Hineini - Standing Ready To Do The Impossible

2:34 So the first time that we see it in the Torah is by the akeda. Several times in the story of the akeda, the word hinani is used. The Torah tells us. So Avraham Avinu is about to go through this test. Calls out to Avraham Avinu and Avraham Avinu responds. Then in the story itself When Yitzchak is speaking to Avraham Avinu, it says. Yitzchak calls out to Avraham his father and he says, my father. And Avram Avinu responds by saying, "Hinei bini, I'm here." Hine ha'esh va ha'etzim. Yitzchak Avinu says, 'I see the fire. I see the wood. Va'aye asel la'olah.' And where is very good? Where's the se? In other words, Yitzchak has come to the recognition that there's a carbon that's going to be brought, and the carbon isn't with us. So what's he thinking in his head? Must be I'm the carbon. And in this conversation, Avram Avinu says, "Hinei." Finally, at the end of the story Avram Avinu is about to shecht Yitzchak. I love Malach Hashem and Hashemayim. Yomer Avraham, Avraham, Yomer Hinei. The Malach calls out Avraham twice, and again Avraham responds Hinei. So in the story of the Akedah, we see Hinei three times. By the Berachas Yitzchak, when Yitzchak is giving the bracha to Yaakov Avinu, again we see this concept that Yaakov says Avi, and Yitzchak responds Hinei.

4:08 Yaakov, who's leaving the house of Lavan, Yaakov who's leaving the house of Lavan. It says, 'Va'yomer elai malach Hashem b'chalom, Yaakov va'yomer hineini.' Again, the same concept. Yaakov is being told by the Malach of Hashem to leave. He says, 'Hineini.' Only two more times I want to talk about. Yaakov Avinu, after being separated from Yosef for twenty plus years, says Vayomer Elokim LeYisroel Bemaros Halayla. He had a nighttime vision. He had fallen asleep. Vayomer Yaakov Vayomer Hineini. And again, Yaakovinu says Hineini. I skipped one very quickly. We know that Yosef Hatzadik is being sent out to his brothers. Also, responds Hineini. And the final one is Moshe Rabbeinu by the Sneh. Hakadosh Baruch Hu calls out from the Sneh, Moshe. And what does Moshe Rabbeinu respond? Hineini. So the question is, what is the inner meaning of this word? So I want to tell you.

5:01 Before we get into the answer, I want to tell you one time where we don't see the word Hineini, and this is a good introduction to it. We know that perhaps the most famous question that's asked in all of Chumash is after other Marishon sins. What does Hakadosh Baruch Hu say? Ayeke, where are you? Given everything that you now know, we just saw nine or ten times in the Torah. What would be the response to somebody when they say 'Vayomer Aviv, Vayomer Hineini'? What would we have thought Adama Rishon's response would be? Hineini, I'm here. But that's not what Adama Rishon responds. Adama Rishon responds as Kol, as Kolcha Shamati began. Vaira ki erom anochi vaechavei says I was embarrassed. I found myself. I wasn't dressed. I was embarrassed to answer you. So what do we learn from this? When a person says Hineini What does it mean?

5:54 Other marishon couldn't say hineni because he was ashamed. Everybody else that we just saw says the word hineni. So listen what Rashi says—an unbelievable Rashi. Kachi anu yasam shalchasidim. To be able to say on a hineni is the answer of a chassid Not just not a tzaddik, a chassid, someone who's like a real ba'madrega. Loshon anava—it's a lashon of humility. Lashon Zimun, and it's a lashon of I stand ready. I want to put the Mar Makomos down for a second, and I want to speak plainly to you. But I also want to speak in a way that I hope you can hear. Because this Torah, this Rashi, is a life-changing Torah if you're listening carefully. The first thing Rashi says is Lashon Anava. Someone who says Inani is humble. What does that mean? To be humble means to be submitted. To reality This is not a word that we use in 2025. You won't find anyone saying this word on TikTok. You won't find anyone saying this word on Instagram. This is not a word that's popular. It's a word that should be, though, because the world is losing itself because of this concept.

7:08 The nature of a humble person is that they stand in submission to something greater than themselves. A person who has humility says, 'I am not the be-all and end-all power of the world.' I'm fully present with reality. I want to say something about this for a second because it's a really hard thing to be fully present with reality. The concept is as follows: Are you ready to get hit by a truck? That's what reality is. Reality is standing in the street. And reality is heading towards you. And the question is, do you get out of the way, or do you let reality hit you by a truck? The answer for most of us, including myself. And if I'm being totally serious with you, I feel like a tremendous imposter speaking here right now in front of you because I can't tell you that I'm good at this.

7:58 I'm talking about it because it's something I've learned that I'm not good at. I know what I'm supposed to do, and I'm sharing it with you. Maybe you'll be better at it than me. Probably you will be. When reality is coming, we stand there and we have a choice to narrate reality in a way that's not true. Most people, especially today in this world, are living in a reality that is not true, but they tell themselves a story that it is true. You've all seen this. You ever have a fight with a friend? One second. I'll say it differently. Remember when you had a fight with your friend? And you were absolutely sure that you were right. And you said, "This is what happened. I was there." You ever do that move? I heard it with my own ears. And then what does the person say back? I was there too. I'm telling you that's not what happened.

8:51 How is it that two people literally experience the same reality and experience something completely different? I have someone in my life right now. I have to ask the mechila. I know that I have to ask the mechila. I have a date, Beis Hashem, next Thursday. I'm calling this person to ask the mechila. Ms. I have no idea what I did wrong. I have no idea what I did wrong. I had an interaction with them. I thought the interaction was a positive, fine interaction. It wasn't until a month later that this person was terribly hurt by what I said. A month later, they were terribly hurt by what I said. I was so thrown by it. I said, "What did I say?" " This person, who was like, not I don't want to say a go-between, but somebody who like wanted to let me know that I hurt them in order to make shalom. He told me they're saying that you said this.

9:43 And I'm like, Lo yehaya v'lo nivra. I never those words would have come out of my mouth. Say there. But obviously, my intention in the words that I spoke were different than the way that they landed. This guy's walking around. I have to ask mechila because obviously he feels hurt. Whether it's right or wrong, I have to ask mechila. But he's sure that I said that. I'll tell you again, similar story. Another Rebbe in yeshiva also had an interaction with somebody. The person walked out of that interaction, sure that this Rebbe said something highly inappropriate. Somebody called me. This Rebbe said something super inappropriate. I went over to the Rebbe. I said, 'Is it possible you said this?' He goes, 'Impossible.' I said, 'It's funny. I mamish just had the same exact thing.' He said to me, and it's not a bad idea. He said, "I want to start wearing a body kim."

10:31 I want to start wearing a body kim. Because I want to be able to say to somebody Look, it's pasha, not the thing that I said. We experience reality as if it's reality, but if we're being honest How much of our own self-esteem is tied up in narrating reality according to the way that we want it to be? If I'm not confident and comfortable in myself. And you say something that's a little over the edge. Is it possible in my head that I'm going to blow it up and make it much bigger than it was because of my own fragility? Have you ever done that? That was cool because about 50% of you went like this. Some of you even said yes out loud, and the others just went like this. Like you didn't want it. It's very hard. It's very hard. To sit in front of reality and allow yourself to be truthful with reality, are you standing in submission to reality?

11:30 It takes tremendous humility, which, as we're going to see in a moment, comes from a deep sense of self To be able to say This is what happened, and it's okay, even though it's really hard to hear. If you're an Admorishon and Hashem says you just committed the first sin And let's play this out: How bad is the first sin? That's pretty bad because forever, for the rest of eternity, that sin is going to impact every single human being that lived before Adam and Eve sinned. There was no death. Now everyone dies. That's pretty bad. Before Adam and Eve sinned, childbirth was nothing. Now all of you, right? That's easy to laugh when you're in my position. Not so funny when it's you, right? Before Adam and Eve sinned Nobody had to work. The ground just grew stuff. Now I fly to America every month to get up there and tell my jokes and say, "Please, will you help me make kashnos for my children?" This is—you didn't laugh that time, because it's my side of the aisle, and that's funny to me. That's a pretty bad sin. That's the equivalent of hurting a child when they're in an embryonic stage.

12:49 You smack somebody when they're 20 years old. It's not going to last. You smack a child when they're in utero. If Chassid Sholm a woman gets into a car accident And the child's not okay, that's not okay forever. If you do an avera in the beginning of time, and when I say the beginning of time, he only had a couple of hours of his life before he did the worst sin ever. And then Hakadosh Baruch Hu says Ayaka. What does Ayaka mean? Where are you physically? He didn't know. Ayaka was like, "Let's evaluate. Let's check in. How we doing? What's Adam Rishon's response?" I was ashamed. I'm ashamed. I can't answer you. When we're in a state of shame, it means I'm unworthy of love and connection because of the way that I've behaved. That is not a strong sense of self. A strong sense of self says I am worthy of love and connection, even when I've made a mistake.

13:40 Adam Rishon did not have the anivus. He didn't have the humility to be able to raise his hand and say, "My bad." Oops. Had he done that, what might have been the process? It's very possible that had Admorishon had the humility to say Hineni, none of us would be in this position right now. But of course, that's not what happened. Or another way to say it is, if Admorishon's failure was not that he did an avera But after the avera, he couldn't say Hineni, then what becomes the tshuva for all time? The tshuva is not just to do mitzvos and don't do averas. What's the tshuva? The ultimate tshuva is to be able to say. Hinei, I made a mistake. It's an amazing thing when you're a kid. When you're a kid, you again, I'm sure not you, but for me, I was the deny till you die kid. If you lie, you can lie for a minute and then go, I was lying, or you can hold the lie.

14:34 You ever hold a lie for weeks? In eighth grade Baruch Hashem, it's a juvie thing, so I don't have a criminal record. But in eighth grade, I held onto that lie for a long time. It was a bad lie, like six weeks, and I and they would. You're lying. I was like, No, I'm not. Show your hand. What do you got? You got nothing. I didn't do it. I had them until I didn't, but I had them for six weeks. Because As an eighth grader, I didn't have the presence to be able to say heinie because I thought that what I did was so bad that it was unforgivable. The tshuva we have to do in this world. When you get older, you learn this. When you get older, what's the when you're young, it's cool never to do anything wrong. When you get older, you know it's cool to be able to be totally honest about what happened and just to be able to say, yeah, that's what I did.

15:25 In fact, as you get older, if you're in a relationship with someone and they can be honest and acknowledge the mistakes they made, it makes them more attractive. If you're dating a guy, when is the proper time? Now I know who. To say there, The new Darjeeling. I'm joking. Haha, jokes. I do know. Little do you know, I told him today that I would make that joke tonight. It's not true. I have no idea who it is. Moshe. The you get older You're dating a guy, and if the guy is arrogant, if he never makes a mistake, if he can't open up to anything, if he can't say, 'Yeah, this is what I'm not good at,' it's a little gross. No? Nobody wants to be in your presence if you're that guy. Confidence when you're young. It's often just arrogance. When you get older, confidence is being able to say 'Hineni'—I did that.

16:44 That's true. That requires tremendous submission to reality. It's like that is what happened. I'd like it not to be that way. That's why people generally apologize in the worst way possible. If I offended you in any way Obviously I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. We mean, if you offended me, you'd clearly offended me, right? We do that because it's deeply uncomfortable to say that was wrong, that was my error. I actually have a role model in this, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mevaseret, who I will be telling your joke to later tonight. The Rosh Yeshiva of Mevaseret is the most unflinchingly honest person I've ever met in my entire life. He has tremendous humility, and because of that when something happens, he's like, "Yeah, that's what happened." The first year that I ever worked in Mevaseret, we were driving into yeshiva together, and he made a little bit of a move with the car that maybe wasn't 100% halachic over there.

17:47 And he got pulled over. And I was like, "I want to see this. I want to see how you handle this. I know how I handle it. The cop comes over. Do you know what you did wrong? I have no idea what I did wrong. You blew three red lights. You know exactly what you did wrong." You tell me. What do you got? I want to see your hand. Deny till you die. Rosh Yeshiva just looks at him and goes "I made a left without signaling over there." I was like, "What are you doing?" By the way, he's a lawyer. He was an NYU-trained lawyer. I was like, "Is this the appropriate way to get out of a ticket? Like, is this a move I don't know about?" I was excited to see. Then the cop came back and he said, "Just don't do it again." I was like, "What? That's not how that works. I'm from the Five Towns. I know how it works. You gotta." I was like, maybe it's different here in Israel.

18:33 In the Five Towns, just have to know a guy. You know what I'm saying? Has anyone ever paid a ticket in the Five Towns, or do we all just know that judge? You want to hear a true story? This is a crazy story. The first time I ever got a ticket in the Five Towns, I was driving on Rock Hall Road. I was doing 49 in the 35. You know Rock Hall Road? You're from the Five Towns? So hard to keep the speed limit at 49. I was doing exactly 49. Everyone is 70 now. What's your last name? Travis. Of course. I know the Travis family for a long time. The who's your dad? Sam. Baya is your Bobby. Sadikas of a woman. I know. I know your family for a million years. So yeah, you're doing 70. I'm doing 49. I get pulled over if you're holding in the five towns. Tell your grandmother. If you're holding in the five towns, Rock Hall Road and Harbor View, there's a cop there. He's been there. He's been living there since 1983.

19:28 I lived at my old house, 172 Harborview North. I got pulled over right there. I came into traffic court. It's my first ticket ever, and I'm all nervous. I want to get points on my license. I'm the last guy to go. I sit down with the prosecutor. And he sits down with me and he goes, "What are you, an idiot?" So I'm like, "Excuse me? I understand my rabbi didn't speak to me that way, but you're supposed to be professional." So I said, "Excuse me," and he goes, "You know that a cop sits there. You live at 172 Harbor View North. So I said to the cop, "I said, well, honestly, that's part of my argument. I don't think I was going 49. I think I was going 44. I had done some research that would have gotten me no points. I think I was doing 44. Don't give me the ticket."

20:15 So the guy looks at me and he goes, 'What is this, mode b'mitzas? So I'm like, "What?" He wasn't wearing a yarmulke. He goes, "Yeah, I went to yeshivah for a kway." I was like, "Of course you did." So I was like, but no, I said it's not Moda Bemixas, but Migo, that I could have told you I wasn't speeding at all. Believe me when I say that I was only speeding a little bit. So he's like, okay, fine, just do me a favor, plead down to driving with your door open. This is like a fifty dollar ticket. We went out to the judge, and the judge says, you were driving with your door open. So I was like, I don't want to say yes because I wasn't. Guilty, and the judge got upset. He's like, are you sure? I'm like, yup, all the doors were open. It takes a tremendous amount of bravery to stand up in front of the cop and go, I did that.

21:05 And I'd rather say I did that and keep my integrity and pay the ticket and pay the points. Than beat the ticket but know that I'm a liar. It's a tremendous thing that the rashiiva taught me on that day. So what? I would have saved a couple of bucks. I wouldn't have got my parents wouldn't have gotten as upset at me But I would have walked away from that interaction. And I would have been a liar. To have a sense of self, to have a deep sense of self, to be able to say, "That's exactly what happened, and it's okay." It's really hard. That's a really hard thing to do. Most people can't do it because they don't have a developed sense of self. It takes time. You get older, you develop that. You go, 'Really, the consequences are okay.' It'll teach me not to make that mistake again. And this is the second part. Rashi says it's not just lashon anava. It's not just humility.

21:51 It's lashon zimun. It means I stand ready to do whatever needs to be done. This is also not so simple Because if you want to get hit by that truck, there are consequences that you're going to need to be paying. It's not going to be easy to do this. You live in a state of conflict. And conflict comes with consequences. So life ain't always easy, and it's hard to get up and say, "Yeah, I did that, and whatever the consequences are" Let them fall where they may. I have a Talmud. Honestly, one of my One of my greatest teachers. He's a person who's gone through some really traumatic things in his life, and as a result, he developed a pretty serious addiction. And as a result of his addiction He hurt a lot of people, including himself. Eventually, he ended up in a twelve-step program, and as part of the twelve-step program, you need to get honest. You need to ask forgiveness. That's a really hard thing to do. It's called step nine. Step nine means you have to make a list of the people that you've hurt.

22:55 You have to call them up and say This is what I did, and whatever the consequences are. This guy had stolen from his boss. So he asked his sponsor, "Do I need to make this phone call?" What if I get fired? So his sponsor said to him You stole. What if you get fired? He goes, "Then I'm going to lose my job." He says, "That's right. That's the consequences of theft." He goes, "But if I don't tell him, he'll never know." He said, "If you don't tell him, you'll know, and your side of the street isn't clean." So he met with his boss and do you realize the bravery that this takes to walk into your boss's office, to knock on the door and say I have to tell you I'm in a 12-step program. I'm working the steps. I'm up to step nine. There's something I did that you don't know about.

23:42 Whatever the consequences are, I will accept them, even if it means you're going to fire me. But I stole from you. His boss said to him, "How much did you steal?" He told him exactly how much he stole and exactly how he did it. And his boss said, "What's your plan?" He goes, "If you'll permit me, I know that I've lost your trust. I'd like to reearn your trust." I'd like you to take it from my wages. I'd like to pay this back. If it means that you feel you need to let me go, I'll pay you back anyway. If it means you feel you need to press charges, then press charges. His boss was blown away by him. He said, "I'm not going to press charges. I don't know if I'm going to fire you." But let's start the process of seeing if you can regain trust. He's still in that job. But it didn't have to work out that way. It's very brave to stand up and say "I am enough for myself." Not only that, I accept reality.

24:31 But I'm ready to act. This is the second part. A lot of people can't do any of this. It's not true. It's my boss's fault. It wasn't really. It's not really. I had to steal. I'm underpaid. What does rationalized come from? Rational lies. People are rationalizing all their time, all the time. To make themselves be the good guy. But the truth is, we're not the heroes in every situation. It's not always your boss's fault. It's not always somebody else's fault. Being ready to say, 'Yeah, that was me,' hinei, that's only fifty percent of the equation. The other fifty percent is I stand ready to act. What takes us away from this? What takes us away from having a sense of self, of being able to say I'm fully present in this reality, ready to align myself with reality? So I think there's not one answer to this question.

25:25 But there is a conversation to be had. I just want to be clear before I say what I'm about to say. There's a conversation to be had around technology. But I'm not the Rebbe, and I don't believe this to be true. I don't think technology is the root of all evil. I'm a little concerned about the world today and how we're having the conversation around technology. Because I don't think it's as simple as well. In the 80s, before we had this technology, everything was perfect, and then when cell phones came out, everything went bad. I don't think it's that simple. I don't think it's that simple at all. There were problems before technology. There will be problems with the next technology, and I'm not convinced. The answer to our technological problem is just to vilify technology, because the reality is that most of us in this room will have technology in our lives. How we have technology, how we engage with it—that's a fascinating conversation.

26:19 To talk about the dangers of technology. To take measures to make sure that we're protected and our families are protected against the dangers of technology. But if we make technology the root of all evil, if every rebbe gets up and he goes, 'Back in the day,' nobody's going to listen. Because it's not true, and you know that. I imagine you know that there was addiction before mid 2000s when cell phone technology came out. There was addiction in the 90s. There was addiction in the 80s. There was addiction in the 70s. There was a reason Nancy Reagan had to get up in the 80s and say, 'Just say no to drugs.' It's not the beginning of the root of all evil when they came out with smartphones. Having said that, there is a real conversation to be had around the idea of: Are any of us actually present? Are any of us actually aligned with reality? One of the tragedies is when you see in schools that have no technology policies and you're walking down the schools. I just got back from America. I was in America basically three out of the last five weeks. I literally just landed last night.

27:21 And again, I was at an amazing NCSY conference on Shabbos. And I would say 98% of the girls, when I saw them, they were not on their phones, and they were really engaged in the learning. It was an absolutely incredible Shabbos. It's so painful when you see, in the hotel lobbies, they have these conferences in hotels. In the hotel lobbies, they have the couches all sitting there, and you see six girls on a couch, six girls on their phones. Nobody's paying attention to each other. They're all on their phones. You see in schools where they don't have technology policies, you walk down the halls in the middle of when there's in between classes, every kid is sitting on the floor, lined up against their lockers. Every one of them is on the phone. Camps that don't have cell phone policies, kids are on their phone all day long. And the camps that do have policies Kids come back from the summer. How was your summer? That was the best four weeks. That was the best eight weeks of my life. I didn't have my phone.

28:22 What's so amazing about not having your phone? What's amazing about not having your phone is you're actually alive. You're actually present with what's going on because you have to be. How many of us Subconsciously, we're not even paying attention to it, are about to feel a negative feeling, and instead of feeling a negative feeling, let's doom scroll through TikTok or YouTube Shorts. When they like, it's like a funny motion. How many people in life, in class, are sitting there with their phone on their leg like this? Do you realize how strange that looks to me? I've been teaching for 17 years. I've never seen somebody do this. Like first of all Don't hide it, just have it out. Second of all, you can't even be present now. This was your year in Israel. This was your time where you were supposed to become the person that you wanted to become, your truest self. How many people are allowing it to just fly by them because they're on Netflix? How many people have minimized Netflix so they could also be scrolling on TikTok while they're watching Netflix?

29:33 That was a beautiful moment. Thank you for coming with me on that. I'll teach you how to do it later. We can give a tutorial. I think the point was not to do it, not to teach them how. Honestly, if you're asking me, I'm not even sure anymore that the real danger of what's going on the phones is the content. Because the content everybody knows that's inappropriate. It's much more complex to talk about how much time we're spending on the phone. And if you do the math The math is horrifying. If your screen time is eight hours a day, that means a third of your day is on the phone. And because you're probably sleeping seven hours a night I know it's seminary—sleeping three hours a night and hooked up on coffee, mainlining it into our veins. In real life, you're probably using your phone 40% of your waking hours.

30:36 That's a crazy number. The CEO of Netflix, his name is Reed Hastings. They asked him, 'Who's your competition?' I would have expected Hulu or Disney Plus. He's sleeping, and we're winning. He's beating sleep. That's crazy. That's a biological need that we have. But why is he winning? He's winning because it is much easier to avoid reality than to engage with it. Because reality is hard. You might have to hear hard things. And you might not be okay with the things that you hear. And because we have a sometimes diminished sense of self We don't want to hear those things. I'm not necessarily interested in having to face that. So I'll deny that it's happening, and even if I admit that it's happening, I'm not going to be brave enough to show up and get hit by that truck. If you go through every single one of these cases, and we will in a moment, you'll see every one of these cases where the Torah says inani involves conflict And that's what the chazal were trying to teach us. When Rashi says here, lashon anava, lashon zimun, he means the Torah figures that we admire—they had conflict in their life.

31:54 But the way they showed up to difficult moments They were present. They had the humility to recognize what was happening And they had the strength to stand bravely and courageously, ready to engage. We'll go through it real quick. We don't have to go through all of them. But we have to go through just a couple of them to get it started. Avram Avinu's greatest fight. Avram Avinu's greatest fight in the world was what? What was his biggest fight in the entire world? Child sacrifice. You did get it right. Child sacrifice. That's what he spent his life fighting. And then our Kaddish Baruch tells him, "Kill your son." What's his response? What would our response have been? No. You can't possibly mean that. This is the kid that I was waiting for. This is the kid you told me is going to be the future of all of Klal Yisrael. I'm going to be embarrassed in front of the entire world when the world says, "I thought you were against child sacrifice." What's Avraham Avinu's response? Hineini. That's the whole point. The whole point of the Akedah was that even if it went against everything, he would still be able to say "Hineini.".

33:07 So it happens not once in the story. It happens three times. Originally, Hakadosh Baruch Hu calls out. What does he say? Hineini. Then Yitzchak says to him, "Dad, there's no carbon here." And what does he say back? He doesn't lie to his kid. He doesn't try to make it better. He's not interested as a parent in protecting his child from harsh realities. That's also a big thing. Why do parents today protect their children? Because they're afraid that their kids can't handle life. What happens when parents protect their children? Kids can't handle life. Hard things are allowed to happen. What's Avram Avinu's response? Inayni, I'm here with you. Is it really hard to be here with you? As I know, we're walking to your certain death. But I'm here with you And that's all it is. And what was Yitzhak's response? I guess I'm the carbon.

33:55 And then as he's about to kill his son, you would think there would be a moment of hesitation. The Malach calls out to him. He goes, Avram. And what's Avram Avinu's response? Inayni, I'm present, right here in this moment, as I'm about to slaughter him. And the Malach literally says, Don't do it. This is not what I call the shmar who wants. It's not about killing Yitzchak or not killing Yitzchak. The story of Akeidah Yitzchak is the story of being able to say, "I stand ready to do Your will, even when Hashem's will is deeply uncomfortable." But that's who we are as Jews. You go next. Yitzchak gives the bracha to Yaakov. Yaakov says, "Avi." What does Yitzchak hear? Yitzchak is blind, but he's not deaf. What does he hear? Is that my son, or is that Yaakov? Is that Esav, or is that Yaakov? What's his response? Ineni I'm here. I don't know exactly what's happening right now. I don't know how the twists of Hashem's plan are all maneuvering, but I'm present for it. Yaakov Avinu in the house of Lavan is now he's leaving. He's run away from Lavan. Is it obvious what's going to happen? Maybe Lavan's going to chase him. Lavan is very powerful. Did you know that Lavan had idols that were like GPSs that he could find anyone in the world?

35:03 That's according to some opinions, that's the idol that Rachli Menus stole because it was a way of escaping the house of Lavan. This was a very big deal. What does Yaakov say when the Malach says to him, 'Time to go'? He says, 'I might run away and it's going to be very hard, but I'm going to be present.' Yosef HaTzaddik Yosef HaTzaddik is being sent to his brothers, and we know what's the end of that story. Sent to his brothers, thrown into a pit of snakes and scorpions, sold down by a band of Arabs to Egypt. Sent ultimately to a house that brings him to jail, and ultimately puts him in a position of power for his family, which ultimately leads to the geula. But there's 20 years of absolute torture in between. Then, what's Yosef's response? Inani I stand ready at the edge of this conflict to do what needs to be done. There's a tremendous amount of bravery in that one word. And now Yaakov Avinu is leaving Eretz Yisrael to go down to Mitzrayim, which he knows is going to bring gullus Mitzrayim, which is by the way the gullus that we're still in.

35:55 Yaakov Avinu leaving to go down to Galus means what? It means everybody's going into Galus forever. All of Klal Yisrael's exiles, every October seventh, every Holocaust, every Crusades. That's what Yaakov Avinu started when he went down to Mitzrayim. What did Yaakov Avinu say to the Malach? Hinei I'm here. I'm ready to face whatever conflict lies ahead. And maybe the best one of all. Moshe Rabbeinu's at the snare And Moshe Rabbeinu is about to take on the impossible. Gargantuan task of freeing a people from Eretz Yisrael when not one slave had ever gone free, and Chazal tell us that it was impossible to leave. People had tried before and they died. And you see that even after miraculously Klal Yisrael left, what did they keep saying in the Midbar? Let's go back to Eretz Yisrael. The hold that Eretz Yisrael had, physically, psychologically, and in every single possible way, was absolute. Moshe Rabbeinu standing there at the Snet. How could anyone possibly take this out?

36:52 And by the way, what's he staring at? He's staring at something impossible. He's staring at a miracle. How many of us could do that? By the way, how many of us can stand and watch something that's difficult to watch? I'll prove to you that none of us can do it. When you see the homeless guy on the floor And you're walking in wherever you're walking—streets of LA, streets of New York. Chas V'Shalom—but unfortunately, some places in Yerushalayim, everybody should have a home. You're walking in these places. How many of us forget? Don't give money. How many of us don't want to look? Why don't we want to look? Those are human beings. Why can't we look? Why can't we stare it in the face? Because it is deeply uncomfortable to look at somebody else's pain. It is really hard to sit with somebody and look at them. I have a friend. His name is Uri.

37:38 Uri is one of the coolest guys I know. Went to Ramaz. Great ball player. A really put together guy. A real Eved Hashem. A special person. It's very hard for me to talk to him. Because when you're talking to Uri, you know you ever meet people like this that they have a laser gaze, like they look at you and it's like If you're talking to them, you go, hey, how's it going? He says, good. I'm gonna go now. It's very uncomfortable because it's hard to look. By the way, notice it. Next time you're talking to somebody, it's not gonna work because you're gonna be paying attention to yourself. Watch how people talk to you. They go like this. So anyway, I was. We can't even talk to each other when we look. It's really uncomfortable to hold somebody's gaze. That's why his stockless is a real problem. It's uncomfortable when people stare at people.

38:26 Really uncomfortable. His stockless to stare at somebody. It's really uncomfortable. We shouldn't stare. The Ramban speaks about that. The Ramban speaks about Nigas Ramban. The Ramban speaks about humility of not looking at somebody in the eyes. But to be able to pay attention, we don't want to do it. Moshe Rabbeinu is looking at the snat, and what does he see? That's impossible. But what's his response? He looks. He stares at it, and then what does he say? Hineini. And in that hineini, you know what he zochatu? I'm going to take Klal Yisrael out of Eretz Yisrael. Somebody who's capable of staring at reality can see past. This is the key. Can see past the reality that is to the reality that's possible beyond the impossible. I don't remember it. It's not recording. Or maybe it turned off when I smashed my phone. But somebody has it. I'll say it again.

39:21 Somebody who has the capacity to stare at the seemingly impossible and not look away has the capacity to see the possible that's beyond the impossible. That's why the greatest leaders in Klal Yisrael. I'm not going to say it a third time. You'll catch it later. Want me to say it one more time? Here we go. Somebody who has the capacity to stare at the impossible and to not look away because it's really uncomfortable when you see the miraculous. They have the ability to see the possible beyond the impossible. Every great leader in Klal Yisrael did that. The Panavitcherov, the famous story of the Panavitcherov, when he said, "We're not going for four." Somebody. When they somebody when the Panavitcher Rav told him his dream of rebuilding Panavitch in Eretz Yisrael And he had all these grand plans for Bnei Brak. They said, "You're a dreamer." He said, "Yes, but I'm wide awake."

40:27 So you saw. It's not a joke. Thousands and thousands of guys And the entire city How many tens of thousands of people in Bnei Brak are dedicating their lives to the service of Hashem? Remember when the Panavitcher Rav lived there? It was a desert. Nobody lived there. By the way, this entire country was a desert. Somebody had to see the possible beyond the impossible. It's an incredible thing to be able to look at something and where everybody else goes, it's impossible. That's how you change the world. Before the Lubavitcher Rebbe said, 'Chevra, go out and find Jews all over the world.' Nobody ever thought to do that. And by the way, how many people said he was crazy? You're sending out kids in their early 20s to go out all over the world and teach Aleph to random Jews, and now it's difficult for us to imagine what life would be like without Chabad when we're going on vacation to find kosher food. But yeah.

41:21 But also Today it's Dirigor. Of course, you saw somebody, you saw some Lubavitcher kid on the street putting on Tefillin. That's amazing. By the way, I'm deeply offended when they don't try with me. Let them ask. Maybe they, maybe I didn't. Today, when I walk through the airport, they always—and I've been in the airport at JFK a lot—they keep trying to hand me a sicha. You want to learn the sicha? I'm like, okay, it's gonna be okay. I have sworim to read. What was that? They don't ask you for mincha. Nah, we have mincha on the plane. Depending on what time you're flying. But they know. But it's again, these things that are obvious to us today. The institutions, there wasn't always a thing. Come to seminary. Now it's 13th grade. These things that were once upon a time dreams. There was a man. His name was Rabbi Kerlant. There used to not be Darche Bina. Now there is, and then there will be again.

42:13 But we're joking a little bit, but we shouldn't be. Because if you want to become a Moshe Rabbeinu, if you want to be a leader of Klal Yisrael, if you want to do the possible that's beyond the impossible, then you have to be willing to be present. This thing that you're doing, 30 days. Mrs. Booksbaum says, "Come give them chizuk." It's 90 days. We just did the first. I said the first 30 days. Come give them chizuk. For the next sixty days. That was very intense, by the way. I would also do this program. We've got that finger. You shouldn't need chizuk. This is a gift you're giving to yourself. If we're being honest And I'll raise my hand first. None of you need to raise your hands. How many of us are really addicted to these things? How many of us have not really been present with reality because we've been watching reality on a screen? The craziest thing is People go to concerts and they're not at the concerts.

43:11 Are you really going to rewatch the concert on your phone? If I don't post it on my status, then how are people going to know just to keep pressing through? Because nobody wants to watch that Morty Shapiro concert on your status. If they really wanted to, they would have gone to the concert. And for the five friends that swipe up with like an emoji, I promise you, they don't care. I once went to a Knicks game and I saw somebody with an iPad. I'm like, you're not here right now. You're pirating a Knicks game? Like it's the craziest thing in the world. It's free on TV. Or maybe pay a little bit if you have cable. But if you paid to go to the game, put the phone down. There's a famous shot of Michael Jordan, the last shot that Michael Jordan ever took is a bull, and it's that winning shot that he took in the finals against the Jazz. And you see in the background, everybody is just standing and watching one of the greatest moments in sports history.

44:06 You fast forward to LeBron James breaking the scoring record, and you see the background. You know what everybody is doing? They're watching it on their phones. You're about to see one of the greatest moments in sports history, and you couldn't put down your phone then. But that's a sporting event. What happens when it's your kids? What happens when your kids walk in But you've trained yourself to not be present And so they don't have an attuned emotional mother? What happens when it's your husband? But because we've taken ourselves away from presence, we don't have the courage, we don't have the humility to engage with reality. When things aren't going so well in our homes, do we have the humility to step up to the people we love and say? Share with me what's bothering you, even if it's me, and I stand ready to make amends if I need to and to help repair this relationship, even when it's difficult.

44:58 This is not something that we should need chizikin, and the truth is, your generation is doing a lot better than we were doing ten, fifteen years ago. Ten, fifteen years ago, when you run a program like this and you bring somebody like me in to speak, people are rolling their eyes, going like, "Come on, I'm sick and tired of hearing this." Today, guys in yeshiva are begging us. Can we talk about this? I have a love-hate relationship with my phone. I can't seem to get rid of it, and it's so annoying to me. I'm running up all these WhatsApps. I don't even want to look at them anymore. Every time somebody calls, I'm getting anxiety. You know this. You know the gift of being able to say Hinei. So is it an accident that Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself The Navi Yeshaya tells us Lachen Yedah Ami Shmi.

45:46 Therefore, the people shall know my name. It will be on that day. Which day? On the day of the ultimate geula. But because it is me who says, "Hineini." How does Hakadosh Baruch Hu herald the coming of Mashiach? How does He usher in the era of Olam Habah? Hashem says, "Hineini." There is tremendous conflict in the moments before Mashiach comes, and we're witnessing it. Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself says, "hineini." There's collective trauma that's happening in this country right now, and I don't mean trauma like seminary girl trauma, like oh my God, I missed the bus trauma. Like no. Did you see what she did to me? Trauma. Real trauma. This country, how many, including myself, how many in this country last week said I can't look, I can't see any more orange hearts, I can't think about what it must have been like to be that dad.

46:44 To find out the news that he found out To see his children in coffins being paraded through the streets of Gaza by wild animals who happen to be in human bodies To receive not his wife's body back but a fake body back That he wrote on the coffin. Arrested on October seventh, two thousand twenty-three, not abducted. To hear the entire world talking about a hostage exchange. This was not a hostage exchange. This was an extortion. On this side of the aisle, there were murderers. On this side of the aisle, there were innocent people who happened to have been on the border. And then to finally get his wife's body back And to bury them. And how many of us, including myself, said, "I can't look at it." But maybe we need to look at it. I don't mean look at it, watch the videos online. That's not what looking at it means.

47:36 But how many of us are really willing to say, 'Hineni, I'm going to stare' at that uncomfortable reality, because this is what happens when we live in a state of sinas chinam. If we can't figure out how to be a family, then we don't deserve a home. And when we don't live as a family, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends continuously throughout the generations. He sends our enemies to remind us. They don't care what type of Jew you are: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Hasidish, Misnagdish, Litvish, Charedi, Charedal, Datilu, Umiichiloni. These are all modern Orthodox, Yeshivish. These are all fake, made-up labels. How many of us have the ability, have the courage to stand in front of this and say With humility I'm part of the problem. I also am guilty of this era. And how many of us are willing to say with tremendous courage I'm going to reach out and stand ready And I'm here to unite Klal Yisrael. I'm part of the solution. It's okay for Chalal Israel to have different communities, but it's not okay for us to separate from each other. How many of us are really willing to do that?

48:39 If you can't say hinei, if you can't look at the pain You can't be here. I'll share with you. This is deeply personal for me. My mother has a neighbor whose name is Zimbalist. They had a son who fought in the war. He was killed in Gaza. His name was Eli Moshe, the greatest kid. Greatest kid. He was killed in action, and he died al kiddush Hashem. I can't tell you how many times over the course of the past several months, whenever anybody's name is mentioned, when everybody says Eli Moshe. Eli Moshe literally lived in my mother's house for 12 straight years, three hours a week. I can't tell you how many times when I hear that name, I just can't think about it. I can't think about it. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about it and I push it away because I don't want to sit here. I don't want to sit here in the face of it. I don't want to look at it.

49:37 His parents are much more brave. His parents are dedicating a part of the shul. The community got together and they're dedicating a part of a new shul that they're building in his memory. There's a man whose name was Arye Devrit. Arye Devrit was Eli Mo's teacher. He taught him woodworking, and Eli Mo was going to be a kabbalan. He was tremendous with his hands, and he started a chug. He started a chug in the neighborhood to teach people woodworking. That's courage. That's bravery. Being able to say there's tragedy. And this is my response to tragedy. This is how I build after tragedy. That's unbelievable. If we can't find the courage to do this What are we doing here? In some ways, the entire purpose of Yiddishkeit is to align ourselves with reality. God is playing the game of hide and seek with us. He creates reality, hides himself, and says, "Find me."

50:25 And if we don't, if we can't say Hineini, then how are we going to see beyond the veil to be able to see the man who's pulling the strings? In the Wizard of Oz, he said, "Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain." In Yiddishkeit, it's exactly the opposite. We try to say, 'Pay attention to the man who's behind the curtain, pulling all the strings of this entire world.' But if we're sitting there on our phone Looking at whatever we're looking at for hours on end, what are the chances you're going to look up to be able to see Hashem? I would say slim. Maybe none. But if you can look up, maybe you're the one that changes the world. I'll finish with this. I just came back from the NCSY Shabbaton. It was exceptionally inspiring. The girl who started NCSY 4G, have you heard of this program? The girl who started, her name is Suzanne Rubinovich. And I'm blown away by what she accomplished. I see even now we have a couple of admirers in the audience. She's incredible, no?

51:17 She's amazing. She was our director when we were on kids. She's really incredible. 274 girls were on the Shabbaton, or maybe it's 247. I might be dyslexic. It was an incredible Shabbaton. It existed And years ago nobody did this. Somebody had to look up and say, "There's a need, and I'm going to create it." That's the thing. And that's humility and that's bravery. But how many organizations in Klaayusral could exist if somebody looked up and said, 'That needs to exist, and I'm going to do it.' If we can't face the harsh reality, then we won't change the world. And if we can And it's quite possible that there's somebody sitting in this room right now that in 20 years from now you're going to be saying, "I went to Darche Bina with her." That's a special thing. And if you're pointing to a certain person That's awesome that you think that about her.

52:09 Halavay, you should think that about yourself. Every one of us has the capacity to do it. But we just need to train ourselves to see ourselves with accurate eyes. It's a big schuz to be here. I want to give everyone here a bracha from the bottom of my heart. I'll take halab beinacha berchas hadiyot. Don't take lightly the bracha of a simple person. In 90 days, it's a gift you're giving to yourself. 60 days from now, it's a gift you're giving to yourself to be present with reality and to change.