Chapters
Transcript
Automatic transcript; may contain mistakes, especially in Hebrew.
It's an unbelievable schuz to have our two yeshivas together tonight here on Lag BaOmer. I feel exceptionally inadequate to speak in front of so many incredible talmidim and so many incredible rebbeim. Befrat. In front of the Rosh Yeshiva In front of Rav Waxman, who I've been looking up to for I can't count how many years. Many years ago I don't know where Rav Noam went, so he's still there. Many years ago. Around this time, just about a month ago Twenty-seven years ago I had the opportunity to sit next to Rav Noam on a bus. For a week in Poland I want to say that Donny Morris, alavashalom, was tremendously lucky to have you as a rebbe. I know that I was changed in one week from sitting next to you. No doubt, Donny was exceptionally privileged to have many months with you. Rav Naam spoke so beautifully.
So many important ideas. I want to jump off of the last idea that he shared from the Chiddo. That Rivakiva was relentless. That he could have gone into business. He could have declared himself a failed Rosh Yeshiva, but instead he started over. And he rebuilt Torah for Klal Yisrael. We can't learn Torah today without learning from Rivakiva and his Talmidim. What was the secret of Rav Kiva? How did he begin again? It's a beautiful story with Eli Wiesel and the Labavicher Rebbe. After the Holocaust, Eli Wiesel came to seven seventy Eastern Parkway, and he introduced himself to the Labavicher Rebbe and he said to the Rebbe I'm a visioner, Chassid, not a Labavicher. The Rebbe smiled and he said to him "It only matters that you're a Chassid. It doesn't matter whose. One Simchas Torah Eli Weisel came to 770 And he made a lechayim with the Rebbe.
Read the full transcript
And the Rebbe said to him What's the minig in Vizhnitz? So Eli Weisel said, "The minig is to make a lechayim." The Rebbe said, "Only one." Eli Weisel said Of course not. The Rebbe said, "In Labavitch, one is but a drop in the ocean" And they made another lachaim. The Rebbe was feeling good And he turned to Eli Weisel and he said Ask me for a bracha. It's not a usual thing. And Eli Weisel understood the gravity of the moment. That the rebbe was telling him, 'Ask me for a bracha,' and he was stuck. He didn't know how to answer. He didn't know how to respond to such an unbelievable moment. And the rebbe said to Eliwizel Ask me for a bracha That you should have the strength to begin again. And Eliwizel said, "Yes, rebbe, that's the bracha I need to begin again after the Holocaust" To begin again after the death of twenty-four thousand talmidim. We can't possibly imagine what strength, what courage, what resilience it took for Rav Kiva to rebuild Torah for Klal Yisrael. What was the secret of Rav Kiva? How was he zayicha to begin again?
We all know the story. Rishim Bar Yochai was critical of the Romans And the Romans sentenced him to death. And he ran and hid in the cave. And the Gemara describes how, in order to save his clothing, he and Elazar Beno buried themselves in the sand and learned Torah all day, only coming out to daven where they would get dressed, sustained by a carob tree and water. And after twelve years, they came out. They had to go back in at the very end. After Rav Shimbar Yochai was able to come out of the cave He was greeted by Rav Pinchas Ben Yair. The Gemara indicates that Pinchas Ben Yair was the son-in-law of Rav Akiva. The Zayir Hakadosh says that he was actually the father-in-law of Rav Shimbar Yochai, and the Bally Kabbalah discusses at length why the Gemara says one thing and the Zayir Hakadosh says another. We're not going to get into that.
But for a moment, let's assume that it was a father-in-law And if Pinchas ben Yair takes her Shimba Yochai to the bathhouse because he sees that he has deep cracks in his skin from spending 13 years buried in sand in a cave. The suffering was unbelievable. His skin was dry, cracked open. He went to the bathhouse. And in some way, whatever he did, some physical therapy that he gave him. He was trying to heal him. He was massaging him with oils. And Pinchas ben Yair began to cry And the salty tears of Pinchas ben Yair went into the cracked skin of Rishimbar Yochai, and it caused him pain. And Pinchas ben Yair said Oli shereisicha b'kach, Oi, woe is to me that I saw you this way. And Rishimbar Yochai says back to him, "No, Ashrecha, you're lucky to see me this way." Why? Because I used to ask you a question And you would come back to me with twelve different answers. But today, thirteen years later, having spent all this time in the cave Burried in sand, my skin cracked open. Today, you ask me a question.
And I respond to you with twenty-four answers. I grew tremendously in the cave. The Gemara must have a deeper explanation. Why would Pinchas Ben Yair Who is trying to restore Shimbar Yochai, crying salty tears into his wounds? It doesn't make any sense. Clearly, that would cause Shimbar Yochai pain. Perhaps we can suggest that the Gemara is not meant to be taken literally. But the pain that Pinchas Ben Yair experienced when he saw his beloved son-in-law suffering, he said, "It's so difficult for me to see you this way." And Rishim Baruchai said, "You're wrong." I'm not a victim. Don't look at my wounds and think that I've suffered for the 13 years that I spent in the cave. That suffering, that pressure. It made me into the person that I am today. This is not a bug; it's a feature. You might look at me and you might think to me He went through Gehenna, thirteen years in quarantine.
Fakert. That's how you become great. Greatness requires pressure. We celebrate pressure because that's where godless comes from. When R' Shmuel Chai went into the cave, he was the questioner. When he came out, he was the answerer. And his Rebbe would give him twelve answers. Today he could give twenty-four. He became twice as great. Not because he was alone in a cave with his chavrusa But because he was alone in that cave, he went through unimaginable suffering. Tonight is a very special night. It's good when brothers get together. It's good when yeshivas get together. Tonight was facilitated by a very special family. Who I've been trying to know now for quite some time. I don't know where Arye is. I'm about to embarrass him. I want to be able to see him. I love Arye Morris very much. It's a privilege to call him a friend. It's a privilege to be a friend of this family.
It's a privilege for our yeshivas that the Morris family is a part of our two yeshivas. And if Konigsberg said it very beautifully There are Batay Medrash and learning centers and Sifrei Torah that have been dedicated in memory of Donny Morris. Great families. They turn suffering into greatness. I was talking with Rivayi before. I said, "What's it like?" I didn't ask him Rishus to say this. I hope he'll forgive me. It's surreal. None of us wanted life to be like this. None of us wanted to be here under these circumstances. Survivors don't have time to ask why me. They ask what now. The Morris family is a family that asked what now. Donny Morris is not able to share Torah with us. Akiva makes us see him. The nair neshama of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai, the nair neshama that doesn't go out Is the nair neshama of Donny Morris that doesn't go out And it doesn't go out because great families ensure.
And I'm not exaggerating, Arye. I'm not exaggerating one iota. Because I can tell you that every conversation that I've had with Arye in some way revolves around Donny. Donny is alive and well. He may not be with us in an embodied way. But the Morris family has kept him alive. It's a schus for us to be here. Celebrating the continued life of Donny Morris. Rav Naam, I meant what I said. A Talmud forever, a Rebbe forever. Every Lag BaOmer, we're gonna dance and sing. It's never gonna be the same, and it shouldn't be the same. There will always be the people that look at suffering and they say, "I can't see you this way." But the great people, they say, "Ashrecha" Ashrecha, you're lucky to see me this way. I don't know if Joko is still here. Is he still here? Where is my friend?
I can't see you through the fire, but in some ways I could see you through the fire. I want to tell you something. We're going to dance many Lag BaOmer's together, you and I. And you're going to light the madura for many years. It's a big schuz to have you with us. Everybody here, I'm sure, knows Rabbi Cohen. He's a staple in our community. I've had the privilege of taking several walks with him over the last couple of months. It's a strange thing. It's a strange thing to be in his presence. I go to give chizuk, I walk away. He's giving me chizuk the entire time. I come to talk to him about what's going on. He says, "New? How's your family?" Special person? Was he this great before? I know he was great. Was he this great before? I've seen Rabbi Cone reach levels of godless in the last couple of months that are unparalleled. I say this not to embarrass him. I say this to be mechazekhim. We're standing in the face of someone, a Rav Shimon Bar Yochai.
Unbelievable suffering, unbelievable greatness. It made perfect sense that Arye Maris and Jonathan Cone lit the madura together for us tonight. Should be an inspiration for all of us. All the things that we go through, all the difficulties, trials and tribulations, they're opportunities for greatness. We're sitting right now with great people. In 20, 30 years from now, you'll remember Lag BaOmer. Not only did we have an amazing time together, but we were with great people. And so it's a big sh'chus for me to ask Rabbi Emaris to come share a couple of words with us.
Is this shiur filed in the wrong place? Let us know.