listen to goyim talking on the radio. So their minds are brainwashed- not brainwashed, dirt washed, bilge-water washed, and therefore it hurts them to hear the words I’m saying here. But what could I do? After all, it’s an elementary principle of the Torah that we are Hashem’s chosen people. And if you don’t believe that, then goodbye! You don’t belong. If you don’t believe we are His people, then you don’t belong to us.We don’t care what the world says. We believe implicitly in these two cardinal principles – we believe in Hashem and we believe we are His people. No matter what the world says. They wouldn’t like to hear that, but we don’t care, we still know that weare His people. That’s the Torah! That’s the purpose of the Torah, to tell us who we are.SOME THINGS NEED TO STAY A SECRETNow, of course you shouldn’t despise anybody. You shouldn’t show contempt for anybody, The public disrespect that is evident among some of our fellow Jews is not prudent. Not at all. It’s silly and it’s not a k’vod shamayim. However, in your heart there’s no question what you should think. Because there is no question that when you know that you’re superior, then definitely you consider the other one inferior. It’s unavoidable!Now, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to go around shouting from the rooftops that someone else is inferior. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to have to upset the gentile nations. We’re not looking to start up with nations of the world today; they have their own religions and they’ll become angry at us. But amongst ourselves, when we speak to each other, of course we say the truth. Among ourselves we speak about the truth all the time. We must spread the good news among our families and among our friends, of course. Absolutely we must do that. No doubt about it! Only that one has to be wise enough and respectful enough to not let our gentile neighbors know what we are thinking.THE GREAT TEST OF OPPOSITIONNow the truth is that nobody is capable of appreciating what this means, but at least to a certain extent a Jew must understand that he is an aristocrat, the chosen of Hashem. However, there’s a great test, a very great test, because of the opposition of the umos haolam, the constant hammering away of the anti-Semites and also the Jewish anti-Semites today who are constantly belittling the frumJews, all the time.And now we begin to understand what the nisayon of life is. We’re being tested all the time. Because if we were the majority, it would be easy for us to be superior. We would easily fulfill this emunah that we are the chosen people. We’re the bosses, we dominate the world, so what’s the question?! Only that if you’re a minority and you walk in the street and a WASP driving by in a car calls you “Kike” or a boy riding by on a bike says “Get out of my way, Jew,” there’s a tendency to feel a little bit inferior. If you see all around you people who look down on you; some of them are nice enough not to say it, but in their hearts you know what they’re thinking. They despise you. They hate you. There’s no question about it. And don’t tell me not; I know the gentiles much better than you. And the truth is that today we have so many Jews who hate us; we have a double test. Once upon a time only goyim hated us. Today Jews hate us and the majority of Jews hate frum Jews. It’s a constant barrage, a great nisayon, and that’s why we’re in this world, to overcome the sheker of the world and to never lose sight of the great principle that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has taught us: that we are His people, His only people forever and ever.BANG ON THE TABLE!That’s what Moshe Rabeinu said when he came to Pharaoh. He hammered on the table and said: כה אמר השם בני בכורי ישראל, like it or not, this is what Hashem said: “The Am Yisroel is My firstborn, My favorite.” And that’s what we have to be telling ourselves always. We have to hear it though. We have to bang on the table and say it to ourselves again and again, and remind ourselves who we are at all times. We are the בני א-ל חי, we are the children of the living G-d. בנים אתם להשם אלוקיכם, we are children to Hashem. And we have to walk with our heads high, always cognizant of the great pride that Hakadosh Baruch Hu bestowed on us, no matter what the world says. Don’t believe in democracy; don’t believe in pluralism. He chose us, and that’s it!I always tell the same stories so you heard this already. But I’ll tell it again. Reb Moshe Montefiore was the Lord Mayor of England. And he was also a baron. He was knighted by the king. That’s why he was Sir Montefiore. When he heard that in Russia they were persecuting the Jews, he decided to go to Russia and intervene with the Czar on behalf of his fellow Jews. So he travelled all the way across Russia with his own chariots. His own horsemen and a fancy carriage. The horsemen sat in the front, driving. And he was in the back. And on the side of the carriage were like private guards who could protect him if needed. And he was riding through Poland. He was riding through the streets of Warsaw. In Warsaw, in Poland of old, they were all anti-Semites. They hated the Jews. And here they saw a Jew riding in a carriage. A Jew who’s a big k’nocker. So there was a goy who couldn’t contain himself. A boy, a shaygetz, came running after him and he shouted, “Zhid!” Zhid means Jew in Polish. It was a derogatory way of referring to a Jew. So Reb Moshe Montefiore stopped the carriage and told his footmen to go run and catch the goy. They caught the goy and he was trembling because he knew that this Jew was a powerful Jew. They brought him to Reb Moshe and his hands and feet were trembling. So Reb Moshe Montefiore said, “Look here. In London they call me the Lord Mayor of London. The Sheriff of this and this district. Baron and Sir and so on and so on. But the biggest, the most important title, is the one you called me. Zhid! There’s nothing greater than that in the world.” And Reb Moshe Montefiore gave the boy a quid – a half pound – and he sent him away. He thanked him and sent him away.THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSEOh, how important it is for the Jew to recognize his greatness. A Jew must always remember how important he is, and never lose sight of our distinctiveness as the central feature of the universe. That’s why the universe exists, for the sake of the Am Yisroel, and you should be proud and arrogant, and therefore you know that you have to always strive for perfection and not be satisfied to remain mediocre. The Am Yisroel must always remind themselves that they are superior and that they should never lower themselves to the level of the nations.And what our parsha is teaching us is that one of the most important lessons of the Mishkanwas this lesson of the pride of the Am Yisroel. It was the symbol of our glory.ושכנתי בתוכם. Hashem lives with us! Those two words are a stunning declaration of the principle that Hashem’s interest is not in the vast distances of space and in the millions of star-worlds, but in Man alone. And of all men, Hashem chose the Am Yisroel and made them the center of the universe by bringing His Presence to rest among them.GETTING DIZZY FROM THE MISHKAN“Behold, the Lord your God possesses the heavens, and the heavens above them, and the earth and all therein, but in your fathers alone did He delight to love them, and He chose their seed after them, you, above all the nation, even to this day” (Dvarim 10:14-15). This stupendous but abstract concept was now concretized in a visible form. “They shall make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them” (Shemos 25:8). Thenceforth, the multitude of Israel, whenever they saw the Mishkan, pointed to it as the dwelling place of the Master of the Universe. And in this tangible form, this dizzyingly sublime idea was hammered constantly into the mind of the Am Yisroel.Now the nations of the world will never yield to that thesis. But the time will come however when יושב בשמים ישחק, the One who dwells in the heavens will laugh at them, השם ילעג למו, Hashem will mock them. And the Am Yisroel will then open its mouth in happy laughter as well, as the glory of ours that we were always well aware of, now becomes visible to all. And when Hashem laughs at the nations of the world, we too will indulge in laughter to our hearts content. We will laugh and laugh in proud happiness about the glory that was always ours! אז ימלא שחוק פינו, then our mouths will be full of laughter. And we will laugh forever and ever rejoicing in the fact that in this world and in the next world the Shechina rests only on the Am Hashem. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

THE GREAT MAN IS BORNIn this week’sparshawe are introduced for the first time to one of the greatest men in our history: ותהר האשה ותלד בן – And Yocheved gave birth to a son (Shemos 2:1). Moshe ben Amram is born into the Jewish nation, a handsome baby boy. ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא – His mother saw thatki tov hu, that he was good looking (Shemos 2:2). She didn’t see that he was good natured, or that he was smart. You can’t see that in a baby! She saw that he was handsome; a beautiful child.And that’s almost all that we know about this little boy.And yet only a fewpesukimlater Moshe, already an elderly sage of eighty years, is being granted a vision of the glory of Hashem at the burning bush: וירא מלאך השם אליו בלבת אש – And a messenger of Hashem appeared to him in a flame of fire (Shemos 3:2). And suddenly this adorable little boy, now a man of eighty, is chosen to be the redeemer of the Am Yisroel.THE MYSTERY OF MOSHENow it would be proper for us to consider the story of Moshe’s life, and to study how Moshe ben Amram became Moshe Rabeinu; what was his path to success? After all, he was the man who took us out ofMitzrayimand led us for forty years in themidbar. He spent forty days and forty nights with Hakodosh Boruch Hu; he spoke to Hashempeh el peh,and brought down the Torah to the Am Yisroel. There was no man greater than he.And not only was he one of the most remarkable men in the history of our nation, but more importantly, he is one the great models that we aspire to emulate. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 5:2) says that! He says that we should all aspire to be like Moshe Rabeinu: כל אדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו– “Every person is fit to be righteous like Moshe Rabeinu.” Now, you’ll never become anavilike Moshe was, but everyone of us was born with the talents needed to become atzadiklike Moshe, and therefore it is incumbent upon us to probe the life of this great man to find the seeds of his greatness.And yet when we begin to investigate his life we are stymied by a most peculiar fact. Moshe Rabeinu, an eighty year old man, seemingly appears out of thin air; the redeemer of the Am Yisroel appears on the scene and we know almost nothing about him: We’re not told what made him great and why he was chosen or what paths ofavodas Hashemdid he walk on for eighty years that made him the one chosen to redeem the Am Yisroel. How did theish Mitzribecome theish ha’Elokim, the only man who would ever to speak to Hashempeh el peh, mouth to mouth?HE ESCAPES AND TURNS EIGHTYOf course, we are all familiar with a few shortpesukimabout his early days; he was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh and then was forced to flee for his life when he defended a fellow Jew by killed aMitzri. But besides for that we know almost nothing. Moshe Rabeinu turns up many decades later at the burning bush in the mountains of Midian, having been chosen by Hashem to redeem His people.And I’ll tell you achidddushnow – even the one incident we know of this great man, how he went out from the palace to save his fellow Jew, is told to primarily us to let us know that we know very very little about Moshe. Of course, there are other important things we learn about Moshe from there as well – and we’ll talk about that one day. But the primary purpose of thosepesukimis to introduce the story ofhis having to flee.The little we know of him, only comes to tell us that we actually know very little about this great man.ISOLATION AND SOLITUDEHe was forced to flee for his life into the lonely wilderness, and he became a wanderer in exile. Don’t think it was easy for him – it was a lonely life, no contact with his people, no family and no friends. And after many years, his wandering led him to Midian. And even there how did he spend his days? As a shepherd, alone in the mountains of Midian, grazing the sheep of Yisro. That’s what the Torah tells us about his years in Midian. He spent his days alone in themidbaras a shepherd pasturing the flocks. ומשה היה רעה את צאן יתרו חתנו כהן מדין וינהג את הצאן אחר המדבר – “And Moshe was pasturing the sheep of Yisro his father-in-law and he led his flock toward the wilderness” (Shemos 3:1). Moshe spent his days – it was months andyears– in solitude in the remote pastures of loneliness.So what we’re seeing here now is a picture of a nomad, a lonely wanderer forforty years. Forty years is a long time to be alone! And besides for a few small incidents, that’s all we are told about how Moshe became Moshe Rabeinu. That’s all we know about him, that he wandered through the wilderness alone.And so we’ll have to say that it was there,shepherding sheep in the isolation of the wilderness, that Moshe achieved the greatness that earned for him his place in history. It is evident that this had been the plan of Hashem – to separate this promising and gifted man from his family and send him into the wilderness and lonely wasteland of Midian and Sinai. And this was all tokeep him in solitude.Solitude wasn’t merely an episode in his career; it was the cause of his careerand it readied him to become the greatest man in history. By separating him from his family and bykeeping him in solitude,HakodoshBoruchHuwas creating the future leader of the Am Yisroel.And so that is what we will attempt to study now; the strange fact that Moshe Rabeinu spent most of his formative years – years that we would have imagined would be spent under the tutelage oftzadikimandovdei Hashem– and instead they were years spent alone, separate from his fellow Jews, and often isolated from Mankind all together. So what was the plan of Hashem over here? What kind of environment was this for Moshe Rabeinu? Now, I’m too small to be able to answer these questions – but I have the right to try to guess.CONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES OF LONELINESSAnd so in order to appreciate more fully this plan of Hashem, we should endeavor to study this step by step; what is it about solitude that can make a person so great. We’ll begin by reading a selection from theChovos Halevavos.TheChovos Halevavoshas asha’arcalledCheshbon Hanefesh,which means “thinking” and he suggests certain duties that we’re expected to think about, thirty different ideas. He says there are many more but he suggests thirty of them. It’skidaito study them all, but tonight we’ll study some ofcheshbonnumber seventeen.He says as follows: What should a man think about when he has an urge to seek the company of people? It means when he feels lonesome; let’s say it’smotza’ei Shabbos,the family went out to visit the relatives in Boro Park and he’s left all alone in the house. He looks through the window and he sees cars crowded with people speeding to some destination. And he imagines their fun times ahead. Or let’s say he’s stuck in the yeshiva onmotza’ei Shabbos– he’s an out of town boy and everybody else is at home with their families and he’s left alone in his dormitory room. Or he’s just an unfortunate fellow who didn’t marry and he’s all by himself wherever he is. And he yearns for the company of people.And so this man is thinking about how much fun it would be to be together with people. So what does the Chovos Halevavos tell him: “At that time let him consider the advantages of solitude and how good it is to be separate from peoplebecause of the harm that comes from their company.” The Chovos Halevavos is telling us here the most basic benefit of solitude – if you associate with people who have littleyiras Hashem, or maybe they have wrong ideas, so they poison your mind. There’s no question that you’re going to cause certain defects in your mind and in your character.FOOLS ARE MORE COMMON THAN WISE MENOf course, he doesn’t mean the company oftalmideichachomim; he means ordinary people, thechevrashakesilim, the company of fools. But the truth is that wise men are often hard to find. Most often it is among the fools that you find yourself. And so he tells us, the first thing to consider is the harm that comes from the fools and the great benefit that you can accrue therefore by merely avoiding their company.Now, sometimes you can’t help yourself; you have to visit your in-laws sometimes, so you have to sit and listen to their chatter. And so you’ll have to act like you enjoy it. Or maybe for business, you’re in an office or a store, and you have customers and coworkers who like to chew the rag, so you have to act like they’re saying something very wise, as if you’re interested in their idle chatter. But outside of that, a person should always think about the dangers of thechevrah ra’ah,of bad company.WOULD YOU CHOOSE UNCLE HARRY TO BE YOUR REBBE?For instance much harm is accrued to a man from merely superfluous talk, from shooting the breeze. So you’ll tell me, “What’s so bad about talking about the news, about sports and about the neighborhood? I know it won’t make me atzadik, but harmful?!” Yes, superfluous talk isin itselfan injury to a man: TheChovos Halevavossays that you should avoid the yakking of other, למען אשר לא יביאום הבלי חביריהם לההביל גם הם כמותם, in order that the superficiality, the emptiness of your associates should not bring you to become empty too.When you’re together with ordinary, empty people, you become ordinary too. He’s talking here aboutfrumpeople.Theirtzitzisare out and they haveblack hats.There are manyfrumpeople who areempty,and therefore if you’ll associate with people, you’ll come down to their level and you’ll become empty too.“I’ll become empty too?” you’ll ask me. How’s that?” So pay good attention because I’m telling you now one of the unrecognized dangers that comes from listening to superfluous talk – it causes the listener to think along with the talker, or rather tounthinkalong with the talker. And so, as the “words of wisdom” come gushing forth from Uncle Harry’s mouth – he’s talking without any planning after all – so your mind is following what he is saying. You’re a respectful person after all, so you’re listening, you’re concentrating. And all the inanities, all the thoughtlessness of his conversation, is being repeated by you in your mind. That’s what happens when you listen to anyone – the words are being replayed in your own head. So Uncle Harry just became your “rebbi.” And he just filled your mind with “He said,” and “She said,” “We said,” “I said,” and “They said.” And it’s a long confusion that merely fills up your head with nothing at all – something for which there is no need. And that’s one way easy of ruining your mind.And even with good people, decent people, but if they’re people who live more or less with materialism – and it’s something you find a lot of today –they hardly ever think about Hakodosh Boruch Hu – so you should know that they’re going to drag you down to their level.It’s contagious.Wrong attitudes and wicked ideas are contagious.Now, you wouldn’t sit together with people who have pneumonia or the flu and they’re coughing and sneezing in your face, that you understand. You get upset if someone is “so kind” as to share his germs with you. That kind of sharing you have no interest in. You’ll keep away from him or at least you’ll tell him to cover his mouth. And you have to know that often, the words coming from a person’s mouth can be much worse than pneumonia.THE SINS OF CONVERSATIONAnd as if that wasn’t enough trouble, the Chovos Halevavos quotes thechochominMishleiand says even more: ברוב דברים לא יחדל פשע – “In a multitude of words there cannot be absent any iniquity” (10:19) There’s no question,Mishleitells us, that when people talk voluminous they are going to commit sins. It’s not even a question!Lo yechdal peshah,it’s impossible to avoid it. It’s not even easy to avoid sins when you choose your words, but when you open your mouth and turn on the faucet, then there’s no question thatloyechdal peshah.That’s thepossukinMishlei. I’ll just add now my own observation: You can imagine when you sit down on a bench in the courtyard of your apartment house with a neighbor or a friend, and four hours elapse in conversation. And you’re not silent during that time. It’s lively, it’s gushing, pouring forth. In those four hours you can imagine how many timespeshahwas committed. But of course if you don’t think about that; so you blindly and “innocently” continue to producepesha’im. It’s like the man who blindly and “innocently” drives his automobile off a cliff. It’s a disaster.Now we go back to the Chovos Halevavos: “And by avoiding such company you’ll avoid speaking against people and mentioning faults of people and ridiculing people.” Because that’s what people do when they sit and have nothing else to do. They talk about other people. And finally when the whole conversation is used up, and he already spoke about everybody that he could, so he begins picking his relatives apart. It’s apossukin Tehillim, תשב באחיך תדבר – “You sit and you talk against your brother, ובבן אמך תתן דופי, and against the son of your own mother you impute foolishness” (50:20) And when somebody will say, “What are you saying against your own brother?” you say, “It’s my own brother! I don’t mean any harm.” No harm?! You just blackened your brother and made him look as silly as possible.YOU’LL SIN MORE AND MOREAnd also lies. Talking brings to sheker; big lies, little lies,lo yimaleit.The more you speak,the more you’ll benichshalin the opposite ofemes. Because in order to make your stories interesting, you have to embellish them at least a little bit with stories, with details that never took place. You don’t intend to lie, but still you want your listener to be interested, he shouldn’t be bored by you. And so, you utilize stories and facts that never took place.And so that’s how it is when you’re around people. When you’re with people so you don’t control yourself.Your tongue wags and wags.You say whatever comes into your mind.You’re “forced” to do itbecause youhaveto saysomethingwhen people are around. So you say all kinds of things, and all kinds of trouble happen. You’ll sin and sin some more, and your mind will be dragged down to the lowest common denominator of your conversations. It’s a fact that’s proven all the time, every day, in everyone’s life – and therefore the more you avoidchevra ra’ah, wrong company, the better off you are.SOLITUDE: THE MOST PRECIOUS OF ALL THINGSHowever, important as that is, we’re not going to say that Hakodosh Boruch Hu sent Moshe Rabeinu out into the solitude of the Midian wilderness just for that. Avoidingaveirosand superfluous talk, that’s very important – it’s a diamond on its own –but Hakodosh Boruch Hu had much more in mind for Moshe Rabeinu.Because actually there is a much more profound benefit of solitude, something much more than merely avoidingcheit; and it isthatbenefit that made Moshe Rabeinu the great man that he became. And that’s what we’ll study now.Now, in order to better understand thema’alas hahisbodedus,the great benefit of solitude, we will study a piece from theMesillas Yesharim(Chapter 15). You should pay close attention to the following because this statement we’re going to read now is a diamond; only that you have to be amaiven, a connoisseur, in order to appreciate such a gem. He says like this:ויקר מן הכל, the most precious of all things, הוא ההתבודדות, is solitude, to spend time by yourself.Now, it doesn’t have to be all day long butsometime a person must make for himself. And he says that doing so is יקר מן הכל, it’s more precious than anything else! You’re hearing something now! He doesn’t say that it’s also a good thing, and not even that it’s precious – but it’s “more precious than anything else!” Solitude!THE KING WISHES TO ESCAPEAnd theMesillas Yesharimcontinues: וכבר הזכיר דוד המלך בשבח ההתבודדות, Dovid Hamelech spoke words of high praise when speaking of this quality of solitude.He said: מי יתן לי אבר כיונה – “If only I had wings like a dove, אעופה ואשכונה, I would fly far away and reside somewhere in a lonesome place.ארחיק נדד, I would wander off and be alone, אלין במדבר סלה, I would remain in the wilderness; I would make that my place forever.”So here is Dovid Hamelech sitting in his palace surrounded by people, surrounded by his advisors and friends, he had a lot of admirers as well, all good things – he’s living the good life – and yet what do we find? That he’s yearning to be in the wilderness! Now that’s a big question because what was Dovid doing up there in the wilderness anyhow? What did he yearn to go back for already? He had everything he wanted!MOSHE RABEINU DOESN’T NEED THE MOVIESAnd of course, for us it’s a good question because when we think about being alone in the wilderness it doesn’t seem so enjoyable. If we would go hide away in the mountains, with nobody else, with nothing to do, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves.Many people are not capable of enjoying their own company and therefore it’s impossible for them to be happy unless something comes in to cause them to remove their mind from the present. If you would bring a good novel with you into the wilderness, or maybe a portable television, OK, then we’re talking. But that’s not solitude – that just means they have nothing in their heads and so they’re always trying to fill that vacuum with something. Those are the type of people who line up in front of the movies waiting to be admitted. These are people who can’t live with themselves! They always have to go someplace where something is “happening.” Their lives are so empty of happiness that they’ll stand in line and pay admission for something that is a substitute for happiness. And what type of happiness is it? When they leave the movies the money remains behind, they take along nothing with them except for a mixed up head, silly unrealistic pictures that never happened and never will happen. But at least for the moment their minds were off themselves. There are a lot of people not capable of solitude.But people who want to succeed in life will train themselves to enjoy their own company. That’s what Moshe Rabeinu did for so many years. It’s what Dovid Hamelech did after him – because Dovid wanted to be great and so he studied the life of Moshe Rabeinu and chose to walk in his footsteps. And those are the people who are able to live happy and successful lives even without frequent contact with others. You know that the Gra kept his shutters closed by day. His windows were shuttered up by day so that he shouldn’t be able to look into the street and remove his mind from the business of serving Hashem.SOLITUDE FOR USBut I remember my rebbe,zichronoli’vracha, telling us that we shouldn’t do it. Because if we close the windows and shutter them, we’ll just fall asleep. We’ll take a long nap. So it depends what you’ll do in the wilderness, what are you doing when you close the shutters. If you go into solitude carrying a pillow, or a newspaper or radio under your arm; if take with you a telephone, or a little black and white television, then that’s not solitude. You’re listening to the man on the other side of the radio or the man on the television screen who’s pouring ideas into your head. You’re far from being alone if you’re reading a newspaper – you’re sitting together with the nincompoops who write for the New York Times! And so, you have to know what to do when you’re alone.And so we’ll explain as follows: Solitude doesn’t merely mean that you should be alone; it means thatyou should be alone for a purpose,for thepurpose of perfection.Solitude means being alone and being capable of using that opportunity to produce perfection of character. And the secret to this success is the realization that actuallyyou’re not alone–you’re alone with Hashem! Now that’s something to think about! When you find that time without all of the distractions of life, and now you’re finally alone, that’s when you’re finally alone with your best friend, Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Now don’t tell this to your wife – she should always think thatshe’syour best friend. But the truth is that your greatest success and happiness in this world will come from the time you spend alone and build a relationship with your true best friend, Hakodosh Boruch Hu.IT’S GOOD TO BE A BEIS YAAKOV GIRLNow I know that many people when they hear these words, it sounds extreme to them. They think I’m exaggerating. A man here said to me once, “Relationship with Hashem?! What am I – a Beis Yaakov girl?” But that’s because people don’t realize their purpose in this world. They don’t know that they’re hereonly for that – to gain a relationship with Hashem, that is tangible; an actual kirvas Hashem.It is the most noble way of perfecting oneself, of attainingshleimusand making the most out of life.And so now we can come back to the question we asked earlier: Why did Dovid yearn so much to אלין במדבר סלה, to remain alone in the wilderness forever? And the answer is because for Dovid, what was the good in life? Dovid said, קרבת אלוקים לי טוב – “Being close to Hashem, that’s what I say is good.”THE ANCIENT SHEPHERD AND HIS GOOD FRIENDDovid grew up as a shepherd and he spent his entire youth in the wilderness.And it was there, far away from the distractions and encumbrances of life, that he found it most conducive to being alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. There was no company around to spoil his mind, and to distract his thoughts. He was still a boy, unencumbered with a family; he had no enemies, nobody was jealous of him yet, and he had nothing to worry about. And his true greatness came there, בנאות דשה ירביציני על מי מנוחות ינהליני – when he was lying down with his sheep in the green meadows, by the still waters of the creeks.And he would take out his harp to play sweet songs in order to inspire himself to think about hisyedid nefesh,his “best friend in the world.”And it was there that he sang to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and his soul ascended on the notes of his harp to heaven. And he became great there, behind the sheep, singing his songs to Hashem.THE COCKTAIL KEEPS THE KING UP AT NIGHTAnd it was all of those songs of love and gratitude that Dovid sang all of his life. It says it openly in Tehillim! Dovid Hamelech was up a big part of the night, every night, talking to Hashem – this we know from his own words. He said “Tov– do you know what is good in this world?L’hodosLaHashem– to give thanks to Hashem.” And he did what he said, he practiced what he sang. “U’lizamer lishimcha elyon– the only good in the world is to sing to Your name, O, Most High,” And when did he do it?All day long! “L’hagidbabokerchasdecha.” He related Hashem’s kindness in the morning when he got up and “V’emunaschaba’leilos –“And Your steadfastness to help me in the nighttime.” This means that by day and by night, that’s what Dovid was doing; he was thanking Hashem. It wasn’t for a few minutes in the morning, and another few minutes at night. That’s just what we do, as a faint echo of what Dovid did. He spent his life in solitude with Hashem, talking and thanking, thanking and talking without end.Kol zman shehaneshama b’kirbi,as long as I’m alive,Modeh ani l’fanecha, I give my thanks to You.David was busy thanking Hashem all the time. When he breathed the air, he thanked Hashem for air. Ahh, air! The very best cocktail in the world, oxygen, mixed with a little nitrogen. Dovid would breath it in deeply and then he would thank Hashem for another breath. Of course, Dovid did other things as well. He was a king, and atalmid chochomtoo. He had a lot of work on his hands. But he always found time to be alone with Hashem.THE PROPHETS AVOID PEOPLEAnd that’s why even when he sat in the palace among hischaveirim, Dovid Hamelech said: הבט ימין וראה ואין לי מכיר – “I look on my right and I see that there is nobody who knows me.” Nobody knows me! Youthinkthey know you, but no it’s only a dream. מי לי בשמים – “Whom do I have in heaven?” You, Hashem and that’s all I need.” ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ – “And together with You I don’t want anyone else in this world.” Dovid meant these words – it wasn’t just poetry – and he meant it because his time he spent alone with Hashem had brought him close to Hashem.These were the thoughts of Dovid Hamelech, his songs that he composed and sang during his years of solitude, and so later when Dovid became amelechhe yearned for those days ofkirvas Hashem.“Ah!If only I could have wings and fly back to the wilderness where I once was as a youth! And I would be alone, alone by myself, alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.”And that’s what the great men of our past always did – that’showthey became great. The Chovos Halevavos tells us that: והנביאים אליהו ואלישע מצאנו היות מיחדים מקומם אל ההרים, we find that thenevi’im, Eliyahu and also Elisha, they preferred to be alone on the mountains.You know, people like to mingle with others, with company, and or spend time with friends. But thenevi’imhad theoppositeattitude. It’s a remarkable thing.They avoided the company of people as much as possible.מפני התבודדותם, because of the benefit of solitude.Of course, when it was necessary they came and they preached the message of Hashem to the public.They spoke with people when it was important, but they didn’tseekthe company of people; they preferred to be in solitude – to be alone with Hashem.GREAT MEN SKIP SHULAnd the Chovos Halevavos continues: והחכמים החסידים הראשונים זכרונם לברכה, the sages, the oldchassidimof old, הלכו בעקבותיהם, they walked in the their footsteps. They followed the example of thenevi’imand they sought solitude.כי מצאו להם זה האמצעי היותר מוכן לקנות השלימות , because they found it to be the most useful means of acquiringperfection; the most useful way to acquire Awareness of Hashem, good character and self-control.That’s why there were great men in our history who went out into the wilderness, into the forests to be alone, sometimes for days. It was a sacrifice – they gave uptefillahb’tziburand other mitzvos! Everybody knows the story.TheBaal Shem Tovwent into the forest for days.Now being days in the forest means that he misseddavenenwith aminyan.So it seems; unless maybe he slipped out once in a while into thebeis knesses, but it doesn’t say that in the story. It seems like he stayed in the forest for days.And he wasn’t taking a nap on a bed of moss.He was making use of his time and he was talking; but he wasn’t talking to himself.He was talking to Somebody with a capital S.HE CLOSED HIS GEMARA WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKINGRav Simcha Zissel,zichrono levrachah, spent every night standing on his feet – all night long on his feet studyinggemara. That’s what he told the people he did, but you can suspect him of taking a little time out and talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.In the wee small hours when nobody was listening you can be certain that he was speaking to Hashem. You can take my word for it, he was spending time alone with Hashem, talking to him, the same way Dovid did.That’s what all of the greattzaddikimdid; it’s what we callhisbodedus.Rav Simcha Zissel and the Ba’al Shem Tov were doing what Moshe Rabeinu and Dovid Hamelech did for years and years in the wilderness. And thesetzadikimutilized solitude in order to gain the awareness that they are alone with Hashem; to gain a palpable feeling of standing in the presence of Hashem. And so even when they returned to theirtalmidim, to their communities, they were not deceived, they always retained the Awareness of Hashem that they had achieved in their solitude.GRAB THE OPPORTUNITIES OF LONELINESSAnd therefore the man who aspires to be better, the one who wants to make progress in this world, he tries to find opportunities to be alone. To spend your life, as much as possible, alone in your thoughts with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that is the great career open to all of us; a noble way of perfecting oneself, of attainingshleimusand making the most out of life. Because there’s nothing in life as conducive to perfection, as the condition of being alone with HashemNow, what to do when you’re alone – that’s something that takes a lot of explaining,but the first step is to decide thatyou’re going to be a person who utilizes solitude properly.Let’s say you’re all alone in your room.There’s nobody there right now.Your wife is out shopping.It’s Saturday night and she’s out with her friends.They’re going to the stores, shopping.So you happen to be home by yourself.Ah!You can take this as a glorious opportunity.I’m alone for a little while.I’m alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.If you wish, you can talk to Hashem.It’s the best company.If you have nothing to say, open aTehillimand talk to Him in the words ofTehillim, the words of praise.Now that’s not achiyuv.If you wish you can go along with your wife on the shopping spree. There’s no sin if you don’t want to remain home.But if you are a person who seeks greatness of character, you seize the opportunity to be alone and you understand that it’s a gift fromshamayim. Of course you have to learn how to spend your time alone but when you learn it, you’ll appreciate that great gift.AN EXCELLENT WAY OF SPENDING YOUR TIMENow one of the first things, the most basic thing you’ll have to do when you’re alone with Hashem is to think about thechasodimhe bestows upon you all the time, and to thank Him for them. You can start by thinking about the food you ate today.Thank Hashem for your food. So you say, “I wasyotzehalready once.I thanked.”No, that’s not enough.You have to thank Him always, in addition to yourbrachos,in addition tobirkas hamazon.There’s no end to what you have to be thankful for. Walk out in the cold weather and you have a nice warm garment made of wool.You have to think about these things and tell Hashem how grateful you are to Him. ‘Thank You Hashem for giving me warm clothing!” And say, “Hashem,Baruch Atahfor a beautiful day!” It takes a long time before the day is finished; thank Him a number of times each day for a beautiful day. “It’s a beautiful day, Hashem, a beautiful day!” Now, when it’s raining – it’s also a beautiful day. “Oh,” Hashem,” it’s beautiful day when “diamonds”fall from the sky!” You say, “I thank You Hashem, I thank You Hashem, I thank You Hashem.”That’s an excellent way of spending your spare time.LEARN TO BE HAPPY!I know that most of what you’re hearing now seems a very artificial and remote to your minds; it’s so remote that we’re not even interested in hearing about it. You’re waiting for me to move on, to say something else. But I want to tell you that those people who train themselves to be alone with Hashem are the happiest creatures on earth.There is nothing more pleasurable than the opportunity to talk directly to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.That’s thesimchahofahavas Hashem; a man that is praising Hashem always is a really happy man.Now thanking Hashem is only the beginning. Once you make time to be alone with Hashem, there’s so much to do; so many good things to do to perfect your character.You can think about yourself, think about your life.Because a man has to think about himself – is he walking in the ways ofyosheror not? He has to examine his lifestyle in general and he has to examine his individual deeds, are they in accordance with what he would like them to be, or better yet, in accordance with what theTorahwould like them to be? So you need time for that! Otherwise your life goes by and you continue to repeat the same errors and not to make progress. It’s important to have time alone.THE LAMPPOST & LUNGS PROJECTAnd therefore it’s the people who live withseichel, who are cognizant of the fact that they can have a real relationship with Hashem, there’s no question they’ll be better off. Only that you can’t start all at once.You do it gradually.היום יקנה קצת ממנו, today you acquire a little bit, ומחר יוסיף עליו מעט יותר and tomorrow you add a little more, עד שיתרגל בו לגמרי until you’ll become entirely accustomed to it.So let’s say you’re walking in the street with a friend and you say “Let’s make a project that from this lamppost to the next lamppost we’ll think only of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” Try that; it’s not as easy as it sounds. If you’re not with a friend, do it yourself; even better, you’re walking down Kings Highway all alone with “your best friend.” Challenge yourself: “If I can think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu from this street to the next street –it’s only twenty paces in between – so that means I was alone with Hashem for a little bit.” And at the end you relax.“Ah, I did it.I made it.For twenty paces I thought about Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”A man once said to me “Twenty paces is nothing.I think about Him always.”Ahnechtigehtug! It means heneverthinks about Him.You can’t do it unless you practice up and it’s not easy.It’s like breathing.You know, it’s a good idea to practice breathing.You breathe in deeply and you hold your breath and walk five paces.Then you exhale. Now you take a deep breath again and walk six paces while holding your breath, and then exhale.After a while you’ll be walking fifty paces.That’s a record for you. If you can walk fifty paces holding your breath then you have big lungs, big windbags.You can be a good runner too, an athlete.That’s the way to exercise your lungs. But here’s a way of exercising yourneshamahand your mind.IT’S A MITZVAH TO THINK ABOUT HASHEMAnd it’s not just a good piece of advice that I came up with. It’s a command of the Torah: השמר לך פן תשכח את השם אלקיך, be aware, beware not to forget Hashem.What does it mean not to forget Hashem?It doesn’t mean merely to keep themitzvos.It doesn’t say beware not to forget themitzvos.You should bewarenot to forget Hashem! That means you should be thinking about Him!Try thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu for one minute straight.There’s so much to think about. Think that Hashem is looking at you.Think Hashem loves you.אהבתי אתכם נאום השם – “I love you,” says Hashem. Do you think about that ever?Do you ever stop to think that Hashem loves you?He loves you a thousand more times than your mother loves you and you never thought about it?! You never once thought that Hashem loves you immensely, infinitely?!YOU’LL BECOME A HEAD TALLERThat’s a wonderful thing to think about for your one minute excursion into solitude, your minute of being alone with Hashem in your thoughts. So you’re thinking – and if there’s no one listening then you can say it too: “Hashem , I know You’re right here with me and that You’re listening to me. You love me more than I can imagine. You love me more than my mother loves me, more than my father, more than my friends love me. You’re taking care of me, everything You do to me is for the best and I love you too!And then you relax. You made it! You were together with Hakodosh Boruch Hu for a minute straight. And after a while try for two minutes.And when you get used to that, you can try a little longer. Now that’s a man who’s a head taller than the rest of the world!A DAILY OPPORTUNITYAnother remarkable opportunity for being alone with Hashem is yourdressing in the morning or undressing at night.TheTursays (Orach Chaim 2:2) that one has to be careful not to expose his body unnecessarily when he’s dressing or undressing alone in his room. So you might say well it’s dark in this room; who sees me?Don’t say, “Who sees me?”השם מלא כל הארץ כבודו.He sees you!And therefore every morning and every night when you dress and undress, it’s your opportunity to have some solitude with Hashem. You’re thinking these thoughts. Hashem is here with me and He’s looking and that’s why I’m careful how I undress. Of course Hashem has x-ray vision too.Nevertheless, the fact that He is looking should be enough to make you cover yourself.It’s a practice; it’s atargil.You do it always and little by little you gain an awareness of this great truth that Hashem is looking.It’s very important to work on that.Sometimes you take a walk and that’s a great opportunity. For all of us here walking could also be a form of solitude; solitude doesn’t mean you have to be in a cave or on a desert island. When you walk down the street, you’re all alone; no one is talking to you, and it’s a glorious opportunity to talk to Hashem.YOU NEED HASHEM CONSTANTLYAsk Hashem that He should help you with everything. “I am going for a walk Hashem. Please help me I should succeed in gaining good health, and that I shouldn’t have any difficulties with rude people that bump into me. And while they are “bumping into me” they put their hand in my back pocket and taking out my wallet. This happens every day on Kings Highway! Somebody is shouting, “I just lost my wallet; it had a hundred dollars in it!”“Please Hashem, I shouldn’t have any difficulties crossing streets.” When you want to cross the street, absolutely, you should ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu for help. Ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to protect you from accidents. Accidents are happening all the time. You think you are a wise man, that you look both ways when you start walking and that’s enough. There is a fellow ahead of you, he is turning the corner on two wheels, and he’s not asking you for permission.Every day, therenisimhappen! He just missed you by half an inch.Here is a man walking on the sidewalk, all of a sudden, a truck zooms by – a drunken man driving a truck runs up in the sidewalk and hits him and he’s finished. He wasn’t even thinking of buying a burial plot.A young man and all of a sudden he is dead laying on the sidewalk. Ah yah yay, a tragedy! It happens again and again, drunken drivers run up on the sidewalk. You have to cross the street, surely, but before you cross, you think it’s a foolish thing to say atefillayou should cross successfully? And so, always ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And when you get to the other side, say “Thank You, Hashem that I made it across successfully.” And when you come homeb’shalom, “Baruch Hashem, I made it. I came home and everything is in order. Thank You Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” That’s solitude with Hashem, and it’s available to you all the time.Now sometimes, how to get solitude is a problem.Let’s say you’re in ayeshivahand you’re busy all day learning in theyeshiva.If you’re in a busybeis medrashwhere is your solitude? So atzaddikonce said, let’s say you’re in theyeshivahand you have agemarain front of you, so you put thegemarain front of your face and you’re transported to some far off isolated place and you’re speaking to Hakadosh Baruch Hub’hisbodedus!“Hashem, please, Hashem, see that I don’t waste my years, that I accomplish something in my young days, and help that I should be able to do something later in life for You and for Your people.”THE WRONGBASHERTIf you’re not yet married,Al zos yispallel kol chosid eilechah le’eis mitzo– every chossid has to pray when the time comes to find a wife.Matzah zuishah. You have to pray and pray, but not just one time, you have to pray and pray and pray that Hashem should send you the right one. Don’t say, “It’sbashert,” and forget about it. It could bebasherttzarosfor you,chas v’shalom. That could bebashert, too. Thegemarasays Delilah wasbashertfor Shimshon; a “bighatzlacha”he had from Delilah.So, you have to pray to Hashem, “Give me a goodbashert.” You have to pray; oh yes, you must pray. And start praying, not onerevthechasunah; pray a long time before. It is very important. You have to pray for children. For healthy children. And that your children should give younachas. How manytalmidei chachomimdon’t have anynachasfrom their children! So you’re talking to Hashem non-stop. You’re alone with Hashem in thebeis medrashand that’s what theChovos Halevavoscalls התבודדות בתוך ההמון; it’s possible to be “in solitude in the midst of a multitude.”Of course you can’t be alone all the time. You have to be a father or a mother as well. You have to be a son or a daughter, a neighbor, and employee, whatever it is. But as much as possible, if you can spend time in solitude, a little bit, more or less, and think about Hashem and talk to Him, it’s amazing what can be achieved.Then you feelyou’re alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.And that’s the truth.Because even when you’re dwelling among your brothers, you’re in a crowd, you’re hanging on a strap in the subway, you’re really all alone.So now you’ll think about that when you’re on the subway.You’re caught in the subway in rush hour and you’re hanging on the strap, close your eyes and feelthe place is empty.Of course you should watch your pockets anyhow.Keep your hand on your wallet and forget about the crowd around you. All around you is a storm of humanity with all their little interests, their little worries, their conversations, their little minds. You’re holding onto the strap but you are now in the wilderness of Midian all alone; you’remisbodedwith Hashem and you’re coming closer to Him.GETTING YOUR MIND CLEANED AT THE DENTISTLet’s say you’re sitting in a waiting room by a dentist and you have to wait a half hour. If you have asefer, look in thesefer.You don’t have asefer? Here’s your chance.Or you wake up in the middle of the night.Sometimes for a few minutes you can’t sleep.So until you fall asleep again let’s say you’ll be thinking:כי הוא אמר ויהי, Hashem spoke.That’s all He did, He spoke and the world came into existence.הוא ציוה, He commandedויעמוד and there arose a world.בדבר השם שמים נעשו, the heavens were made only by the word of Hashem.That’s why it says לעולם השם דברך ניצב בשמים.Your word is standing in theshamayim, Your word! You saidyehiand it’s standing in theshamayim.You take away the wordyehiand the wholeshamayimwould collapse into nothing. Everything around you is all just Hashem’s imagination. You ever think about that? He spoke כי הוא אמר ויהי.He was the One who wasmehavehthe wholebriah.A greatnes.It never happened againyesh mei’ayin! That’s a thought that can make you great while you’re sitting alone in the dentist office or hanging onto the subway strap.Let’s say you’re sitting at abar mitzvahparty and all around you all the tongues are clacking. What do you need it for? Is all that chatter going to do you good in the Next World?! So you’re a smart fellow, so you act like you’re listening but your mind is someplace else.You’re “in the forest” now, like the Baal Shem Tov went in the forest.You’re in the forest with Hashem.ויתבודד עם בוראו – You’re find solitude with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And when somebody asks you something, so you come out of the forest to answer. They’ll say, “He’s absent minded,” so you say “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something.”They’ll think you were thinking about your business or something.Let them think so.What we’re seeing now is that It’s possiblel’hisboded b’soch ha’hamon,to find solitude with Hashem even as you’re in the midst of people.LOUD CHASUNA MUSIC IS AYESHUAHLet’s sayyou’re attending a wedding.At the wedding as you sit around, it’s not polite to take out agemara; so you’re sitting at the table or you’re dancing, clapping, whatever you’re doing, you’re participating. But your mind is with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. First of all, you can say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Ribono Shel Olam bless thechossonand bless thekallahthey should all have good health all their lives.They should haveparnasahberevach.”You could say it with your mind and nobody’s listening. But even better, you can say it with your mouth – the music is so loud, nobody will hear you. They think you’re singing along. Bless them that they should have the most beautiful and smartest children.Bless them they should always get alongb’simchahwith each other. Bless them they should live long and dance at the weddings of all their grandchild and great-grandchildren. Do you think that at all?Why shouldn’t you?They need yourtefilos.Everybody getting married, you should know, needs as manytefilosas possible.And אתה שומע, Hashem is listening to yourtefilos. And when you do this, you should know you are exceptional. Because you’re in a big wedding hall full of people, hundreds of people. But as far as you’re concerned, it’s just you and Hashem.GREATNESS AT COUSIN CHAIM’S HOUSEOr let’s say you were forced to go somewhere; after all you must go to visit Cousin Chaim in Boro Park. It’s your wife’s cousin, and you can’t say no this time. So they’re eatingmelave malkahand everybody is chatting and you’re like a fish on dry land. Their minds are being ground to pieces by the idle chatter. So you’re sitting among them and you close your eyes for a moment.They’ll think you’re dozing off but actually you have retired into your cave and you’re talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.You’re thinking your thoughts. Everybody is talking, you’re thinking! Ahh! That’s solitude. Just for a moment.One moment is also a very big achievement.Solitude doesn’t mean a lifetime of being isolated from humanity.Every minute is an achievement in itself. Of coursetzaddikimare able to havedeveikus,clinging to Hashem,always.But we’re not that big.But if you havedeveikusfor one minute then you’ve already accomplished something great with your life.Now I know people will listen to me and they will just dismiss these ideas. They think that it’s amidas chassidus,it’s something that only very great people should do.But that’s wrong. Don’t think that what we’re saying here is going overboard. Just because ordinary people will often live like they do withhesech hada’as; theydavenas ordinary peopledavenand mostly their minds are occupied with ordinary things, doesn’t means that you have to do the same. Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants more than ordinariness. He wants you to be close to Him because those who are far away from Him will eventually go lost.And even though you seem to be ashomermitzvos,but actually you’re far away from Him if your mind doesn’t concentrate on Him, if you’re not living with Him in your mind. And therefore, as much as possible you spend time talking to Hashem. You don’t have to have asiddur, you don’t need aTehillim. Use your own mind. In your own thoughts, in your own words, you’re alone with Hashem.SOLITUDE THREE TIMES A DAYNow, while we’re on the topic, I’ll mention one more opportunity that we have every day and that’sshemonah esrei.Theamidahyou know, is said almost silently, and it’s supposed to be as if you’re standing in thekodesh hakodoshimand you’re talking to theshechinah.That’s how a person should imagine himself.There’s nobody around and you’re talking directly to Hashem. It’s a glorious opportunity.Nobody can hear what you’re saying except yourself perhaps, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is listening.Now that’s real solitude.Only that when a person doesn’t have the attitude of talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu so hisshemonah esreiis just to him something he has to rattle off by rote, something he has to do, and he’ll never experience the ecstasy of speaking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that’s the great tragedy of what we do when we daven; we’re talking to Hashem but actually קרוב אתה בפיהם ורחוק מכליותיהם – “You are close in their mouths but You are far away from their kidneys.” It means that You, Hashem are far away from their insides, their minds. That’s what thenavisaid. And that’s the truth – that’s whatdavenenis.And so it’s very important for us to think Hashem is listening to us. That’s step number one:כי אתה שומע, You are listening. If He’s listening to you, it’s impossible to remove your mind from thinking what you are saying.When you’re just saying something to the wall or to thesiddurit’s possible to forget thekavanah, the intention, of what you’re saying.But when you’re talking to someone, you never talkshelo bekavanahunless you’remeshuga.IT’S GOOD TO BE A HYPOCRITEAnd it’s only if a man sincerely embarks on a career of learning to constantly speak to Hashem, that hisdavenenfinally becomes meaningful. Now at first it’s superficial; you’re a hypocrite. Of course it’s a good hypocrisy – you’re doing it to train yourself. You talk to Hashem and you say, “I thank You Hashem that You have made me healthy.” When you see a man hopping in the street with one empty trousers leg; he has crutches and you have two good legs, you have to stop and think “Boruch Atah Hashem,that I have two legs.” You see a man walking in the street and one empty sleeve pinned to his pocket, you have to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu that you have two arms.The gemara says, לעולם יבקש אדם שלא יחלה – A person should always ask forrachamimnot to become sick. When should he do it?L’olam! Always! Sickness is always lurking in every nook and cranny of the body.All around us germs are floating around in the air. If you walk in the street, and somebody coughs into your face, a whole mouthful of germs sticks to your face from his saliva. It is a very fine form of disgrace!LEARNING TO SAY “YOU”We are in the midst of a cauldron of peril, and illness is one of the most frequent things that happen,chas v’shalom,to a person. And so thechachomimare giving us a piece of very sound advice – ask Hashem not to become ill. You can ask in general, which is also good, but when you hear what happened to a certain man, that he had a tumor in his brain, then you should ask Hashem specifically, “Ribono Shel Olam, heal that man; send him arefuah sheleima besoch sh’ar cholei Yisroel.And please Hashem protect me, protect me! Hashem, I don’t want a brain tumor! Please protect me!” And no matter how many times you say it will not be enough. Inshemone esreiwe say it three times a day but actually all day long you have to thank Hashem that you are well and ask Him to keep you well. Always pray that you should be well, your wife should be well, your children should be well, pray for them all the time.And little by little you will get accustomed to saying the words. And after a while you’re going to feel that there is Somebody actually listening. After a while, when you say אתה, “You” you feel like you’re talking to Somebody. And when that great day comes, then you know you have arrived! That’s what the Mesillas Yesharim says, that at first you say it, and say it, and after a while the realization enters your mind that you’re actually talking to Someone. You’re talking to Hashem and you’ve begun to taste the sweetness of being alone with Him.THE GREAT CAREER OF MOSHE RABEINUNow, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the great opportunity of being alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. It’s a great career that is open to everyone, men and women, boys and girls. And it’s the career that made Moshe ben Amram into Moshe Rabeinu. And so we come back to the question that we asked in the beginning of our talk. What was the secret to Moshe Rabeinu’s success? What did he do for more than forty years wandering alone in the wilderness of Sinai, and shepherding in the mountains of Midian? And the answer is that those were the years that made him great because those were the years that he spent alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. It was days, and months, and years of thinking about Hashem, taking to Hashem, becoming more and more aware of Hashem. All the things we spoke about tonight – and much much more – were accomplished by Moshe during those years.One of the prime requisites for the development of greatness is solitude. And having to go lost for forty lonely years was the great opportunity for greatness that Hashem presented to Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe Rabeinu led Yisro’s flocks into the wilderness alone, like Yaakov had done many years earlier in the house of Lavan, and like Dovid did many years later. And it was there, in solitude with Hashem that his character and grew apace and ripened until the day when Hashem deemed him ready for his destiny.And that’s who we aspire to emulate – like we said before: כל אדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו– “Every person is fit to be righteous like Moshe Rabeinu.” Only that you have to start somewhere! We’re all capable of using the great opportunity of solitude from time to time; of using these exercises we spoke about tonight to train ourselves into a life of solitude with Hakodosh Boruch Huthe same way that Moshe Rabeinu did.And once you start on that career, even if it’s only one minute at a time, then you’re already living successfully. You’re utilizing the great opportunity of being alone with Hashem in this world in order to prepare for that great career in the Afterlife of being alone with Hashem forever and ever. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

THE GREAT MAN IS BORNIn this week’s parsha we are introduced for the first time to one of the greatest men in our history: ותהר האשה ותלד בן – And Yocheved gave birth to a son (Shemos 2:1). Moshe ben Amram is born into the Jewish nation, a handsome baby boy. ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא – His mother saw that ki tov hu, that he was good looking (Shemos 2:2). She didn’t see that he was good natured, or that he was smart. You can’t see that in a baby! She saw that he was handsome; a beautiful child.And that’s almost all that we know about this little boy.And yet only a few pesukim later Moshe, already an elderly sage of eighty years, is being granted a vision of the glory of Hashem at the burning bush: וירא מלאך השם אליו בלבת אש – And a messenger of Hashem appeared to him in a flame of fire (Shemos 3:2). And suddenly this adorable little boy, now a man of eighty, is chosen to be the redeemer of the Am Yisroel.THE MYSTERY OF MOSHENow it would be proper for us to consider the story of Moshe’s life, and to study how Moshe ben Amram became Moshe Rabeinu; what was his path to success? After all, he was the man who took us out of Mitzrayim and led us for forty years in the midbar. He spent forty days and forty nights with Hakodosh Boruch Hu; he spoke to Hashem peh el peh, and brought down the Torah to the Am Yisroel. There was no man greater than he.And not only was he one of the most remarkable men in the history of our nation, but more importantly, he is one the great models that we aspire to emulate. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 5:2) says that! He says that we should all aspire to be like Moshe Rabeinu: כל אדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו – “Every person is fit to be righteous like Moshe Rabeinu.” Now, you’ll never become a navi like Moshe was, but everyone of us was born with the talents needed to become a tzadik like Moshe, and therefore it is incumbent upon us to probe the life of this great man to find the seeds of his greatness.And yet when we begin to investigate his life we are stymied by a most peculiar fact. Moshe Rabeinu, an eighty year old man, seemingly appears out of thin air; the redeemer of the Am Yisroel appears on the scene and we know almost nothing about him: We’re not told what made him great and why he was chosen or what paths of avodas Hashem did he walk on for eighty years that made him the one chosen to redeem the Am Yisroel. How did the ish Mitzri become the ish ha’Elokim, the only man who would ever to speak to Hashem peh el peh, mouth to mouth?HE ESCAPES AND TURNS EIGHTYOf course, we are all familiar with a few short pesukim about his early days; he was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh and then was forced to flee for his life when he defended a fellow Jew by killed a Mitzri. But besides for that we know almost nothing. Moshe Rabeinu turns up many decades later at the burning bush in the mountains of Midian, having been chosen by Hashem to redeem His people.And I’ll tell you a chidddush now – even the one incident we know of this great man, how he went out from the palace to save his fellow Jew, is told to primarily us to let us know that we know very very little about Moshe. Of course, there are other important things we learn about Moshe from there as well – and we’ll talk about that one day. But the primary purpose of those pesukim is to introduce the story of his having to flee. The little we know of him, only comes to tell us that we actually know very little about this great man.ISOLATION AND SOLITUDEHe was forced to flee for his life into the lonely wilderness, and he became a wanderer in exile. Don’t think it was easy for him – it was a lonely life, no contact with his people, no family and no friends. And after many years, his wandering led him to Midian. And even there how did he spend his days? As a shepherd, alone in the mountains of Midian, grazing the sheep of Yisro. That’s what the Torah tells us about his years in Midian. He spent his days alone in the midbar as a shepherd pasturing the flocks. ומשה היה רעה את צאן יתרו חתנו כהן מדין וינהג את הצאן אחר המדבר – “And Moshe was pasturing the sheep of Yisro his father-in-law and he led his flock toward the wilderness” (Shemos 3:1). Moshe spent his days – it was months and years – in solitude in the remote pastures of loneliness.So what we’re seeing here now is a picture of a nomad, a lonely wanderer for forty years. Forty years is a long time to be alone! And besides for a few small incidents, that’s all we are told about how Moshe became Moshe Rabeinu. That’s all we know about him, that he wandered through the wilderness alone.And so we’ll have to say that it was there, shepherding sheep in the isolation of the wilderness, that Moshe achieved the greatness that earned for him his place in history. It is evident that this had been the plan of Hashem – to separate this promising and gifted man from his family and send him into the wilderness and lonely wasteland of Midian and Sinai. And this was all to keep him in solitude. Solitude wasn’t merely an episode in his career; it was the cause of his career and it readied him to become the greatest man in history. By separating him from his family and by keeping him in solitude, HakodoshBoruchHuwas creating the future leader of the Am Yisroel.And so that is what we will attempt to study now; the strange fact that Moshe Rabeinu spent most of his formative years – years that we would have imagined would be spent under the tutelage of tzadikim andovdei Hashem – and instead they were years spent alone, separate from his fellow Jews, and often isolated from Mankind all together. So what was the plan of Hashem over here? What kind of environment was this for Moshe Rabeinu? Now, I’m too small to be able to answer these questions – but I have the right to try to guess.CONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES OF LONELINESSAnd so in order to appreciate more fully this plan of Hashem, we should endeavor to study this step by step; what is it about solitude that can make a person so great. We’ll begin by reading a selection from the Chovos Halevavos. The Chovos Halevavos has a sha’ar called Cheshbon Hanefesh, which means “thinking” and he suggests certain duties that we’re expected to think about, thirty different ideas. He says there are many more but he suggests thirty of them. It’s kidaito study them all, but tonight we’ll study some of cheshbon number seventeen.He says as follows: What should a man think about when he has an urge to seek the company of people? It means when he feels lonesome; let’s say it’s motza’ei Shabbos, the family went out to visit the relatives in Boro Park and he’s left all alone in the house. He looks through the window and he sees cars crowded with people speeding to some destination. And he imagines their fun times ahead. Or let’s say he’s stuck in the yeshiva on motza’ei Shabbos – he’s an out of town boy and everybody else is at home with their families and he’s left alone in his dormitory room. Or he’s just an unfortunate fellow who didn’t marry and he’s all by himself wherever he is. And he yearns for the company of people.And so this man is thinking about how much fun it would be to be together with people. So what does the Chovos Halevavos tell him: “At that time let him consider the advantages of solitude and how good it is to be separate from people because of the harm that comes from their company.” The Chovos Halevavos is telling us here the most basic benefit of solitude – if you associate with people who have little yiras Hashem, or maybe they have wrong ideas, so they poison your mind. There’s no question that you’re going to cause certain defects in your mind and in your character.FOOLS ARE MORE COMMON THAN WISE MENOf course, he doesn’t mean the company of talmidei chachomim; he means ordinary people, the chevras hakesilim, the company of fools. But the truth is that wise men are often hard to find. Most often it is among the fools that you find yourself. And so he tells us, the first thing to consider is the harm that comes from the fools and the great benefit that you can accrue therefore by merely avoiding their company.Now, sometimes you can’t help yourself; you have to visit your in-laws sometimes, so you have to sit and listen to their chatter. And so you’ll have to act like you enjoy it. Or maybe for business, you’re in an office or a store, and you have customers and coworkers who like to chew the rag, so you have to act like they’re saying something very wise, as if you’re interested in their idle chatter. But outside of that, a person should always think about the dangers of the chevrah ra’ah, of bad company.WOULD YOU CHOOSE UNCLE HARRY TO BE YOUR REBBE?For instance much harm is accrued to a man from merely superfluous talk, from shooting the breeze. So you’ll tell me, “What’s so bad about talking about the news, about sports and about the neighborhood? I know it won’t make me a tzadik, but harmful?!” Yes, superfluous talk is in itself an injury to a man: The Chovos Halevavos says that you should avoid the yakking of other, למען אשר לא יביאום הבלי חביריהם לההביל גם הם כמותם, in order that the superficiality, the emptiness of your associates should not bring you to become empty too. When you’re together with ordinary, empty people, you become ordinary too. He’s talking here about frumpeople. Their tzitzis are out and they have black hats. There are many frum people who are empty, and therefore if you’ll associate with people, you’ll come down to their level and you’ll become empty too.“I’ll become empty too?” you’ll ask me. How’s that?” So pay good attention because I’m telling you now one of the unrecognized dangers that comes from listening to superfluous talk – it causes the listener to think along with the talker, or rather to unthink along with the talker. And so, as the “words of wisdom” come gushing forth from Uncle Harry’s mouth – he’s talking without any planning after all – so your mind is following what he is saying. You’re a respectful person after all, so you’re listening, you’re concentrating. And all the inanities, all the thoughtlessness of his conversation, is being repeated by you in your mind. That’s what happens when you listen to anyone – the words are being replayed in your own head. So Uncle Harry just became your “rebbi.” And he just filled your mind with “He said,” and “She said,” “We said,” “I said,” and “They said.” And it’s a long confusion that merely fills up your head with nothing at all – something for which there is no need. And that’s one way easy of ruining your mind.And even with good people, decent people, but if they’re people who live more or less with materialism – and it’s something you find a lot of today – they hardly ever think about Hakodosh Boruch Hu – so you should know that they’re going to drag you down to their level. It’s contagious. Wrong attitudes and wicked ideas are contagious. Now, you wouldn’t sit together with people who have pneumonia or the flu and they’re coughing and sneezing in your face, that you understand. You get upset if someone is “so kind” as to share his germs with you. That kind of sharing you have no interest in. You’ll keep away from him or at least you’ll tell him to cover his mouth. And you have to know that often, the words coming from a person’s mouth can be much worse than pneumonia.THE SINS OF CONVERSATIONAnd as if that wasn’t enough trouble, the Chovos Halevavos quotes the chochom in Mishleiand says even more: ברוב דברים לא יחדל פשע – “In a multitude of words there cannot be absent any iniquity” (10:19) There’s no question, Mishlei tells us, that when people talk voluminous they are going to commit sins. It’s not even a question! Lo yechdal peshah, it’s impossible to avoid it. It’s not even easy to avoid sins when you choose your words, but when you open your mouth and turn on the faucet, then there’s no question that lo yechdal peshah. That’s the possuk in Mishlei. I’ll just add now my own observation: You can imagine when you sit down on a bench in the courtyard of your apartment house with a neighbor or a friend, and four hours elapse in conversation. And you’re not silent during that time. It’s lively, it’s gushing, pouring forth. In those four hours you can imagine how many times peshah was committed. But of course if you don’t think about that; so you blindly and “innocently” continue to produce pesha’im. It’s like the man who blindly and “innocently” drives his automobile off a cliff. It’s a disaster.Now we go back to the Chovos Halevavos: “And by avoiding such company you’ll avoid speaking against people and mentioning faults of people and ridiculing people.” Because that’s what people do when they sit and have nothing else to do. They talk about other people. And finally when the whole conversation is used up, and he already spoke about everybody that he could, so he begins picking his relatives apart. It’s a possuk in Tehillim, תשב באחיך תדבר – “You sit and you talk against your brother, ובבן אמך תתן דופי, and against the son of your own mother you impute foolishness” (50:20) And when somebody will say, “What are you saying against your own brother?” you say, “It’s my own brother! I don’t mean any harm.” No harm?! You just blackened your brother and made him look as silly as possible.YOU’LL SIN MORE AND MOREAnd also lies. Talking brings to sheker; big lies, little lies, lo yimaleit. The more you speak,the more you’ll be nichshal in the opposite of emes. Because in order to make your stories interesting, you have to embellish them at least a little bit with stories, with details that never took place. You don’t intend to lie, but still you want your listener to be interested, he shouldn’t be bored by you. And so, you utilize stories and facts that never took place.And so that’s how it is when you’re around people. When you’re with people so you don’t control yourself. Your tongue wags and wags. You say whatever comes into your mind. You’re “forced” to do itbecause you have to say something when people are around. So you say all kinds of things, and all kinds of trouble happen. You’ll sin and sin some more, and your mind will be dragged down to the lowest common denominator of your conversations. It’s a fact that’s proven all the time, every day, in everyone’s life – and therefore the more you avoid chevra ra’ah, wrong company, the better off you are.SOLITUDE: THE MOST PRECIOUS OF ALL THINGSHowever, important as that is, we’re not going to say that Hakodosh Boruch Hu sent Moshe Rabeinu out into the solitude of the Midian wilderness just for that. Avoiding aveirosand superfluous talk, that’s very important – it’s a diamond on its own – but Hakodosh Boruch Hu had much more in mind for Moshe Rabeinu. Because actually there is a much more profound benefit of solitude, something much more than merely avoiding cheit; and it is that benefit that made Moshe Rabeinu the great man that he became. And that’s what we’ll study now.Now, in order to better understand the ma’alas hahisbodedus, the great benefit of solitude, we will study a piece from the Mesillas Yesharim (Chapter 15). You should pay close attention to the following because this statement we’re going to read now is a diamond; only that you have to be a maiven, a connoisseur, in order to appreciate such a gem. He says like this: ויקר מן הכל, the most precious of all things, הוא ההתבודדות, is solitude, to spend time by yourself. Now, it doesn’t have to be all day long but sometime a person must make for himself. And he says that doing so is יקר מן הכל, it’s more precious than anything else! You’re hearing something now! He doesn’t say that it’s also a good thing, and not even that it’s precious – but it’s “more precious than anything else!” Solitude!THE KING WISHES TO ESCAPEAnd the Mesillas Yesharimcontinues: וכבר הזכיר דוד המלך בשבח ההתבודדות, Dovid Hamelech spoke words of high praise when speaking of this quality of solitude. He said: מי יתן לי אבר כיונה – “If only I had wings like a dove, אעופה ואשכונה, I would fly far away and reside somewhere in a lonesome place. ארחיק נדד, I would wander off and be alone, אלין במדבר סלה, I would remain in the wilderness; I would make that my place forever.”So here is Dovid Hamelech sitting in his palace surrounded by people, surrounded by his advisors and friends, he had a lot of admirers as well, all good things – he’s living the good life – and yet what do we find? That he’s yearning to be in the wilderness! Now that’s a big question because what was Dovid doing up there in the wilderness anyhow? What did he yearn to go back for already? He had everything he wanted!MOSHE RABEINU DOESN’T NEED THE MOVIESAnd of course, for us it’s a good question because when we think about being alone in the wilderness it doesn’t seem so enjoyable. If we would go hide away in the mountains, with nobody else, with nothing to do, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. Many people are not capable of enjoying their own company and therefore it’s impossible for them to be happy unless something comes in to cause them to remove their mind from the present. If you would bring a good novel with you into the wilderness, or maybe a portable television, OK, then we’re talking. But that’s not solitude – that just means they have nothing in their heads and so they’re always trying to fill that vacuum with something. Those are the type of people who line up in front of the movies waiting to be admitted. These are people who can’t live with themselves! They always have to go someplace where something is “happening.” Their lives are so empty of happiness that they’ll stand in line and pay admission for something that is a substitute for happiness. And what type of happiness is it? When they leave the movies the money remains behind, they take along nothing with them except for a mixed up head, silly unrealistic pictures that never happened and never will happen. But at least for the moment their minds were off themselves. There are a lot of people not capable of solitude.But people who want to succeed in life will train themselves to enjoy their own company. That’s what Moshe Rabeinu did for so many years. It’s what Dovid Hamelech did after him – because Dovid wanted to be great and so he studied the life of Moshe Rabeinu and chose to walk in his footsteps. And those are the people who are able to live happy and successful lives even without frequent contact with others. You know that the Gra kept his shutters closed by day. His windows were shuttered up by day so that he shouldn’t be able to look into the street and remove his mind from the business of serving Hashem.SOLITUDE FOR USBut I remember my rebbe, zichrono li’vracha, telling us that we shouldn’t do it. Because if we close the windows and shutter them, we’ll just fall asleep. We’ll take a long nap. So it depends what you’ll do in the wilderness, what are you doing when you close the shutters. If you go into solitude carrying a pillow, or a newspaper or radio under your arm; if take with you a telephone, or a little black and white television, then that’s not solitude. You’re listening to the man on the other side of the radio or the man on the television screen who’s pouring ideas into your head. You’re far from being alone if you’re reading a newspaper – you’re sitting together with the nincompoops who write for the New York Times! And so, you have to know what to do when you’re alone.And so we’ll explain as follows: Solitude doesn’t merely mean that you should be alone; it means that you should be alone for a purpose, for the purpose of perfection. Solitude means being alone and being capable of using that opportunity to produce perfection of character. And the secret to this success is the realization that actually you’re not alone – you’re alone with Hashem! Now that’s something to think about! When you find that time without all of the distractions of life, and now you’re finally alone, that’s when you’re finally alone with your best friend, Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Now don’t tell this to your wife – she should always think that she’s your best friend. But the truth is that your greatest success and happiness in this world will come from the time you spend alone and build a relationship with your true best friend, Hakodosh Boruch Hu.IT’S GOOD TO BE A BEIS YAAKOV GIRLNow I know that many people when they hear these words, it sounds extreme to them. They think I’m exaggerating. A man here said to me once, “Relationship with Hashem?! What am I – a Beis Yaakov girl?” But that’s because people don’t realize their purpose in this world. They don’t know that they’re here only for that – to gain a relationship with Hashem, that is tangible; an actual kirvas Hashem. It is the most noble way of perfecting oneself, of attaining shleimus and making the most out of life.And so now we can come back to the question we asked earlier: Why did Dovid yearn so much to אלין במדבר סלה, to remain alone in the wilderness forever? And the answer is because for Dovid, what was the good in life? Dovid said, קרבת אלוקים לי טוב – “Being close to Hashem, that’s what I say is good.”THE ANCIENT SHEPHERD AND HIS GOOD FRIENDDovid grew up as a shepherd and he spent his entire youth in the wilderness. And it was there, far away from the distractions and encumbrances of life, that he found it most conducive to being alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. There was no company around to spoil his mind, and to distract his thoughts. He was still a boy, unencumbered with a family; he had no enemies, nobody was jealous of him yet, and he had nothing to worry about. And his true greatness came there, בנאות דשה ירביציני על מי מנוחות ינהליני – when he was lying down with his sheep in the green meadows, by the still waters of the creeks.And he would take out his harp to play sweet songs in order to inspire himself to think about his yedid nefesh, his “best friend in the world.”And it was there that he sang to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and his soul ascended on the notes of his harp to heaven. And he became great there, behind the sheep, singing his songs to Hashem.THE COCKTAIL KEEPS THE KING UP AT NIGHTAnd it was all of those songs of love and gratitude that Dovid sang all of his life. It says it openly in Tehillim! Dovid Hamelech was up a big part of the night, every night, talking to Hashem – this we know from his own words. He said “Tov – do you know what is good in this world? L’hodos LaHashem – to give thanks to Hashem.” And he did what he said, he practiced what he sang. “U’lizamer lishimcha elyon – the only good in the world is to sing to Your name, O, Most High,” And when did he do it? All day long! “L’hagid baboker chasdecha.” He related Hashem’s kindness in the morning when he got up and “V’emunascha ba’leilos – “And Your steadfastness to help me in the nighttime.” This means that by day and by night, that’s what Dovid was doing; he was thanking Hashem. It wasn’t for a few minutes in the morning, and another few minutes at night. That’s just what we do, as a faint echo of what Dovid did. He spent his life in solitude with Hashem, talking and thanking, thanking and talking without end. Kol zman shehaneshama b’kirbi, as long as I’m alive, Modeh ani l’fanecha, I give my thanks to You.David was busy thanking Hashem all the time. When he breathed the air, he thanked Hashem for air. Ahh, air! The very best cocktail in the world, oxygen, mixed with a little nitrogen. Dovid would breath it in deeply and then he would thank Hashem for another breath. Of course, Dovid did other things as well. He was a king, and a talmid chochom too. He had a lot of work on his hands. But he always found time to be alone with Hashem.THE PROPHETS AVOID PEOPLEAnd that’s why even when he sat in the palace among his chaveirim, Dovid Hamelech said: הבט ימין וראה ואין לי מכיר – “I look on my right and I see that there is nobody who knows me.” Nobody knows me! You thinkthey know you, but no it’s only a dream. מי לי בשמים – “Whom do I have in heaven?” You, Hashem and that’s all I need.” ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ – “And together with You I don’t want anyone else in this world.” Dovid meant these words – it wasn’t just poetry – and he meant it because his time he spent alone with Hashem had brought him close to Hashem.These were the thoughts of Dovid Hamelech, his songs that he composed and sang during his years of solitude, and so later when Dovid became a melechhe yearned for those days of kirvas Hashem. “Ah! If only I could have wings and fly back to the wilderness where I once was as a youth! And I would be alone, alone by myself, alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.”And that’s what the great men of our past always did – that’s howthey became great. The Chovos Halevavos tells us that: והנביאים אליהו ואלישע מצאנו היות מיחדים מקומם אל ההרים, we find that the nevi’im, Eliyahu and also Elisha, they preferred to be alone on the mountains. You know, people like to mingle with others, with company, and or spend time with friends. But the nevi’im had the opposite attitude. It’s a remarkable thing. They avoided the company of people as much as possible. מפני התבודדותם, because of the benefit of solitude.Of course, when it was necessary they came and they preached the message of Hashem to the public. They spoke with people when it was important, but they didn’t seekthe company of people; they preferred to be in solitude – to be alone with Hashem.GREAT MEN SKIP SHULAnd the Chovos Halevavos continues: והחכמים החסידים הראשונים זכרונם לברכה, the sages, the old chassidim of old, הלכו בעקבותיהם, they walked in the their footsteps. They followed the example of the nevi’im and they sought solitude. כי מצאו להם זה האמצעי היותר מוכן לקנות השלימות , because they found it to be the most useful means of acquiring perfection; the most useful way to acquire Awareness of Hashem, good character and self-control.That’s why there were great men in our history who went out into the wilderness, into the forests to be alone, sometimes for days. It was a sacrifice – they gave up tefillah b’tzibur and other mitzvos! Everybody knows the story. The Baal Shem Tov went into the forest for days. Now being days in the forest means that he missed davenen with a minyan . So it seems; unless maybe he slipped out once in a while into the beis knesses, but it doesn’t say that in the story. It seems like he stayed in the forest for days. And he wasn’t taking a nap on a bed of moss. He was making use of his time and he was talking; but he wasn’t talking to himself. He was talking to Somebody with a capital S.HE CLOSED HIS GEMARA WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKINGRav Simcha Zissel, zichrono levrachah, spent every night standing on his feet – all night long on his feet studying gemara. That’s what he told the people he did, but you can suspect him of taking a little time out and talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. In the wee small hours when nobody was listening you can be certain that he was speaking to Hashem. You can take my word for it, he was spending time alone with Hashem, talking to him, the same way Dovid did.That’s what all of the great tzaddikim did; it’s what we call hisbodedus. Rav Simcha Zissel and the Ba’al Shem Tov were doing what Moshe Rabeinu and Dovid Hamelech did for years and years in the wilderness. And these tzadikim utilized solitude in order to gain the awareness that they are alone with Hashem; to gain a palpable feeling of standing in the presence of Hashem. And so even when they returned to their talmidim, to their communities, they were not deceived, they always retained the Awareness of Hashem that they had achieved in their solitude.GRAB THE OPPORTUNITIES OF LONELINESSAnd therefore the man who aspires to be better, the one who wants to make progress in this world, he tries to find opportunities to be alone. To spend your life, as much as possible, alone in your thoughts with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that is the great career open to all of us; a noble way of perfecting oneself, of attaining shleimusand making the most out of life. Because there’s nothing in life as conducive to perfection, as the condition of being alone with HashemNow, what to do when you’re alone – that’s something that takes a lot of explaining, but the first step is to decide that you’re going to be a person who utilizes solitude properly. Let’s say you’re all alone in your room. There’s nobody there right now. Your wife is out shopping. It’s Saturday night and she’s out with her friends. They’re going to the stores, shopping. So you happen to be home by yourself. Ah! You can take this as a glorious opportunity. I’m alone for a little while. I’m alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If you wish, you can talk to Hashem. It’s the best company. If you have nothing to say, open a Tehillim and talk to Him in the words of Tehillim, the words of praise. Now that’s not a chiyuv. If you wish you can go along with your wife on the shopping spree. There’s no sin if you don’t want to remain home. But if you are a person who seeks greatness of character, you seize the opportunity to be alone and you understand that it’s a gift from shamayim. Of course you have to learn how to spend your time alone but when you learn it, you’ll appreciate that great gift.AN EXCELLENT WAY OF SPENDING YOUR TIMENow one of the first things, the most basic thing you’ll have to do when you’re alone with Hashem is to think about the chasodim he bestows upon you all the time, and to thank Him for them. You can start by thinking about the food you ate today. Thank Hashem for your food. So you say, “I was yotzeh already once. I thanked.” No, that’s not enough. You have to thank Him always, in addition to your brachos, in addition to birkas hamazon.There’s no end to what you have to be thankful for. Walk out in the cold weather and you have a nice warm garment made of wool. You have to think about these things and tell Hashem how grateful you are to Him. ‘Thank You Hashem for giving me warm clothing!” And say, “Hashem, Baruch Atah for a beautiful day!” It takes a long time before the day is finished; thank Him a number of times each day for a beautiful day. “It’s a beautiful day, Hashem, a beautiful day!” Now, when it’s raining – it’s also a beautiful day. “Oh,” Hashem,” it’s beautiful day when “diamonds”fall from the sky!” You say, “I thank You Hashem, I thank You Hashem, I thank You Hashem.” That’s an excellent way of spending your spare time.LEARN TO BE HAPPY!I know that most of what you’re hearing now seems a very artificial and remote to your minds; it’s so remote that we’re not even interested in hearing about it. You’re waiting for me to move on, to say something else. But I want to tell you that those people who train themselves to be alone with Hashem are the happiest creatures on earth. There is nothing more pleasurable than the opportunity to talk directly to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That’s the simchahof ahavas Hashem; a man that is praising Hashem always is a really happy man.Now thanking Hashem is only the beginning. Once you make time to be alone with Hashem, there’s so much to do; so many good things to do to perfect your character. You can think about yourself, think about your life.Because a man has to think about himself – is he walking in the ways of yosher or not? He has to examine his lifestyle in general and he has to examine his individual deeds, are they in accordance with what he would like them to be, or better yet, in accordance with what the Torahwould like them to be? So you need time for that! Otherwise your life goes by and you continue to repeat the same errors and not to make progress. It’s important to have time alone.THE LAMPPOST & LUNGS PROJECTAnd therefore it’s the people who live with seichel, who are cognizant of the fact that they can have a real relationship with Hashem, there’s no question they’ll be better off. Only that you can’t start all at once. You do it gradually. היום יקנה קצת ממנו, today you acquire a little bit, ומחר יוסיף עליו מעט יותר and tomorrow you add a little more, עד שיתרגל בו לגמרי until you’ll become entirely accustomed to it. So let’s say you’re walking in the street with a friend and you say “Let’s make a project that from this lamppost to the next lamppost we’ll think only of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” Try that; it’s not as easy as it sounds. If you’re not with a friend, do it yourself; even better, you’re walking down Kings Highway all alone with “your best friend.” Challenge yourself: “If I can think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu from this street to the next street – it’s only twenty paces in between – so that means I was alone with Hashem for a little bit.” And at the end you relax. “Ah, I did it. I made it. For twenty paces I thought about Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” A man once said to me “Twenty paces is nothing. I think about Him always.” Ah nechtigehtug! It means he never thinks about Him. You can’t do it unless you practice up and it’s not easy. It’s like breathing. You know, it’s a good idea to practice breathing. You breathe in deeply and you hold your breath and walk five paces.Then you exhale. Now you take a deep breath again and walk six paces while holding your breath, and then exhale. After a while you’ll be walking fifty paces. That’s a record for you. If you can walk fifty paces holding your breath then you have big lungs, big windbags. You can be a good runner too, an athlete. That’s the way to exercise your lungs. But here’s a way of exercising your neshamah and your mind.IT’S A MITZVAH TO THINK ABOUT HASHEMAnd it’s not just a good piece of advice that I came up with. It’s a command of the Torah: השמר לך פן תשכח את השם אלקיך, be aware, beware not to forget Hashem. What does it mean not to forget Hashem? It doesn’t mean merely to keep the mitzvos. It doesn’t say beware not to forget the mitzvos. You should beware not to forget Hashem! That means you should be thinking about Him!Try thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu for one minute straight. There’s so much to think about. Think that Hashem is looking at you. Think Hashem loves you. אהבתי אתכם נאום השם – “I love you,” says Hashem. Do you think about that ever? Do you ever stop to think that Hashem loves you? He loves you a thousand more times than your mother loves you and you never thought about it?! You never once thought that Hashem loves you immensely, infinitely?!YOU’LL BECOME A HEAD TALLERThat’s a wonderful thing to think about for your one minute excursion into solitude, your minute of being alone with Hashem in your thoughts. So you’re thinking – and if there’s no one listening then you can say it too: “Hashem , I know You’re right here with me and that You’re listening to me. You love me more than I can imagine. You love me more than my mother loves me, more than my father, more than my friends love me. You’re taking care of me, everything You do to me is for the best and I love you too!And then you relax. You made it! You were together with Hakodosh Boruch Hu for a minute straight. And after a while try for two minutes. And when you get used to that, you can try a little longer. Now that’s a man who’s a head taller than the rest of the world!A DAILY OPPORTUNITYAnother remarkable opportunity for being alone with Hashem is your dressing in the morning or undressing at night. The Tursays (Orach Chaim 2:2) that one has to be careful not to expose his body unnecessarily when he’s dressing or undressing alone in his room. So you might say well it’s dark in this room; who sees me? Don’t say, “Who sees me?” השם מלא כל הארץ כבודו. He sees you!And therefore every morning and every night when you dress and undress, it’s your opportunity to have some solitude with Hashem. You’re thinking these thoughts. Hashem is here with me and He’s looking and that’s why I’m careful how I undress. Of course Hashem has x-ray vision too. Nevertheless, the fact that He is looking should be enough to make you cover yourself. It’s a practice; it’s a targil. You do it always and little by little you gain an awareness of this great truth that Hashem is looking. It’s very important to work on that.Sometimes you take a walk and that’s a great opportunity. For all of us here walking could also be a form of solitude; solitude doesn’t mean you have to be in a cave or on a desert island. When you walk down the street, you’re all alone; no one is talking to you, and it’s a glorious opportunity to talk to Hashem.YOU NEED HASHEM CONSTANTLYAsk Hashem that He should help you with everything. “I am going for a walk Hashem. Please help me I should succeed in gaining good health, and that I shouldn’t have any difficulties with rude people that bump into me. And while they are “bumping into me” they put their hand in my back pocket and taking out my wallet. This happens every day on Kings Highway! Somebody is shouting, “I just lost my wallet; it had a hundred dollars in it!”“Please Hashem, I shouldn’t have any difficulties crossing streets.” When you want to cross the street, absolutely, you should ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu for help. Ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to protect you from accidents. Accidents are happening all the time. You think you are a wise man, that you look both ways when you start walking and that’s enough. There is a fellow ahead of you, he is turning the corner on two wheels, and he’s not asking you for permission. Every day, there nisim happen! He just missed you by half an inch.Here is a man walking on the sidewalk, all of a sudden, a truck zooms by – a drunken man driving a truck runs up in the sidewalk and hits him and he’s finished. He wasn’t even thinking of buying a burial plot. A young man and all of a sudden he is dead laying on the sidewalk. Ah yah yay, a tragedy! It happens again and again, drunken drivers run up on the sidewalk. You have to cross the street, surely, but before you cross, you think it’s a foolish thing to say a tefilla you should cross successfully? And so, always ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And when you get to the other side, say “Thank You, Hashem that I made it across successfully.” And when you come home b’shalom, “Baruch Hashem, I made it. I came home and everything is in order. Thank You Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” That’s solitude with Hashem, and it’s available to you all the time.Now sometimes, how to get solitude is a problem. Let’s say you’re in a yeshivah and you’re busy all day learning in the yeshiva. If you’re in a busy beis medrash where is your solitude? So a tzaddik once said, let’s say you’re in the yeshivah and you have a gemara in front of you, so you put the gemara in front of your face and you’re transported to some far off isolated place and you’re speaking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu b’hisbodedus! “Hashem, please, Hashem, see that I don’t waste my years, that I accomplish something in my young days, and help that I should be able to do something later in life for You and for Your people.”THE WRONG BASHERTIf you’re not yet married, Al zos yispallel kol chosid eilechah le’eis mitzo – every chossid has to pray when the time comes to find a wife. Matzah zu ishah. You have to pray and pray, but not just one time, you have to pray and pray and pray that Hashem should send you the right one. Don’t say, “It’s bashert,” and forget about it. It could be bashert tzaros for you, chas v’shalom. That could be bashert, too. The gemara says Delilah was bashert for Shimshon; a “big hatzlacha” he had from Delilah.So, you have to pray to Hashem, “Give me a good bashert.” You have to pray; oh yes, you must pray. And start praying, not on erev the chasunah; pray a long time before. It is very important. You have to pray for children. For healthy children. And that your children should give younachas. How many talmidei chachomim don’t have any nachas from their children! So you’re talking to Hashem non-stop. You’re alone with Hashem in the beis medrash and that’s what the Chovos Halevavos calls התבודדות בתוך ההמון; it’s possible to be “in solitude in the midst of a multitude.” Of course you can’t be alone all the time. You have to be a father or a mother as well. You have to be a son or a daughter, a neighbor, and employee, whatever it is. But as much as possible, if you can spend time in solitude, a little bit, more or less, and think about Hashem and talk to Him, it’s amazing what can be achieved. Then you feel you’re alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that’s the truth. Because even when you’re dwelling among your brothers, you’re in a crowd, you’re hanging on a strap in the subway, you’re really all alone.So now you’ll think about that when you’re on the subway. You’re caught in the subway in rush hour and you’re hanging on the strap, close your eyes and feel the place is empty. Of course you should watch your pockets anyhow. Keep your hand on your wallet and forget about the crowd around you. All around you is a storm of humanity with all their little interests, their little worries, their conversations, their little minds. You’re holding onto the strap but you are now in the wilderness of Midian all alone; you’re misboded with Hashem and you’re coming closer to Him.GETTING YOUR MIND CLEANED AT THE DENTISTLet’s say you’re sitting in a waiting room by a dentist and you have to wait a half hour. If you have a sefer, look in the sefer. You don’t have a sefer? Here’s your chance.Or you wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes for a few minutes you can’t sleep. So until you fall asleep again let’s say you’ll be thinking: כי הוא אמר ויהי, Hashem spoke. That’s all He did, He spoke and the world came into existence. הוא ציוה, He commanded ויעמוד and there arose a world. בדבר השם שמים נעשו, the heavens were made only by the word of Hashem. That’s why it says לעולם השם דברך ניצב בשמים. Your word is standing in the shamayim, Your word! You said yehi and it’s standing in the shamayim. You take away the word yehi and the whole shamayim would collapse into nothing. Everything around you is all just Hashem’s imagination. You ever think about that? He spoke כי הוא אמר ויהי. He was the One who was mehaveh the whole briah. A great nes. It never happened again yesh mei’ayin! That’s a thought that can make you great while you’re sitting alone in the dentist office or hanging onto the subway strap.Let’s say you’re sitting at a bar mitzvah party and all around you all the tongues are clacking. What do you need it for? Is all that chatter going to do you good in the Next World?! So you’re a smart fellow, so you act like you’re listening but your mind is someplace else. You’re “in the forest” now, like the Baal Shem Tov went in the forest. You’re in the forest with Hashem. ויתבודד עם בוראו – You’re find solitude with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And when somebody asks you something, so you come out of the forest to answer. They’ll say, “He’s absent minded,” so you say “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something.” They’ll think you were thinking about your business or something. Let them think so. What we’re seeing now is that It’s possible l’hisboded b’soch ha’hamon, to find solitude with Hashem even as you’re in the midst of people.LOUD CHASUNA MUSIC IS A YESHUAHLet’s say you’re attending a wedding. At the wedding as you sit around, it’s not polite to take out a gemara; so you’re sitting at the table or you’re dancing, clapping, whatever you’re doing, you’re participating. But your mind is with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. First of all, you can say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Ribono Shel Olam bless the chossonand bless the kallah they should all have good health all their lives. They should have parnasah berevach.” You could say it with your mind and nobody’s listening. But even better, you can say it with your mouth – the music is so loud, nobody will hear you. They think you’re singing along. Bless them that they should have the most beautiful and smartest children. Bless them they should always get along b’simchah with each other. Bless them they should live long and dance at the weddings of all their grandchild and great-grandchildren. Do you think that at all? Why shouldn’t you? They need your tefilos. Everybody getting married, you should know, needs as many tefilos as possible. And אתה שומע, Hashem is listening to your tefilos. And when you do this, you should know you are exceptional. Because you’re in a big wedding hall full of people, hundreds of people. But as far as you’re concerned, it’s just you and Hashem.GREATNESS AT COUSIN CHAIM’S HOUSEOr let’s say you were forced to go somewhere; after all you must go to visit Cousin Chaim in Boro Park. It’s your wife’s cousin, and you can’t say no this time. So they’re eating melave malkah and everybody is chatting and you’re like a fish on dry land. Their minds are being ground to pieces by the idle chatter. So you’re sitting among them and you close your eyes for a moment. They’ll think you’re dozing off but actually you have retired into your cave and you’re talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. You’re thinking your thoughts. Everybody is talking, you’re thinking! Ahh! That’s solitude. Just for a moment. One moment is also a very big achievement. Solitude doesn’t mean a lifetime of being isolated from humanity. Every minute is an achievement in itself. Of course tzaddikim are able to have deveikus, clinging to Hashem, always. But we’re not that big. But if you have deveikus for one minute then you’ve already accomplished something great with your life.Now I know people will listen to me and they will just dismiss these ideas. They think that it’s a midas chassidus, it’s something that only very great people should do.But that’s wrong. Don’t think that what we’re saying here is going overboard. Just because ordinary people will often live like they do with hesech hada’as; they daven as ordinary people daven and mostly their minds are occupied with ordinary things, doesn’t means that you have to do the same. Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants more than ordinariness. He wants you to be close to Him because those who are far away from Him will eventually go lost. And even though you seem to be a shomermitzvos, but actually you’re far away from Him if your mind doesn’t concentrate on Him, if you’re not living with Him in your mind. And therefore, as much as possible you spend time talking to Hashem. You don’t have to have a siddur, you don’t need a Tehillim. Use your own mind. In your own thoughts, in your own words, you’re alone with Hashem.SOLITUDE THREE TIMES A DAYNow, while we’re on the topic, I’ll mention one more opportunity that we have every day and that’s shemonah esrei. The amidah you know, is said almost silently, and it’s supposed to be as if you’re standing in the kodesh hakodoshim and you’re talking to the shechinah. That’s how a person should imagine himself. There’s nobody around and you’re talking directly to Hashem. It’s a glorious opportunity. Nobody can hear what you’re saying except yourself perhaps, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is listening. Now that’s real solitude.Only that when a person doesn’t have the attitude of talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu so his shemonah esrei is just to him something he has to rattle off by rote, something he has to do, and he’ll never experience the ecstasy of speaking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that’s the great tragedy of what we do when we daven; we’re talking to Hashem but actually קרוב אתה בפיהם ורחוק מכליותיהם – “You are close in their mouths but You are far away from their kidneys.” It means that You, Hashem are far away from their insides, their minds. That’s what the navi said. And that’s the truth – that’s what davenen is.And so it’s very important for us to think Hashem is listening to us. That’s step number one: כי אתה שומע, You are listening. If He’s listening to you, it’s impossible to remove your mind from thinking what you are saying. When you’re just saying something to the wall or to the siddur it’s possible to forget the kavanah, the intention, of what you’re saying. But when you’re talking to someone, you never talk shelo bekavanah unless you’re meshuga.IT’S GOOD TO BE A HYPOCRITEAnd it’s only if a man sincerely embarks on a career of learning to constantly speak to Hashem, that his davenen finally becomes meaningful. Now at first it’s superficial; you’re a hypocrite. Of course it’s a good hypocrisy – you’re doing it to train yourself. You talk to Hashem and you say, “I thank You Hashem that You have made me healthy.” When you see a man hopping in the street with one empty trousers leg; he has crutches and you have two good legs, you have to stop and think “Boruch Atah Hashem, that I have two legs.” You see a man walking in the street and one empty sleeve pinned to his pocket, you have to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu that you have two arms.The gemara says, לעולם יבקש אדם שלא יחלה – A person should always ask for rachamim not to become sick. When should he do it? L’olam! Always! Sickness is always lurking in every nook and cranny of the body. All around us germs are floating around in the air. If you walk in the street, and somebody coughs into your face, a whole mouthful of germs sticks to your face from his saliva. It is a very fine form of disgrace!LEARNING TO SAY “YOU”We are in the midst of a cauldron of peril, and illness is one of the most frequent things that happen, chas v’shalom, to a person. And so the chachomimare giving us a piece of very sound advice – ask Hashem not to become ill. You can ask in general, which is also good, but when you hear what happened to a certain man, that he had a tumor in his brain, then you should ask Hashem specifically, “Ribono Shel Olam, heal that man; send him a refuah sheleima besoch sh’ar cholei Yisroel. And please Hashem protect me, protect me! Hashem, I don’t want a brain tumor! Please protect me!” And no matter how many times you say it will not be enough. In shemone esrei we say it three times a day but actually all day long you have to thank Hashem that you are well and ask Him to keep you well. Always pray that you should be well, your wife should be well, your children should be well, pray for them all the time.And little by little you will get accustomed to saying the words. And after a while you’re going to feel that there is Somebody actually listening. After a while, when you say אתה, “You” you feel like you’re talking to Somebody. And when that great day comes, then you know you have arrived! That’s what the Mesillas Yesharim says, that at first you say it, and say it, and after a while the realization enters your mind that you’re actually talking to Someone. You’re talking to Hashem and you’ve begun to taste the sweetness of being alone with Him.THE GREAT CAREER OF MOSHE RABEINUNow, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the great opportunity of being alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. It’s a great career that is open to everyone, men and women, boys and girls. And it’s the career that made Moshe ben Amram into Moshe Rabeinu. And so we come back to the question that we asked in the beginning of our talk. What was the secret to Moshe Rabeinu’s success? What did he do for more than forty years wandering alone in the wilderness of Sinai, and shepherding in the mountains of Midian? And the answer is that those were the years that made him great because those were the years that he spent alone with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. It was days, and months, and years of thinking about Hashem, taking to Hashem, becoming more and more aware of Hashem. All the things we spoke about tonight – and much much more – were accomplished by Moshe during those years.One of the prime requisites for the development of greatness is solitude. And having to go lost for forty lonely years was the great opportunity for greatness that Hashem presented to Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe Rabeinu led Yisro’s flocks into the wilderness alone, like Yaakov had done many years earlier in the house of Lavan, and like Dovid did many years later. And it was there, in solitude with Hashem that his character and grew apace and ripened until the day when Hashem deemed him ready for his destiny.And that’s who we aspire to emulate – like we said before: כל אדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו – “Every person is fit to be righteous like Moshe Rabeinu.” Only that you have to start somewhere! We’re all capable of using the great opportunity of solitude from time to time; of using these exercises we spoke about tonight to train ourselves into a life of solitude with Hakodosh Boruch Hu the same way that Moshe Rabeinu did. And once you start on that career, even if it’s only one minute at a time, then you’re already living successfully. You’re utilizing the great opportunity of being alone with Hashem in this world in order to prepare for that great career in the Afterlife of being alone with Hashem forever and ever. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.