Achdus Event - (Mevaseret and Aish Gesher) A Torah of Unity

3:11 And Ruchanina Bentradyon responds and he says, now that I'm dying with the Torah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will avenge the Torah will avenge me. That's the first conversation. Then there's a second conversation. A conversation that Rav Hanina Bentradyon has with his talmidim. And the talmidim say, Rebbe what do you see? Ma'a taroa, what do you see? And Rav Hanina Bentradyon gives the famous answer. He says, I see that the parchment is burning. But the letters of the Sefer Torah are parakos ba'avir, they're flying around me. The letters are not being consumed. And seeing how Rebbe was suffering they said to him, Rebbe why don't you open your mouth and allow the fire to consume you more quickly? And he says, Chassvashalom Hakadosh Baruch Hu will take back my soul in the right time. A person should not inflict harm upon himself. So there's two conversations. And then an unexpected conversation.

4:28 The Roman executioner who's watching these conversations take place turns to Ruch Hanina Bentradyon and he says to him, if I increase the flames and I remove the wool from your heart, will I have a chelek in Olam Ha'ba? And Ruch Hanina Bentradyon says yes. And he says, swear to me. Rav Chaninah Bintradyon swears to him and this is what the executioner does. He increases the fire, removes the wall, Rav Chaninah Bintradyon dies, and then the executioner himself jumps into the fire. And he dies also. And a basqul comes out from Shammaiim and says that both Rav Chaninah Bintradyon and the executioner have a chelek in Olam Haba. For those of you who know the Gemara, if you don't know, he hears this and he starts to cry. Yesh kynah eilam haba bishah achas. There are those that are kind of eilam haba in a moment and there are those that are kind of eilam haba over a lifetime.

5:42 All of these conversations are strange. It's hard for us to imagine that a Rebbe like Rav Chaniinah ben Tradion, a leader in all of Klal Yisrael, is being burnt alive. This is the time to talk to him. This is the time to say, teach us. I can't imagine that if we were able to watch somebody was being tortured mercilessly, that we would have anything other than pain in our hearts. It would be impossible to get out any words. At least the words of his daughter we can understand somewhat. She expresses her pain. I can't bear to see you this way. But still, Ruch Hanidah Bentraggion is like talking to her, he's having a conversation with her while he's being burnt and he says, no don't worry. Hashem will revenge my blood just like he will avenge the Sefer Tyro. What is the lesson that Ruch Hanidah Bentraggion in these painful moments is imparting to his daughter?

6:42 Stranger still are the talmidim. If Chassvasholom Yur Rebbe was being tortured, When you sit and say Rebbe, what do you see? Give us your last Torah lesson. This is not the time for this. It's not the time to be a Talmud. It's one thing a Talmud sees a Rebbe in the middle of eating lunch and he says Rebbe at a moment takapashluz. I have a question, something that's bothering me. That's an appropriate time. It's one thing that a Rebbe is walking with his wife and a Talmud will come over and go, can I interrupt you? I have a question that I want to ask. It's not appropriate necessarily but it's understandable. But who amongst us could watch a Gogol Hador being burnt alive with a sabre tyra and say, New Rebbe what do you see? What type of question is this? And what is the response of Chaniyibentradyun? The parchment is being burned but the letters they're flying, what is he saying? And stranger still, Is a Roman executioner a murderous man?

7:56 It's hard for us to imagine today what it means to be an executioner today. We fight wars Not recently, but today we fight wars with a certain sense of Distance from the person that's being killed a person sits in an office. There's a drone. They press a button a person dies. There's a distance Here we see that the man himself who is executing Rav Canine Ben Tradion turns to Rav Canine Ben Tradion and starts bargaining over his Olam Abba. Swear to me that you'll give me Olam Abba. What in the world is going on over here? A moment ago this man is a Rosham Arusha and now he cares about Olam Abba. Where was he ten minutes ago? Obviously something has changed. Something so dramatic, so drastic, that now this Roman execution is going on. And now this Roman executioner says, the most important thing in the world is for me to die with Rav Canina Bentrad Yom.

8:52 He jumps into the same fire that burns Rav Canina Bentrad Yom. And he gets the same cheilah in Olam Abba. The Baskel comes out, they both have Olam Abba. What's going on in this Gemara? You have to understand there's a basic idea. There's a basic idea that's being expressed in this room right now in Rabosah. I'm begging you to open your hearts and not just your minds to this idea. In the material world everything, everything is separate. There is no concept of unity in the material world. But in the spiritual world all there is is Achdus. There is no such thing as disparity. There is no such thing as separation. In the spiritual world, in the spiritual world every single thing is one. And even what appears to be different is just the tapestry of life. It's every single unique individual operating together to create this beautiful oneness that we have.

9:58 There are two types of Torah. There's a Torah of separation and there's a Torah of unity. And who is it that teaches us the Torah of unity? It's none other than Rav Hanina Bentragion and it's a Mishnah in Avos. Rav Chaninib ben Chradyon Omesh Shna'im Shayyayshvim ve'aim b'aim nayim devrei tayra Ha'rezeh Moshev Leitzim And says the Medrash Shmuel, who are we talking about? These two people that are sitting together and they're not learning tayra. To whom is this referring? Is it referring to two guys in the khatarochah? Is it referring to two guys in the basketball court? It's talking about two guys in the beis medrash. It's talking about two people who can sit next to each other and both are learning Torah. But it's a Torah of separation. It's a Moshev Leitzen. Each one is thinking in his heart, the other person's Torah has nothing to do with me.

10:55 There's a cynicism. He learns his Torah. I learn my Torah. It's a Torah of separation. It's a Moshev Leitzen. But the Mishnah continues, havoshnayim shayayshim v'yesh b'ayneim devretayra If two people are sitting in the Beis Medrash and they're learning the Kavruseh and each one of them is contributing to the other one China Shiruya b'ayneim That's a place of spirituality That's a place of unity. Rabbi Sa'ih, we live in a world I hate to say this out loud, it's not the time at all to say anything negative about Klal Yisrael We live in a world where we practice so often this Torah of separation. This Yeshiva, that Yeshiva. Who's Yeshiva's better? What Yeshiva does? This whole notion of Yeshiva League. That word is a word of separation. Who's Yeshiva League? Who's not Yeshiva League? The word Yeshiva today doesn't mean a Torah of unity. Chassvasholom it could become a Moshev Leitzim, a place where we're cynical about each other.

11:59 Ruchaninah ben Trabion says our Torah must be a Torah of the Shchina, a Torah of unity. Do you think that when R.I. Rossman and I conceived of this idea, we were trying to do something kitschy? Ah, it's going to be an Akhdus day. It's going to be a unity event. The world can go do unity events. We don't need to do things like that. We don't need to stop our regular morning Seder just to have an Achdus event The greatest Shmira that Klal Yisrael has is a Torah of Achdus The opportunity that we're going to have today to prepare Shira to hear Shira from the Rashi Shiba from Reberkowitz is an unbelievable Opportunity not because we have the opportunity to hear Shira from Reberkowitz that opportunity Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people have had it. But the fact that two Yeshivas get together and sit and learn in the same Beis Medrash, today in this Beis Medrash, the Shrin Eshruya Beinayenu. It's our Torah of unity. It's not the Torah of Eish Gesher, it's not the Torah of Mevaseret. It's the Torah of Hashem. This is the conversation that Rav Kaninah Bentraadion's daughter has with him. She says, Abba, I'm watching you burn. And he says, yeah, but I'm bound up with the Torah.

13:15 Terah. It's one with me. And Achdus Baruch Hu will avenge the Torah, will avenge me because there's no separation today between me and the Torah. That's the level of spirituality that Rav Kaninabed Tradion has. It wasn't something separate from him. It wasn't a material Torah. It was one Torah. And now it's Talmidim Seh Rebbe. Even though you're suffering, we have The question is the most painful question. It's a question that Klal Yisrael has been asking themselves for L'Alene who's thousands of years. M'ata Roach What do you see? Where do we know these words from? It's a Pausachian nach. It's a Pausachian Yerme Yeo. The pussock says v'y'yid v'ar Hashem elayleh mor ma'a tarohye yermeyohu Ma'a Tarohye What do you see? Hashem is saying to Yermeyoh as you look into the future and you see all the destruction that Klal Yisrael is going to have to suffer Ma'a Tarohye What do you see?

14:22 This is the question that Rav Channina Bentrad Yom's Talmudim said, Rebbe we know you're dying So we need to know now in the middle of the persecution while you're suffering from the pangs of Golis. Ma'ataroah, what does the future hold for us? What do you see? And if Hanina Bentradyon responds and he says, there's a parchment to the Torah and there's letters of the Torah. The parchment is the body but the letter is the soul. The parchment can be burned, but the letters can never be destroyed. The soul of the Torah can never be destroyed. They can burn our bodies, and they did. These barbarians, they burned our people. But what happens when they burn our bodies? Serf Kannina Bentradion says, the Osios, the letters of the Torah, the soul of the Jewish people, are parachas. That's when we flourish. That's when we flower. It's not just that the letters were hovering. The letters were flourishing. They were flowering.

15:33 Look at Klal Yisrael today. A couple of weeks ago on the overpasses on the highways, there were signs about democratic reform. To the right, to the left. This country in the summer they were talking about civil war. And that's not a joke. I had the opportunity this summer to be with NCSY around Telstone area. There's a hotel there and there was a big NCSY Shabbaton. That's a 25 minute drive from my house and it took us almost an hour and 25 minutes to get there because thousands and thousands and thousands of people on a Friday afternoon were marching from Tel Aviv to Yershalayim in protest of what was happening in this country. The country was on the verge of civil war. And if you would have asked us a month ago, two months ago, what is this country made up of? We would have responded.

16:28 Chilonim, Chareidim, Siyonim, Mizrachnikim was a divided country. And look what's happened in the last two and a half weeks. They burned our bodies and the Osios are parakos ba'azir. They burned our bodies and there's a level of achthos that's being expressed today in Klal Yisrael. That's unbelievable. If you would have told us a month ago that this is where we would have been holding. Nobody would have believed you. Nobody would have believed you. I had the opportunity this morning to speak to Dr. Jonathan Donath who's the founder of Daily Givin. He's an old friend of mine. He was my roommate here in Yeshiva. I said, John, how's it going? He said it's unbelievable. The amount of money that's pouring into daily giving to be given out to Eretz Yisrael is crazy. He said, but I want to tell you about an email that I received yesterday. A Bab of Ur-Chassid, I won't say the guy's name, I don't know if he wants it to be public.

17:25 A Bab of Ur-Chassid who's been giving $35 a day to daily giving, he upped it to $45 a day. And then he called Donath and he said to him, and I want to give another ten thousand dollars just to support everything that's going on in general. So Donath calls him up. So what's the Bshat? It's Ababa Verchasseh. He said, in my life, I've never given money to any of the organizations that we're giving money to today, and I can't tell you how good it feels. Abba V'rachasid A guy who if you walked by him in the street you might say to yourself, we come from the same nation, we speak the same language, we have what to do with each other. This Baba V'rachasid, he can't control himself. A ten thousand dollar gift and he's telling to don't have, tell me what I can do more.

18:19 I just want to be a part of Klal Yisrael. Rav Chaninah Bantrabion says the future of the Jewish people is not in jeopardy. It never will be. There is no question how this war ends. The question is, will we have the capacity to listen to the mus'r of Reqneenah Ben Chagyon in his final moments and say, we're together? Not Akhtos so that we can survive, just to be clear. I don't mean Akhtos because we're stronger together. I mean the revelation of what we really are. What we really are, like the Gemara Mishnah says, is Guf Echad. That's what we really are. And I want to tell you the secret of this Gemara. The secret of this Gemara is the Roman executioner. At the end of time, when we reach the level of Rav Channina Bentradyon, when we're all together, our enemies, they want to be with us. Our enemies turn to us and they say, if this is the achdas of Klal Yisrael, I want to be a part of it.

19:18 Not only do they not become people that will hurt us, they jump in the fire with us. If our enemies are still against us, it's not because of them, it's because we have not yet reached the bar there of Haninah Bentraggion except for us. An Shmiyat Zareh Hakadosh Baruch Hu Sestas ik fulyod yom echad kikashay lai prey daschim Stay with me one more day. It's difficult for me when you leave. And the obvious question is, how could we leave Hashem and how could Hashem leave us? No Jew has ever left Hashem and Hashem certainly has never left any Jew. So what is Hashem saying? K'chasha Elai Pradas Grem Listen to this idea. My wife shared with me this idea. It's an amazing idea. K'chasha Elai Pradas Grem doesn't mean Chasvasholom that Hashem is leaving us or that we're leaving Hashem. It's hard for me when Jews leave each other. That's what Hashem says. It's hard for me when Jews leave each other.

20:18 An sukkah is every single Jew can sit under the same sukkah, but then we leave the sukkah and we go into charevzman And we're distant from each other That's what's painful to us them You guys don't know this because you're not yet parents the most annoying Obnoxious thing that a parent goes through is watching their children fight for no reason That's what our college ball who has been screaming at us for thousands of years and every once in a while And all the while Hashem gives us a patch and this was a big one and we remember, we remember who we really are. Just now outside in the hallway right before we came in I was talking to Rabbi Benavitz. And he reminded me of an obvious truth. We shouldn't be doing this now. We shouldn't be doing it only when it hurts. We shouldn't be getting together and having Mevaseret and Aish and the base measures only when Atotosh Baruch gives us that patch.

21:26 We should be doing this every year. We should be doing this in good times. We should be Zaychirah to come to your base measures. You should be Zaychirah to come to our base measures. There's this notion in our world, you guys all went through this as high school seniors. The yeshivas in Israel are coming. And it's a word that's used to discuss the word, it's not a nice word, recruitment. The yeshivas are coming to recruit. We're trying to recruit as if you guys are like five star college basketball players and we're all in Mychishevsky. We're trying to come to recruit the Khevra. I got news for you. We're not recruiters. We're Rebbeim. You're not five star college athletes. The exception of Johnny. But Johnny, food is food. You're Talmidim and we're Rebbeim. But there's a sense, you'll forgive me for saying this, there's a sense that I've heard from you guys in America.

22:29 When the Yeshivas come, it's like each Yeshiva, like the guys say, like maybe a little bit like knocking in a subtle way, a different Yeshiva. There's a sense, chassvasholim, of disparity, of separateness. But I can tell you, b'chadre chadarim, because Rabbi Green is a dear friend who sits right next to me in Shul. How many times, Rabbi Green, we should say it out loud for everybody here, how many times have you and I collaborated over the years? How much have I learned from you? How much does Eish Gesher share with us? Baruch Hashem, what you guys perceive is not the truth. And today is a riot. Ma'ataroah. What do you guys see? As you sit here in Eretz Yisrael right now, the guys that made it important to them to stay to be a part of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael at this moment, what do you see?

23:26 What do you see? Do you see unbelievable Akdus in Klal Yisrael? You know there's a mission that Berkowitz has given to the world 3 million people right? That would be 3 million people that's the number 3 million people? To create Akdus over here in our beis medrash as Rabbi Elshen said to me only a couple of moments ago It's not so difficult. Eish Gesher Mevaseret were right next to each other But what about the next person? What about the next person? What about the next person? What about the Jews that aren't in this beis medrash or have no connection to a beis medrash? Are we really working to create achthos with them? I think right now, for the first time in my life, I think the answer is yes. And you see these videos, stay off, stay off, stay off, stay off, watching all the terrible videos.

24:16 But stay on, watching all the amazing videos of what's happening in Klal Yisrael today. My brother-in-law told me he went down this past week, he went down to an army base really far down south with a group of people that made a huge barbecue for all the soldiers there. And he said it was the least likely group of people to ever get together. And it was amazing. It was amazing. The Golis starts, the Golis starts when Yosef is looking for his brothers and he says, Rachai Anochim Mevakesh I'm looking for my brothers. Rabbi Sairi were the brothers that they're looking for. It's us. There's no such thing as somebody should do it. There's no such thing as a kiruv professional. All there is is you. Every single one of us is the you that's being tasked with reaching out to every single other Jew and saying, if we're going to get through this, it's only going to be because we learn our lesson.

25:19 So Rabbi Raphson and I will end with an invitation, and it doesn't have to be on the exact anniversary. But sometime next year, you're welcome to come here, we're happy to come to you. But in better times, when this is all over, let's do this again. Let's do it again so that we could fulfill the dictum of Channina Bentradium, that we should be zaicha to learn a Torah where the shrina is shuria b'ininu. Rabbi Sai have an amazing day of learning Torah together, hanging out with each other And Be'ez Hashem Be'ezach ha-dessidu gole Sheleimah Me'erah b'yameinu amen.