Beshalach - Seeing Emunah With Your Own Eyes

2:21 But really, when was it said? It was said later. It made sense later because what was there? There was a Mishkan. So take a jug of man and put it in the Mishkan. Why is it telling it to us here? Rashi says because we're talking about the man. But obviously Obviously, if the Torah is telling it to us here in the Parsha Shemun, there's a reason the Torah is telling it to us before the Mishkan was built. Does that make sense? In other words, Rashi is coming along and saying, when was this really? When did this whole thing really happen? It really happened much later. When did it happen? When the Mishkan was built? So why is it telling us now? Because we're talking about the month. Since we're talking about the month, the Torah tells us later. Aaron and Cohen is going to put this in the aron. But lemaisa? Why is it being said now before the creation of the mishkan?

3:09 It sounds like we need to know it now, almost as a prerequisite to the building of the mishkan. The question is, what does that mean? Why do I need to know now that later, when the mishkan is built, they're going to put a jar of man in the aron in the mishkan. That's the first question for tonight. Second question for tonight. There's a mechilta of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai. There's a mechilta of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai. It's a medrash based on the sayings of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai. Medrash is a strange one. The medrash says the tyro was only given to those who ate man. Meaning, if you were not a man eater, we'll see what that means. But if you did not eat man, you were not zayicha to the giving of the Torah. But who got the Torah, girls? Everybody got the Torah. Which means that it wasn't saying Rishon Bayochai is not saying the Torah was only given to those who ate man. It means that because the Jews ate man, therefore they were zayicha to the giving of the Torah.

4:14 But that's also very strange. Because since when is eating the mun a prerequisite for Torah? I understand Jews like to eat But it's a very strange thing to say that because we ate the mun That's why we were zochet to kabbalas a Torah. I would have said that if you are a hungry person, you ate the mun. You were hungry, so you ate the mun. What does the eating of the man have to do with giving the Torah? Given eating the man is because you're hungry. If I imagine somebody said, if you eat a steak, then you could have kabbalas Torah. I ate a steak because I was hungry. Why do they eat the man? They eat the man because they had to survive. What was it about the man that made them worthy of receiving the Torah? So that's our second question. So two questions for tonight. Just so far, just to sum up. Number one, why is the fact that the jar of man was put in the Aron told us now before the creation of the Mishkan? Two, eating the man was a prerequisite for Torah. Are you starting to get the sense that man comes before things?

5:26 Just like the man comes before the giving of the creation of the Mishkan, the man also comes before the giving of the Torah. I have a question. Is that jar? I don't know what goes here. Very good, excellent. Let's look at Rashi. You're exactly on the ball. Rashi says, "Bimayir miyahu." When was it preserved? For which generation was it preserved? If you're holding in Navi, if you're holding in Rashi, it's for the days of Yirmiyahu. What happened in the days of Yirmiyahu? Kesha'ha Yirmiyahu mochicham lama einatem oskim b'Torah? Yirmiyahu came to his generation and he said, "Why aren't you engaged in learning Torah?" What did they say back to him? If we stop working in order to learn Torah, how will we have a parnassu? How will we survive? Where will our money come from? So what did Yirmiyahu do? So he took out this jar of man. Amar lehem, and he said to them, "Atem reu dvar Hashem." The pasuk says. Come see the word of Hashem. See with your eyes. Come see. Shimulo nemar. It doesn't say hear about it. It doesn't say hear the story that there was one day man that there used to be man. Rather, it says what you should literally see the man. So b'zeh nispar nisu abosechem.

7:00 This man, do you see it? This is how your ancestors survived. This is how they ate. Harbe shluchim yeshlo lamakim lahachin mazon l'reyav. And Yirmiyahu said to them, "God has many agents of how He can make sure that you are taken care of." In other words, Yirmiyahu comes to the people and says to them "Chavra, learn Torah." What do they say back to him? "If we learn, we're not going to be able to eat." He says, "I know the answer to this question because Hakadosh Baruch Hu said all those years ago to Moshe Rabbeinu and Arsinai, make sure that Aaron and Cohen puts a jar of man in the aron. Why is that so important? Because one day there's going to be people that they stop learning Torah because they say we need to take care of our parnasah. To them, you'll pull out this jug. It's not enough to tell them the story. Pull out this jug and show it to them and say 'Look, guys, if Hashem wants to make sure you're well-fed.' It's not a problem. There was a time you could see it with your own eyes, where food literally fell from the heavens. And then he ends and he says,'God has many agents.'

8:08 God knows well and good how to provide you with a parnasa. You'll learn and you'll see. Parnasa will be provided for you. This is also strange, even though it seems to be very powerful. Imagine that somebody actually pulled out a jar of man and said to you, 'Don't worry so much about your parnasa. It's all coming from Hashem.' It's not so obvious that this question that this answer answers their question. Because what are they coming and saying? They're saying If we just learn and don't work, where are we going to get food from? What would the answer be? The answer is the mun. Hashem gave them the mun. What should their answer back be? What should they respond? And that's nice that there was once upon a time mun, but maybe in those days the reason that they learned Torah is because they had mun.

9:04 You understand? So enochanami, give me the mun And then I'll go learn Torah. But right now I don't have the mun, so I have to work. And if I stop working, then I'm not going to have a parnasa. So what exactly is the answer to their question? They're so worried. If we stop working We're not going to have a parnasa. You'll have parnasa. Once upon a time it happened. Veharaya that it hasn't happened since. The proof that it hasn't happened since is that you had to preserve it in a jar, because otherwise I never would have believed you. Because food does not fall from the heavens. So hear me out. You're coming along. You're telling us there's a jar of man. Once upon a time it used to happen. Shkayach. Once upon a time, but today I got to work. You understand? It doesn't sound like such a good answer. And then he says, Harbe shluchim yesh lamakom. Hashem has many ways of getting you parnasa. So then that should be the answer. The answer should be nothing to do with the money, right? If somebody came to me and they said, 'Rav Berg, I wanna work and I don't wanna learn,' I would say

10:04 The Rebbeinu Shlomo can figure out how to get you parnasa. Why do I need to show them a jar of money? As if I have a philosophical answer to that question, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows how to get you parnasa, so then I have that answer. Why do I need to show you that once upon a time it came down through money? It used to come down through money. Now there's no money. So I've got to get a job in nursing homes. You understand? I have to get a job in ABA therapy. I got to get a job in building homeless shelters. I just found out that's a new Jewish job. Because apparently they're giving out government funds for people that build homeless shelters. Yidden are building homeless shelters. It's just a funny thing. You don't need the jar of money. The proof that you don't need the jar of money is where's the jar of money today? So all the people right now that are worried about parnasa, what would you say to them if they come and say, "I don't want to learn Torah. I just want to work." And I have to do that because otherwise I'm not going to make my parnasa. I don't have a jar of money to pull out. So what do I say? I say, 'Say there, I'm called Shmuel, because find a way to give you a parnasa. What are you so worried about?'

11:00 I don't have the jar of money. They had the jar of money, but I don't have the jar of money. If the jar of money was so important, I should still have it today. But I don't have the jar of money today. And people do make sure to make time for limud Torah. So what exactly is going on over here? Now we have three questions. One more question. Anyone know what the man looked like? Like white dough and there's a white coriander. Very good. So the pasuk says The pasuk says, v'haman kizragadhu, v'eno ke'en habdolach. The man was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like crystal. Anyone else know where we find crystal in the Torah? You'd be shocked. You have to go all the way back to Parshas Bereishis. Parshas Bereishis in Gan Eden, when it's describing the rivers that came out of Gan Eden, the pasuk says, Uzahav ha'aretz ahi tov, sham habedolach ve'evan shoham. The gold of that land is good. There's crystal and a certain type of stone. So it's interesting. The two places in the Torah where we find crystal are where In the story of Gan Eden And in the Mound.

12:20 The question is, what's the connection between Gan Eden and the Mound? So we have four questions. I'll sum up the four questions really quickly. Number one, when do we hear that the Mound was put in a jar before the creation of the Mishkan? When should the Torah tell it to us? Later, when it's actually put in the Mishkan. Rashi says, since we're talking about the Mound, I'll tell you now. But still, we're bothered. Why are you telling me now? Tell me later. Elamai, it must be that the reason the Torah is telling it to me now is because it's a prerequisite to the building of the Mishkan in some way. Where else do we see that man is a prerequisite? Rishem Bayochai says, if you don't eat the man, you can't have Kabbalah Satora. That's strange. What's eating the man? Got to do with Kabbalah Satora? I eat the man because I'm hungry. Question number three. Question number three is the man is a physical answer to a question of why you should also make sure to learn and not just work.

13:13 Why do I need a physical jar of man? I don't have a physical jar today. We have a good philosophical answer to that question. Question number four is what is the connection between the crystal in the story of Gan Eden and the crystal appearance of the man? Those are the four questions for tonight. Crystal. Habedola. But like a shining, shimmering crystal. It tasted like again. That's what the pasuk says. The pasuk says it tasted like coriander seed. Let's let's let's keep going. Let's keep going. So goes like this. In Gan Eden What you needed to survive flowed naturally. In Gan Eden, life did not require any struggle. In Gan Eden, food was received. Not extracted, not taken out. You didn't need to work to take your food out of the ground. You simply received life in Gan Eden, which means that existence itself—could you imagine? Existence itself felt like an act of chesed.

14:28 You're walking around in Gan Eden. The world itself did chesed for you and simply gave you what you needed. After Adam and Eve sinned, the nature of the world changed. What changed when Adam and Eve sinned? The world that we're born into is a world of struggle. The world that we're born into, we don't understand the existence in today's world. Does not feel like Chesed. What does existence feel like today? Existence feels like it almost doesn't want life. You have to struggle against existence in order to survive, and that's what we call it. I have to survive in this world. If I don't get food, I'm not going to survive in this world. I'm going to die. So the world itself is very different than the world was before other Marishon sinned. Why does that matter? Because now we have something called A scarcity mentality.

15:28 What does a scarcity mentality mean? A scarcity mentality means there's not enough. Almost everybody I know is walking through life terrified. What if there isn't enough? What if there aren't enough good guys for shaduchim? What if there isn't enough money? What if I can't afford to pay tuition? What if I can't afford to pay my mortgage? Today we have a perspective, a deep perspective of scarcity. There's very little. Some people have it all. Most of us get very little, and they live with a scarcity mentality. That's how they become. That's how they walk through life. And what happens if you have a scarcity mentality? Three things. Number one We become obsessed with control. Number two, we become obsessed with money. Number three, we become obsessed with hoarding. I'll say it again. In a world of scarcity mentality, number one, what do we want? Control. Number two, what do we want? Money. Number three, whatever we have.

16:37 We hoard it. Do you remember during COVID that there were COVID hoarders? People that like ordered all the toothpaste and put it in their closets and just had closetfuls of toothpaste, closetfuls of the masks that people were wearing. Toilet paper, right? They were COVID hoarders. Do you remember how out of control it felt during COVID? You were in seventh grade during COVID. Do you remember how it felt when you went one day from going to school and all of a sudden they were like, "Well, you're done with that for a while," right? There was a deep feeling when COVID hit that there's a lack of control. And in that scarcity mentality, what happened? People got obsessed with control. People got obsessed with money. And people got obsessed with hoarding. The great secret of Judaism is that on some level Our job is to restore this world to its factory settings. Now you press on your phone and you go. It's like there's an option to return the phone.

17:36 Thank you very much. I was going to ask somebody to do that. I appreciate it. Do you ever have this feature on your phone where you can restore the phone to factory settings, but you'll lose everything? And it's like your phone warns you three times. Are you sure you want to do this? Because you're going to lose every picture, every text, every email, every everything. But there's such a thing as restoring your factory settings. In some ways, the purpose of all of Judaism is to bring the world back to its original state in Gan Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. To restore the world from having a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality. We want to return the world from a place where you need to control everything, become obsessed with money, and become obsessed with hoarding. We want the world itself to be a place of Chesed. That when you're walking through the world, you don't need to work the ground. Actually, the ground itself will give you what you need. And Adomarishon Bizeas Apecha Tochalechem right means that in a certain sense, the world is broken. Our job is to repair it.

18:37 We don't want anybody to be working. Not child labor, not anything, no work at all. We don't want anybody to be working. As the Rambam writes, what do we want in the times of Olam Habah? Everybody should be consumed with the knowledge of Hashem. That's what we're going to do in the times of Olam Habah. The Mishkan represents a return to Gan Eden. The Mishkan represents a return to Gan Eden. Can I tell you an unbelievable medrash? The Medrash in Shir Ashirim says, 'Basi leGani Achosi Kala.' Come to my garden. My bride. The Medrash says originally the Shechina was in Gan Eden, and then seven people sinned. Each sin brought the Shechina higher and higher up. Who are the people that sinned? Adam sinned. Cain sinned. Enosh sinned. The dar hamabol sinned. The dar haflaga sinned. Sodom sinned, and then Mitzrayim sinned in the times of Avram Avinu. Those are the seven sins, and with each great sin, what happened? The Shechina went higher and higher, but there were seven people that brought it back down. The seven people that brought it back down were Avram, Yitzchok, Yaakov, Levi Kehas Amram

19:59 Who was Moshe Avinu's father? Kehas is his grandfather, and ultimately, when Moshe Avinu, the Medrash says. When Moshe Rabenu made the Mishkan, what happened? It restored the Shechina back down to its original level, which means that what is the Mishkan? The Mishkan is a miniaturized Gan Eden. It's a portable Gan Eden. In fact, that's what the Tikkunei Zohar writes. The Tikkunei Zohar writes that the establishment of the Mishkan replicates Gan Eden. And in fact, if you look at what's happening in the Mishkan You can see it directly. There were kruvim in Gan Eden. There were kruvim in Gan Eden. Now it's not exactly clear what these kruvim were. Rashi writes that they are destroying angels. But the Targum Yonasan ben Uziel says, what was the job of the kruvim was in Gan Eden? It was to host the Shekhinah between them. Girls, where do we find the kruvim in the Mishkan?

21:00 On the Aaron. And what does the pasuk tell us? Where's the Shekhinah? In between the two kruvim, just like in Gan Eden. In Gan Eden there was something called an Eitz Chaim. What is the Eitz Chaim? The Eitz Chaim is the Torah. Eitz Chaim hilamachaziken bar. The Torah is described as an Eitz Chaim. Girls, where do the luchos go? In the Aron. And in Gan Eden, guess what there was? There was something crystal in Gan Eden. You know what that crystal was? It was the Munn. The Munn was in Gan Eden. So the Munn had to be put into the aron because what is the mishkan? The mishkan is a representation of ganeden. This is an unbelievable thing to learn. It means that our job, if our job is to build the base hamikdash, girls, what does that really mean? Our job is not just to build the base hamikdash. Our job is to return the world as it used to be to a state of ganeden. Now this starts to make sense.

21:57 What's the perspective of the man? The perspective of the man is. The bracha already exists. That's what the man tells us. The bracha already exists. The only question is, how will the bracha come down? When Klal Yisrael is walking in the Midbar and they say to Moshe Rabbeinu, 'What are we going to eat? What falls from the heavens?' The man falls from the heavens because the bracha was already there. The only question is, in what way is Akavish Baruchu going to give you your sustenance? So what did Yirmiyahu say to those people? Listen, what Yirmiyahu said. He didn't need to show them the jar of man to tell them that there's a Rabban Shalom. Obviously, they knew there's a Rabban Shalom. We know there's a Rabban Shalom, even though we don't have the jar of man today. You can always say Harbe Shluchim Yesh Lamachim. You can always come along and say the Rabban Shalom can get you your parnasah. And anyway, you think the Rabban Shalom doesn't know how to get you parnasah? An infinite God could figure out how to fill your bank account. But say there, you need to make a vessel, so you have a job. But if your job consumes you to the point where you can't live a Jewish life.

23:03 Where you have no time for Torah, that's not a job. That's anxiety. That's not a job. That's anxiety. Most people think, 'What do you mean? I'm doing my hichtadlus.' If hichtadlus is anxiety, that's not hichtadlus. That's control. Having a job and then understanding whatever I have, I'm just making a vessel. The Rebbeinu Shalom's filling it up. You know why he needed a jar of man? It's not because we don't have a logical argument. It's because even right now when I'm talking to you, most people go,"Yeah, I know" I know it intellectually. I know it philosophically. But let's get real. If I don't have a job, the Rebbeinu Shlom can't possibly get money into my bank account. And then you get a little bit older, and listen, it's not that you hear a mussar shmuu because hearing it doesn't work. It's not shmuu, it's re'u as dvar Hashem. You know why?

23:57 Because seeing is believing. I'll tell you a secret. You get older and you learn what you know. The Rebbeinu Shlom could fill up some people's vessels, and he could not fill up other people's vessels, and we have no idea why it happens that way. You get older, and you realize everything I have is a gift from Hashem, and the way that you get parnasa, it comes in the most unexpected ways. So you grow up, and you're sitting there. You got a little bit of anxiety. I know when I first got married, I had a bit of anxiety. You're growing up and you're growing up. I was personally growing up in the Five Towns, and I was like, okay, we don't like how we're gonna get food and how we're gonna get like you know like sustenance. I have children now, and somebody's got to like feed these kids, and it's on your it's on my shoulders, right? And then you get a little bit older, and you start to see The truth is I made this vessel

24:44 But Hakadosh Baruch Hu decided to get me my parnasa from somewhere else completely. And then I made that vessel, and it came through this way. You start to see. My job is just to make the vessel. How the money comes into my bank account is going to be the craziest thing ever. When I was your age, a rebbe of mine gave me this exact shmuhs, and I rolled my eyes. I rolled my eyes because I never liked it when people said, 'You'll see, it's going to work out.' I was like, 'Tell me. I need numbers. I need actionable data. Don't tell me it's going to work out. Show me.' What do they say? I can't show you. Used to be, we had a jar of manna. We don't have that jar of manna anymore. But in your life, you're going to see it, and seeing is believing, girls. Since I heard that shmuz, it has now been 28 years.

25:31 It's 28 years since I heard Rav Yishei Konigsberg give me that shmuz when I was in Mevaseret Mayim Aluf. It's 28 years later. And I have to tell you I really should call him up and say to him, Rabbi, you were right. I couldn't hear you back then because I didn't see it with my own eyes. But now it's 28 years later, and Baruch Hashem, I see it. Lots of people are going to tell you in your life that you have to be realistic. Have to be realistic. But you know what? The truth is, all the people that do great things in their lives, they're not realistic. Imagine an artist. Somebody comes along and says, "I want to be an artist," and somebody goes, "It's not realistic." So what do you want them to be? They're an artist. But where are they going to make their money from?

26:17 But if you tell someone, if you rob them, if you cut off their wings because you say you got to be realistic, you're robbing them of the opportunity to find greatness. When I told my father that I wanted to go into chinuch You think this was my dad's dream for me? I love my dad. I promise you, my dad was not looking for me to be overweight with a beard, running around teaching in yeshivas and seminaries. It wasn't my father's dream for me. I love my dad, but it wasn't his dream for me. When I came to my dad and I said, "Dad, I want to go into chinuch," my father said to me You're gonna have to figure this out. You're gonna have to figure out how to be and harness your family from it. But if that's your dream, go ahead and live it.

26:52 My father didn't say to me he's gonna give me money. My father didn't write a blank check and say don't worry. I always knew in the back of my head that my father stood behind me. And if Chassid Shalom Pushover came to Shav, I have a dad who loves me. I have a mom who loves me, and they'll help me out. But my father didn't say that. My father never said that. When I learned in Kollel, my father said, dude, you're old enough to get married. You're old enough to provide for yourself. And I learned in Kollel for six years. And you know what? When I look back on those six years, it was unbelievable how the money came to me. It came through camp. It came through tutoring jobs. It came again. I made vessels. Sometimes I made vessels. It worked, and sometimes I made vessels and it didn't. Now I'm older, and I want to go back to my younger self and just put an arm around my shoulder and say, "Enough with the anxiety, brother. You're going to see that jar of mana in your life. You may not see it with your eyes, but you will see it experientially."

27:40 You can't build a mishkan. You just can't. You can't build a home with God based on anxiety. You build a home based on emuna. You build a home based on faith. That's what marriage really is. Isn't marriage the ultimate act of faith? You're standing under the chuppah and you're hopeful. You dated a little bit. You spend some time together and you're like I hope this could work out. But the truth is, you have no idea if it's going to work out. It takes radical levels of hope, radical levels of faith. An abundance mentality to be able to say I got this. I think I could be a good wife. I think I could be a good husband. The prerequisite to building a home is you have to have an abundance mentality. If somebody's standing under the chuppah going "Well, most couples today get divorced, and it'll probably happen to me," that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's a terrible perspective to go into marriage with. If you want to build a home for God, the first thing you have to have is a jar of man.

28:39 You have to hold that jar of money, and you have to know I've got everything that I need. That's the foundation of our relationship with Hashem. I trust you, Hashem, that you have all the bracha in the world, and everything that I need is coming from you. And this is why man is a prerequisite to Torah. Because Torah is not the way we grew up. Torah is not information. Torah is not a set of rules. That's not what Torah is. Torah is something that a person needs to be able to receive. Just like in Gan Eden, you stuck out your hands and you received your sustenance. Torah is the same way. You stick out your hands and you receive the Torah. And if your mind is consumed with thoughts of how I'm going to make a parnasa, if you are living in a state of anxiety, you will not hold out your hand to receive the Torah because you'll be so consumed with. But how's it going to work out? And what's going to be with fear?

29:33 Rishim Bayochai comes and he says, if you want to be able to receive the Torah. Not everyone's going to be able to receive the Torah. I heard a beautiful story, and I'll finish with this because we're a little bit over time. And Rav Gav hasn't come in to slow dance with me yet. I'm over time actually already. I heard a beautiful story from a Rav who, the first time he went to a mikvah, the mikvah was giving out apples and the way the mikvah gave out apples. Would you mind if I borrowed this for a second? The way the makubal would give out apples is he would stick out his hand. And this untrained young man He didn't know. He stuck out his hand to take the apple. And the talmidim of this makubal quickly grabbed his hands and said, don't do that. So he doesn't know what to do, and the makubal sticks his hand out with the apple again.

30:25 So he reaches out his hand to take the apple, and they grabbed him back and said, 'No, don't do that.' So he said, "What do I do? What are you guys telling me to do?" They said, "You don't take the apple. You put your hand under and you receive the apple." Let the mukhabel drop the apple into your hand. The posture that a Jew needs to have when he's receiving bracha in his world is not 'I'm taking bracha.' It's 'I'm a channel to receive bracha.' Once you're a channel to receive bracha, there's no more anxiety. Once there's a channel to receive bracha, there's deep levels of emuna, there's serenity, and only then can you be mekabel the Torah and enter into a relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Girls have a beautiful shabbat.