Eikev - The One Thing Hashem Asks of You: When Yiras Shamayim Becomes Natural

2:38 Doma alav kekli gadol. It appears to me that it's a large vessel. This is the Gemara. Very interesting Gemara. Let's unpack a couple of fundamental questions on this Gemara. Question number one. And Chazal already make this point. Rabbi Sa, what does Hashem ask of us? I don't know. It feels like He asks a lot: tefillin, Shabbos, Kashrus, Learning Torah, Chesed. Moshe Rabbeinu says, 'Va'ati Yisrael, Ma Hashem Elokacha, Sholom Imach, Kiim LiYira.' It's not true. Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks a lot of things. Yirushamayim is one of many things that Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks of us. So our first question is: What does it mean that Moshe Rabbeinu is coming to us and saying, 'What does Hashem ask of you just to be a Yirushamayim?' I don't know. There's a 613 mitzvot in the Torah. Hashem asks a lot from us. That's one question. Number two: What precisely doesn't mean that Hashem has a treasure of Yirushamayim in His storehouse?

3:43 What are Chazal communicating to us with that idea? Because we know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, "Matanat Tova Yeshli Be'Beis Gnasai." I have a great gift for you that's in my treasure houses. And what was the great gift that Hashem gave us? Anybody know? Shabbos, very good. So here, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Chazal are telling us, Rishon Bayochai is saying, "The Ain Lo La Hakadosh Baruch Hu Be'Beis Gnasav Ela Oitzer Shal Yerushamayim." Hakadosh Baruch Hu has this amazing treasure inside of treasure house, and what does he have inside of it? Only what? Only Eir Shamayim. I don't know. I know another thing that he has in his treasure house. What else does he have in his treasure house? He had Shabbos, and he gave it to us. Do you want to give an answer? You have a question, sure. I feel like the six hundred thirteen. You feel okay? Beside there, your feelings are valid. I think six hundred thirteen mitzvot aren't for Hashem. I think it's more to benefit us. Could be, but yerushamayim that would mean would also be to benefit us. Kol D'var Shemarhu is saying, "I would like you to be yerushamayim."

4:45 Still requires a lot of other things. Now there's another question. The Gemara comes along and the Gemara says, 'For Moshe Rabbeinu was a small thing because even though it's a kli gadol, it's a kli katan because he already has it.' Very good. For Moshe Rabbeinu, it's a small thing because for him he has Yerushalayim, but I Mordechai Berg lack Yerushalayim. So how could Moshe Rabbeinu come and say, 'Ma'aseh El Kach Hashem Eimach Kiem Li Yira'? You're making it seem like Moshe Rabbeinu is a small thing. For you, it's small. For me, it's big. So at the end of the day, how do you answer the question? You understand, Sir? Am I bothered? Baish Rabenu is coming. He's talking to me. He's not talking to himself. He's coming to me, saying, 'Borg, I'm just asking you for Yerushalayim.' What do you mean you're just asking me for Yerushalayim? Yerushalayim is massive. It's a kli gadol that I don't have. So by you, you have a kli gadol. Say there. By me, maybe you're right. Maybe for you it's small, but for me it's enormous. And the Gemara makes that point. So how did this Gemara even answer the question? And also, of all the different things like that, the imagery of the Gemara could have used. It's like kli gadol and kli katan feels very specific.

6:03 Sir, Eluk feels very specific. What exactly is the? Because every word of Chazal is precise. What are Chazal articulating with this mashal of a kli gadol and a kli katan? What are Chazal saying over here? Rabbi Say, I'd like to begin tonight's very short shear, where we only have like sixteen, seventeen minutes left. By asking a very simple question, which is, "What is yerusha'ayim?" What do we mean when we say yerusha'ayim? I would like to suggest to you as follows: For the purposes of tonight's she'er, Yerusha'ayim is the capacity to live with a reality that is larger than yourself. That's the nature of yerusha'ayim. Yerusha'ayim means I am not the center of the universe. I am not the true existence. Or, to put it differently, Yirushamayim is our ability to say, "I am not God." There is a God, and I am not Him. That's Yirushamayim. There is a God. He is the truth. He is all of existence exists within Him, and I can tolerate the fact that there is a reality that's larger than me. I am not God. That's Yirushamayim. For the purposes of this conversation, that's Yirushamayim.

7:27 This brings us to a fundamental question: Why can't Hashem give me yerushimayim? Hakol b'day Shamayim chutz mi yerushimayim. Kol Yisrochu gives us wisdom. Hakol Yisrochu gives us personality. Kol Yisrochu gives us wealth, or the opposite. Why is it that Hakadosh Baruch Hu can't give us yerushimayim? And the answer is as follows. Yirushamayim is the point in which a human being consents to reality. I'll say it again. I'll make sure everybody gets it. Yirushamayim means I have to consent. I have to surrender to a basic truth. The reality of Hashem is larger than me. There is a God, and I am not Him. But the key is that I've consented. I've surrendered to that reality. Which means there is only one thing, so to speak, that God cannot do. He cannot force you to choose and then call it a choice. He cannot force you into consenting. Or to put it a little differently Imagine a husband and a wife.

8:36 The husband could give everything to himself, and the wife can give everything to herself. In a relationship, the wife could take care of herself. Her husband's not available to speak. She could speak to friends. The wife is not available. In face, and it doesn't matter. To cook, a husband could cook a meal for himself. There's only one thing that a husband and wife cannot do for themselves. They can't make the other person choose them. I can't make my wife choose me and then call her my wife. If I force my wife to choose me, she's not a wife. What makes her a wife is the fact that she freely chooses me. What makes me a husband is the fact that I freely choose her. If I'm forced to do it, it's not a choice. You understand? Which means Yirah Shamayim, the ability to say, I consent to the reality that there's a reality larger than myself. If Hashem forces me to do it, we're not in a relationship. It's the only thing that God can't do.

9:40 God can give us everything. He gives us wealth or poverty, wisdom or foolishness, height or being small. He gives you everything in the world. One thing He can't give you. He can't force you to choose Him and then call it a choice. Hashem wants a derech b'tachtonim. Hashem wants to create a reality down here in this world where we can choose to invite Him into our lives. But if we don't choose to invite Him into our lives, that's up to us. If we do choose, that's up to us, and it has to be that way. This is why the imagery of Chazalir is very specific. Matana tova yeshli bebeiskunazai, and it's called Shabbos, and I'm giving it to you. Shabbos is the gift that Hashem gives to us. But what's the thing that Hashem Himself treasures? Not that He doesn't have other things in His treasure houses, but what's the thing that He treasures? Our Yerusha Shamayim is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu treasures. You understand? In other words, there's a gift that you can give God.

10:45 May be the only gift that you can give God. The gift that you can give God is that you can choose Him. It's the only thing, so to speak, that He can't do for Himself. A human being freely choosing to participate in a relationship with Hashem by saying, 'You are God and I'm not,' that is the ultimate expression of our relationship with Hashem. And so, Hakadosh Baruch Hu might have many things in his storehouses, but one thing He treasures. One thing he keeps for himself, so to speak, and he can't give it out. Yiras Shamayim. That's what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants from us. Some things in life are large, and some things in life are small. I'm going to give you an example of something in life that's objectively tiny, but for many of us feels enormous, and for some of us feels small. I want you to imagine the following scenario.

11:43 Let's say you were wrong. You did something and you were wrong. For how many of us is it difficult to come over to somebody and to say it's only three words? Objectively, very small. I am sorry. Why does it feel so enormously large to say the words I'm sorry? It's very small. It's a small vessel. But it's a very hard thing to do. To go over to somebody and to go, Listen, I am unequivocally apologizing to you. I am sorry. Why is that so hard? The answer is as follows: If I've crafted an identity on being right, saying I'm sorry and admitting that I'm wrong is enormous. Even though objectively it's very small, because my identity says this is huge. Because you're never wrong; you're the one who's always right. And now you have to admit that you were wrong. That's massive. But if somebody has a stable sense of self-worth, if somebody says

12:50 I'm a chilek elokami mal mamish, I have a piece of Hakadosh Baruch Hu inside of me, and I don't need to be perfect because I'm already enough. To go over to somebody when you were wrong and to say I am sorry, it's not so hard. It's only three words. My identity is not wrapped up in those words. So it's a fascinating thing. Something could be very small objectively. Three words for one person. It's a mountain, and for another person, it's a molehill. What's the chiluk? The chiluk is your identity. That's the kli. The kli is your identity. The problem is not. I want to be very clear because this is the punchline of the shir. The problem is not necessarily that the demand is objectively impossible. The question is, Do I have the internal capacity to be able to meet that demand? I'll say it again. I want to make sure everyone gets it. The problem is not that Yiras Shamayim is objectively impossible.

13:54 Yiras Shamayim is one hundred percent possible. The question is, do I have the internal capacity to actually meet the demand of Yerushalayim? From an objective perspective, consenting to reality. It's not impossible. It's actually what's happening. There is a God. He is the container of all of existence, measurable, finite existence. God is the metaphysical reality. The measurable, finite existence is where we are. Consenting to that reality is just true. That's facts. That's math. It's not impossible to do. It's a question of where you're standing. What's your internal capacity? If you're a balgaiva, to admit that there's something larger than yourself is the hardest thing in the world. But if you're humble, if you're aligned with the true nature of your soul, then consenting to reality is just not that big a deal. It's a question of identity.

14:57 So far, so good. Does it make sense? Yiras Shamayim, yeah. It's not impossible to say Hashem is the center of existence. It's a question of where you're standing relative to that question. Which means as follows: Moshe Rabbeinu did not perform an act of Yiras Shamayim; he embodied Yiras Shamayim. And there's a difference between that which we possess and that which we perform. So for most of us in this room I imagine for all of us in this room, God consciousness is something that we must constantly become aware of. If we're not constantly pushing ourselves to remember that there is a God and I'm not Him, what do we slide back into? We slide back into ego. So it's like you're going up. You ever been to IKEA? I was just there yesterday. IKEA, Bein Azmanim, it's indoor, it's air conditioned. It's like 50 shekel for schnitzel and fries. It's a good deal. So inevitably, when you're in IKEA and Beis Hamish There's a downward escalator and an upward escalator, and there's always those kids standing at the bottom of the downward escalator, sprinting up to the top of the escalator. It's very hard because the forward motion is downwards, and they've got to outpace the downward escalator. For us, because Yirushalmayim is not our identity, what do we always have to do? We have to constantly renew our state of Yirushalmayim. So it's an activity that we're always trying to do.

16:31 I wanted to dive in, and I got to learn, and I got to do Chesed. I'm always reinforcing the reality that I am not the center of existence because it's not something I possess. It's not my identity. It's something that I'm always in a state of performance. That's the gap between the psychological world that we live in and the reality. I might believe that there's a God, but psychologically, the world that I live in—it's very easy for me to slip back into ego. It's very easy for me to slip back into doing whatever I want. Does that make sense? But for Meisher Abenu, it was Milsa Zutrasa. For Moshe Rabbeinu, Yerusha'ayim is a small matter because for Moshe Rabbeinu, he had reached a level of humility where he was always God conscious. There was no friction for him; there was no gap between the reality and the psychological world that he lived. For Moshe Rabbeinu, it was small. What do you mean Yerusha'ayim is small? For Moshe Rabbeinu, Yerusha'ayim is small because he succeeded not in doing Yerusha'ayim.

17:37 But he succeeded in creating an identity where there is no gap between him and the reality. Which means as follows: for Moshe Rabbeinu, all of the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot and all of the thousands of activities that a person will do in any given day, for us, those are disconnected activities. For us, we look at the Torah, six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, and we think about it as six hundred and thirteen mitzvos. They're disjointed from one another. Shabbos is disconnected from tefillin. Tefillin is disconnected from kashrus. Kashrus is disconnected from tars and mishpacha. Tars and mishpacha is disconnected from tefillah. Everything is disconnected. But once you put this one basic concept at the core of everything, there is a God, and I am not Him. And all I see when I look at the world is God Himself. Now every single activity is just this, varying expressions of one basic concept. I'm just living in alignment with the truth.

18:39 Tefillin, Shabbos, Kashrus, Chesed—the way that I show up to the basketball courts, the way I show up in the dorms, the way I show up in the Beit Hamedrash—it's all one thing. Am I aligned with the truth of reality? Is God present in this moment? So for Moshe Rabbeinu, Yira is a large. What do we call it? A large vessel that contains what? Everything. You understand that? Why Chazal are using the mashal of a kli gadol and a kli katan? For Moshe Rabbeinu, he possessed the largest of vessels. It was so big it contained every single thing in his entire world. But for him, it was small. How could it be small? Because he possessed it. Because he has a kli gadol. It's his identity. Since it was his identity, everything in his life was in a state of achdus. But for us, even though Yerushalayim is not objectively impossible, not at all, and it's dependent on our internal state. What does it feel like? It feels enormous.

19:42 Why? Because it's not something I possess. It's something I do, but it's not something I am. I don't have a kli gadol. And because I don't have a kli gadol, a lot of things in my life feel disjointed. With this in mind, we can now answer our first question. Rabbi said, "What does Hakadosh Baruch Hu ask of us? A million things. Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks us to put on tefillin. He asks us to keep Shabbos. He asks us to do chesed. He asks us to learn Torah. What do you mean? Mashabenu says, Mash, I'm a lo kach hashalom imelchim liyirah. What do you mean? What's the only thing you're asking me? Is yerusha'mayim? It's not true. You're asking me a million things. You know what the answer is? It's all one thing. It's all yerusha'mayim. Acha shalti. That's the only thing Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants from us. Yerusha'mayim. You have yerusha'mayim, everything else flows. Why? Because once you have this vision. If you can get there to the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, and obviously none of us are going to get to that level, but it's you know it's not it's not black or white. There's a big scale in between.

20:48 But once you understand this concept of Yevir Shamayim, there's no more struggle. That's when the struggle is over. I'll explain what I mean. Imagine the following person. I'm going to speak Balasha Naki because we're in a beis medrash. I want to say something I think you'll all understand. Lameisa, we live in a generation. Our generation has challenges just like the generation that came before it. But the challenges of our generation are unique. We have to deal with the challenges of technology and all that comes with technology, positive and negative. Let's focus for a moment on the challenges of technology. I'm going to call it the challenges of technology. Y'all can fill in the blank for whatever that means for you. The challenges of technology. When you speak to a person who's like, 'Yeah, I don't struggle with that anymore.' The way we think about that is, 'Wow, this person has an unbelievable amount of willpower.' He had that problem and now he no longer has that problem. He's exhibiting an enormous amount of willpower. And I, who struggle with these things, must lack willpower. So what do I have to do? I have to white knuckle it.

22:00 You know what white knuckle it means? Do you guys get your driver's license yet? Did you start learning how to drive yet? Bez Hashem, this year soon you're gonna start learning how to drive. You'll notice when you first start to drive how hard you hold onto the steering wheel. You'll see you'll have white knuckles. Chaver, I got a secret for you. Whether you hold on loosely to the steering wheel or tightly to the steering wheel, it's not gonna help you steer the car better. Actually, if you hold on tighter, it's probably gonna make you steer the car worse. You gotta relax, and that's why when you see people. You should all drive safely. Ten and two, looking at the mirrors the entire time. But you'll notice that some people, Chafrin, maybe, he's got one hand on the wheel, another hand on the seat next to him because he's from there. He's got a gemara, he's got a mesifta, he's from there. He's got a mesifta in the front seat of the car. And he's cruising down. I don't know where you're gonna be in yeshiva next year. Where? You're gonna be in the mirror. He's cruising down, Shmuel and Avi. In his Fiat that he's renting.

23:02 Whatever his Skoda. His hybrid Skoda, he's got one hand on the wheel. He's actually a better driver. Why a better driver? It's not about you're not white knuckling it. You're relaxed. Your posture is relaxed. You know why? Because since you identify as a driver. Which you don't do when you're first learning how to drive. So you're terrified. In your state of terror, you're holding on so tight, and it doesn't work. You know when you actually stop struggling when you realize I don't have to do that. It's not my identity. Once it's not your identity, you have a vessel now. You contain a reality that you're not struggling anymore. It's just not who I am. It's the difference between a guy who goes. I really got to work on going to Minyan. Tomorrow, wake me up. I don't care what you have to do. Pour water in my face. Beat me up. And NCSY has policies. And so they're not allowed to touch you. But like you told them, and they don't know what to do. They go to Rabbi Benavitz. We have a shayla now. What do we do? He asked for it. His mother gave consent. Written consent. I'm going to video the whole thing. Everybody's going to know.

24:11 Chaveri, you're not going to make it to davening consistently by having somebody pour water in your face. You know how you go start making it to davening consistently? By adopting the identity, I am a davener. By consenting to the reality that there is a metaphysical God who's larger than me, and my avodas Hashem is to wake up in the morning and in relationship to Him, to talk to Him. I'm a davener. I'm not trying to daven. I'm a davener. It's my identity. So Moshe Rabbeinu comes and he says, 'Chevra Hakadosh Baruch Hu is only asking one thing: Can you adopt the identity of Yerushalayim?' Once you adopt the identity of Yerushalmiim, two things happen. Number one, the activities in your life are no longer disjointed; they're all part of this one mahalach of consenting to reality and entering into a relationship with God. And two, I'm not struggling anymore. I'm not fighting. It's simply not who I am. And that's why Yerushalmiim is absolutely so critical. What do we say? Reshus Chachma. What's the beginning of all wisdom? Everything you're going to learn comes down to one basic thing. There is a God. I am not Him. It's my job to surrender to the reality and to choose Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's the gift that we give, so to speak, to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that He treasures above all. Rabbi Issai, have an amazing, beautiful, wonderful Shabbos.