Noach - The Stories We Tell About Ourselves Become The Stories We Tell About Another

2:31 Kol shikain Certainly, ilu haya bedar said bedar tzadikim. If he was in a generation of righteous people Hayat tzadik yisr, he would have even been a greater tzadik. Viyesh darshen yisai legnayin. There are those that say Na'ach. It's not so good. Lefidayray hayitzadik in his generation, for the standards of his generation, he was a tzadik. Ve'ilu haya b'dayrachal Avram loyanech shel klum. But if he was living in the generation of Avram Avinu, he wouldn't have been anything at all. There's a couple of questions that bother Balyashgafa. First of all, the pasuk says that Na'ach was a tzadik. You could be daresh from today till tomorrow But Na'ach was a big tzaddik even before the Song. Na'ach was a big tzaddik. So why do we have a drasha? Why do we have to have a drasha here? Why does this pasuk need to be expounded upon?

3:42 Na'ach was a tzaddik. It's interesting. Rashi doesn't say who these teachers are. Yesh mei rabo senu. There are teachers that say leshavach And then he doesn't say rabo senu. He says, and then there are those that say legnay. How come Rashi doesn't tell us? Abaya says this. Rav says this. Rish Lakish says this. Rav Yehudan says this. We always quote. Since when do we say Yesh mei rabo senu? There are those teachers that taught us this tell us who it is And the sheet that says it was a gnai That it wasn't saying such positive things about Noach It doesn't say that Noach wouldn't have been as great a tzaddik. It says laohay a nechshav leklum He wouldn't have been considered anything. That's very strange Because if you want to say That Na'ach would have been a tzaddik, but he wouldn't have been as great a tzaddik.

4:53 If you want to say that Na'ach wouldn't have been even considered a tzaddik in the times of Avram Avinu, but he would have been He would have been your average good guy in shul. That too, I could have understood. Rashi says, "Lo haya nechshav leklum." He wouldn't have been anything. This was a great man. Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke to him Hakadosh Baruch Hu entrusted him with the fate of his generation, and perhaps he fell short. Zayra Hakadosh says that he failed to daven for his generation. But this is a man who, amidst all the corruption in the world, stood strong with his values. Lo haya nechshav leklum. That's a big thing to say. So what's going on over here? Rabbi says everybody in this room is telling themselves a story. Everybody in this room, every single person in this room Has teachers that live inside of us Voices that speak to us.

6:08 We're narrating this world. Every single person is living inside of a story. And the story that you tell yourself really matters. Some people are telling themselves a story. I got this. I'm capable. There are guys right now in this room that are saying It's Chayr of Zman. It's time to lock in. I got this. One day at a time. I'm going to kill it. It's a story that you're telling yourself. It's probably a story that you've told yourself before. It's the reason you can tell yourself a story in this moment. It's because you have a story you told yourself before in your life. I'm a capable person. I could do hard work. I could do hard things. So after a sukkah break, you come back and you're energized and ready to go. I don't need to be anywhere but yeshiva. I don't want to be anywhere but in the beis medrash. I'll take my breaks as needed, but I'm ready to make something special happen. It's a story you're telling yourself. There are teachers living inside of you, and they're teaching you that you're a capable person.

7:15 Sadly There are many people in this room who have other voices. These voices we don't call them teachers. They're just people that expound life, but they're not our teachers. Because the job of a rebbe is to tell you the story. That empowers you to be something exceptional in this world. And the other voices, they're not teachers; they're just people that say negative things. These voices also live inside of us. There are people that are coming back after Bein Azmanim. And they have voices inside, also storytellers. And the story is Rebbe I thought that this Bein Azmanim I was going to do better. I thought that I was going to make more minions, and I thought that I was going to have more time to learn. I certainly didn't think that I was going to find myself in a funny place doing a funny thing with certain people that I'm not super proud to be with.

8:16 But Lamaysa, people find themselves in funny places, in funny crowds, doing things that they said I wasn't going to do. How many of us in this room? And the answer is everybody. At some point or another, drew a line in the sand and said, "I will not cross this line." Every one of us in eighth grade had lines that we drew in the sand, and we said "I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to. I'm going to go to high school, and I might do this, but I'm never going to do that." Remember the day that you did that Summer after tenth grade? Sure. Some of us are late bloomers. I promised myself I wasn't going to be that guy. And now I am. That's the lie that we tell ourselves. It's not a rebbe that speaks that way. That's a voice inside of us that tells a story: I'm a sheikitz, I'm a nothing, I'm a piece of garbage.

9:16 Yes, mei rabo seinu. Some of us have rebbeim that live inside of us. I want to share with you that my son is in third grade. And he has a rebbe. This Rebbe is something special. It's rare. Sadly, today it's rare that people want to go into chinuch. But when those people who decide I want to go into chinuch, most people don't say I want to be a third grade Rebbe. I want to be an eighth grade Rebbe. I want to be a tenth grade Rebbe. I want to be a twelfth grade Rebbe. I want to teach in Eretz Yisrael. I want to teach post Israel. Everybody has the Rebbe that they want to be. Very few people in life want to be a third grade Rebbe. Which is sad. Because a third grade rebbe could change the trajectory of a kid's life. On Sukkot We don't have such a big sukkah. My wife wanted to eat out a bit, so we went to a very close family friend for Sukkot. This man has a beautiful apartment, four floor apartment in Ramat Beit Shemesh, absolutely stunning. And in that stunning apartment He has a beautiful vitrina. He has a beautiful place where he keeps all of his nice silver and important things, and he has a framed petek.

10:33 A framed note from one of his children who was a little rambunctious. There are some kids that aren't designed to sit in the classroom. He had one of these kids who wasn't designed to sit in the classroom, and he had this third grade rebbe, the same third grade rebbe that my son has right now. And this third grade rebbe he understood this kid And rather than knocking this kid out with some Ritalin. He wrote the parents consistent gorgeous, stunning notes of nachas And he sent them home. And it's many years later, and now that kid is in high school. And framed in the vitrina, along with their silver and their fancy things, is this framed note from that third grade rabbi, saying what a special boy he has. That's what the father put in his vitrina. And I came home. And my daughter showed me. My son was already asleep.

11:34 My daughter showed me Abba, I want to show you the note that Rav Oshreicher wrote for Mikey. And I read this beautiful note. And he didn't write a two-line note. Sometimes a Rebbe wants to make a kid feel good, so he goes Machal answered a question today in school. It was a really beautiful answer. Two lines. This Rebbe writes a long note And I know that he's not just doing it for my son. I know he's doing it for lots of people's sons, and I know that he's been doing it not for one year, but for years and years already. And I'm reading this note, and it's so beautiful. And I'm realizing this note is not for me. This note is so that my son walks home with this little piece of paper, and when he walks in the house, he's excited to show everybody in the family, 'Look what my Rebbe thinks about me.'

12:26 So this morning Because I know I'm going to the airport from yeshiva tonight, I'm going to Los Angeles for Shabbos. I know that my son I know that my son is not going to see me tonight before I left, and I didn't see him in the morning because I went out to daven. So I went to the school to say goodbye. I just want to say goodbye before I leave. And on my way out, I realized I have to express my akarasatov to this rebbe. So I grabbed a nice bottle of wine that we have in the house. I don't drink wine, so when the talmidim bring wine, I just usually give it to the rebbeim that my children have. It's like nobody ever actually eats their shaloch manos. Shaloch manos are just like a currency that's fungible. Everyone just keeps passing it to the next guy.

13:12 That's why if you come at three o'clock in the afternoon to get shaloch manos, you're just getting the sheiras apleita, whatever was left over. So I took a really nice bottle of wine that somebody had bought me, and I brought it to the Rebbe. I said to the Rebbe, "I just want you to know the difference that you've made in my son's life, and I just want to express my karasatov." Because children do not develop these voices on their own. We are loved into being. We adopt other people's voices. And now my son has a voice that lives inside of him." Yesh mei rabo senu. Rashi didn't quote anybody here because the voices are inside of us. There are some people that they read a pasuk and they see an extra word. And the pasuk says Na'ach was a big tzaddik. And some people see an extra word because they have people like Rav Oshtrayzer in their life.

14:14 When they see that extra word, they go, Na'ach must have been unbelievable. That even in his generation he was a tzaddik, if he would have been in the generation of Avraham Binyo, he would have been greater. There are people that narrate life positively because they've been taught to see the positive in themselves. They had rebbeim that loved them into being, so no matter what they're going through, they know I have a rebbe who's standing behind me, and that rebbe's voice is alive and well inside of me. You see a person and he looks at guys in yeshiva and he says that guy is unbelievable. That guy is unbelievable. They find ways to touch people up for good. He's not in beis medrash so much, but you should know he's a he's a tzadik and chesed. He's in beis medrash a lot. You should know he's a big masmud. You should see the way he davens. You should see the way he calls his parents every day.

15:04 There are some people in the world that see something good and they embellish it. You should know he's unbelievable. Who doesn't want to be in a relationship with those people because they see life in a positive way? And sadly, there are people that never had those rebbeim. They never had those parents. They never had those teachers. They never had those camp directors or camp counselors—the people in life that told you are awesome. And so, these people grow up with stories about themselves, and they externalize those stories about everybody else around them. They think inside of myself. I know I'm a nothing. I'm a zero. I know that about myself. So when they look around, that's all they see. There are some people that see the extra word in the pasuk. They see the word doyrosuv in the pasuk and they go crazy. They might lose their minds. They go crazy.

16:00 It just said Noach was a tzaddik. It just got done saying it. He was tumim. He was complete. Everybody around him was going out of their minds. There was such chaos in the world that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, "I need to destroy the world. And this guy was a tzaddik, and Hashem spoke to him. There are those people that read the pasuk and hone in on the word diraysev and go, you should know that if he was in the times of Avram, he would have been a nothing. He's not that great. He's great in Mevaseret, but if we were in Brisk, you should know he'd be nothing. You think he's a balchesed? You should know. I've seen him with. I've seen him as he really is. That's not really who he is. You think yes, Kibbutz Avayim? You should see the way he talks about his parents behind their back. You should see how many lies he's told.

16:47 There are some people that, no matter how beautiful something is, they have to destroy it. And they destroy it not because it's true, but because that's the story they're telling about themselves. They have no idea what I'm talking about. They have no rebayim. That's why Rashi doesn't say Yesh Mer Rabo Senu Shadarsu Mosha Lo Sevach. He says there are those people that are Darish Lignai. There are people out there that just poshut have nothing good to say. They never had a rebbe. I don't know if he's in the room, and if he is, I don't mean to embarrass him in public. Most people may not have caught what they saw on the first Shabbos of the year by Shluchas when Reheshal spoke about Modwek. Most people may not have caught it. They think that Reheshal was telling the story and he was talking about how to have a good year, and he was highlighting Modwek as a guy who really pushed through.

17:44 It's not what he was doing. Rehearsal was trying to tell every single guy in this yeshiva, and he was trying to tell Modwek the power of having a rebbe that believes in you irrationally. Sometimes I talked to Reb Bloom and I'd speak to a guy in yeshiva. And Reb Bloom says to me, "And if you have the opportunity to have Reb Bloom in your life, you're a lucky Jew." I want to tell you what Reb Bloom says to me, and I'm going to do the voice a little bit. I don't mean to make fun of him. But you have to hear the voice in order to appreciate it. Rebberg, I'm telling you, this guy's going to be big. You know what I mean? He gets very excited. He gets very animated. I'm like What are you talking about? He's like, no, I'm telling you, this guy. He sees. He asks a great question. He gets super animated.

18:36 How lucky are the people that have Rebbiim in their life? How lucky are the people that have Rebbi Hershel in their life? They have Rebbiim that told them. Tell yourselves a story that you're awesome, and then you get to live in an awesome world. Then people want to be around you because you're someone who has a positive thing to say in this world. Sadly, some of us never got that. Noach was a big tzaddik from his kepila to his fitzalach. There are some people that all they do is look at the big tzaddikim in the world and say lehayan neshav l'klum. And it's because they're saying it about themselves. One of my closest friends in the world is missing his leg. He lost his leg to cancer-related complications when he was 12 years old. Probably a lot of you know him. He might have even danced at some of your bar mitzvahs.

19:31 I want to tell you something about him. Many years ago Many years ago, we were living together. We were in Adira together. And he said to me, "You should know, I can jump." On one leg From the wet bathroom floor Onto the lip of a wet bathtub, and I'll stick the landing. And I'm like First of all, why do you know that? Because that means you tried it. And what would have happened if you were wrong? And second of all You can't. That's ridiculous. I have two legs. I think I'm a decent athlete. I don't think I'd stick the landing. And when I don't, I'm probably gonna die. That's the way I'm gonna go. And he said, "No, really, I can do it. I've done it." And I'm like, "Okay, but why do you know that?" And he said, "When they amputate your leg They don't give you a prosthetic right away.

20:43 You have to go through a lot of therapy first. Not psychological therapy. You have to go through physical therapy. The therapy they give you is that they push you down. Not one time, not ten times, not a hundred times, or five hundred times. They push you down thousands of times. Because you have to learn how to fall. Because until you learn how to fall, you won't be confident to walk. So here's a twelve-year-old boy. Picture the scene. He's had cancer for the last couple of years. He's had to make the decision along with his parents. To amputate a limb of his body. And before they fit you with a prosthetic You go to a room and the therapist pushes you down over and over again, and they teach you how to fall until you're unbelievable at falling. And the thing is, when you get unbelievable at falling You're no longer afraid to jump because you know that you'll be okay.

21:40 Because in the fall, you're not going to land and break your fall with your hands, because then you're going to break your hands. You know how to allow yourself to fall because you know how to roll with the fall. And the thing about knowing how to fall is that it makes you courageous. So the reason you'll break your head if you jump onto the lip of a wet bathtub is because you're terrified that you're going to fall. I'm not. I know how to fall. I'm fine. And that's an incredible thing to know. This past week A number of guys in the yeshiva came to my office to tell me all the averas that they did over ben azmanim. Because unfortunately, they have voices in their head that say Lo haya nechshav leklum Rebbe, you think I'm something? You should know I'm a nothing. Sometimes it becomes like a confessional, like this Christian thing that they have to come and say, 'Like what a terrible person I am.'

22:43 Maybe they're expecting me to say, give some tzedakah and say seven Hail Marys, and then you'll be fine. It's chaval. Because I really want to say to them? What? Because you had one bad night? Because you had a couple bad mornings where you slept in? So now lohaya nechshav l'klum. Now you're a nothing. Now you're not going to have a chayav zman. Now your year in Israel is over because you promised yourself you weren't going to cross that line and you did. You don't know how to fall because you have a story inside of you that says every time I fall, it confirms the inner negative belief that I have about myself that I'm a piece of garbage, and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because if you tell yourself enough times, lohoye nechshav leklum, you're gonna be klum. It's a very dangerous thing to give musar to people.

23:32 It's a very dangerous thing to give musar to yourself. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter was the founder of the musar movement. He compared mussar to surgery. And he said surgery is only something that the patient can undergo when they're healthy enough. You have to raise a person up before they have surgery. Going over to a talmud who feels like a nothing and saying to him, "You're a nothing. You're killing that kid." And if you say that to yourself, it's suicide. All in the name of frumkeit. Rabbi, I'm real with myself. You're not real with yourself at all. That's not a voice of truth. A voice of truth is a voice of compassion. Every single day we say in davening, "Avinu ha'varachamun, ha'merachem, rachem aleinu, v'same belibenu lahavinu lahaspil." If you want bina and seichel, if you want to be able to tell the truth in your life Then see the world through the lens of compassion. Everybody is going through something that you know nothing about.

24:34 And if you can't see other people with compassion, it's only because you're projecting your own pain onto them. Halavai, you'd be zeicha to see yourself with an ounce of compassion. Rebbe, I'm frum. Lo haya nechshav leklum, Rebbe. You should know. I know about myself. I'm a real nothing. Yerusholm of Freifeld, Zechariashev Levrach, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Shaiyashuv. He used to say, "You know why Nevardik Musar is not as popular today as it used to be?" Slabodka mussar is very powerful. It's very popular. In Slabodka, they always spoke about gadlus adam, how great a man is. In the Vardik, they would always speak about shiflus adam, how low a person is. In the Vardik, they used to have these wild, like really intense things that they would do to embarrass themselves, berabim, to make themselves feel low. Said Riff Riffel, you know why it didn't last?

25:25 Not because people don't learn the Vardik mussar today. It's beautiful to learn the Vardik mussar, but do you know why it's not so popular? Because you have to be a zich before you're a nish. Because you have to be something before you can tell yourself that you're a nothing. And how many of us are walking around with no clue what there is But we're clapping alchet in the name of frumkeit, Rabbi? I'm a nothing. I'm a nothing. If I say I'm a nothing long enough, if I hate myself long enough, maybe I'm going to start having a good shachris. Maybe I'm going to come to mincha. Maybe I'm going to come to my rav. Maybe I'm going to stay in seder. It's not going to work. It's never worked in the history of the world. The big tzedikim of yesteryear that could say that they were a nothing, they knew deep in their hearts they were a something.

26:15 If we tell ourselves we're nothing, it's suicide. It's darshanai say legnai. That's not your rebbe. L'hoi anechshav l'kum. You want to be nothing? That's the best way to do it. Just keep telling yourself I'm a nothing. I'm going to say something now, and it's going to be a little unpopular. So brace yourselves. Last year You're all sitting there and thinking about what yeshiva do I want to go to. I'm not sure if it's the best one, but it's a good start. Maybe that's my own pain projecting onto you. There's a conversation that exists in the world. In our world, in our community. It's a conversation that must stop. It's an evil conversation. It's a conversation of darshan osolignay. It's a conversation of lohaye nechshav l'klum. I'm not going to go to that yeshiva. I'm not one of those guys. There's nothing wrong with judging. We teach children to judge. It's healthy to judge.

27:29 People should evaluate their surroundings. But there is a big difference between judging and being judgmental. And if you think back to some of the conversations that you had last year Or for the Shana Bet guys two years ago If you think back to those conversations when you were sitting there going "I'm going to apply to this yeshiva and I'm going to apply to that yeshiva as backup," I don't really want to go because the guys in that yeshiva Really Really, that's the way we speak about Klal Yisrael. Every yeshiva is different. Every yeshiva has amazing guys. Every yeshiva has walking children of the Rebbeinu Shalom in this world, and some of them are struggling with different things, and we're struggling with different things. But we should not look down at other people. This is the system we want to create, where there are tiers that we get to decide what tier you're in. You went to that yeshiva, you're tier three. You went to this yeshiva, you're tier two. But where in tier two are you?

28:26 Are you upper tier two? Are you lower tier two? Are you mid? I'm top. I'm a top guy. I couldn't. It's true. That yeshiva would probably be better for me, but I can't go to yeshiva with that guy. And if you think I'm saying it because of what happened last year, you're wrong. I'm saying it because of what's happening right now. You could be in mivaseret. You could be here for a year or two. But you're not a mivaseret guy. If you go like He's like a rosh guy. He's a Rav Appel guy. He's a Rav Shreier guy. He's a Rav Fox guy. He's a Rav Ben guy. He's a Rav Hershel guy. He's a Rav Bloom guy. He's a Rav Elberger guy. You're not part of our yeshiva. You're just the guy who's hanging out here for a bit. You're sleeping in the dorms and you're in the basement and you can eat our food.

29:14 Because we let Jews come to our yeshiva. But you're not a mevz guy. Because that's just a fancy way of looking around and saying. I'm here and he's here, and I'm here and he's here. Congratulations, we've divided everybody up into boxes. I'm a Chasdei guy, I'm an America guy, I'm a Maimakim guy, I'm a Vered guy, I'm this guy, I'm that guy. Because nobody's saying it positively. Nobody's looking at that guy and going Baruch Hashem, he's in that shear because that's going to be the best shear for him to become the person that he wants to be. You should know the biggest tzaddikim don't speak that way. The real deal people—they're not talking about other people, and they're not talking about themselves either. They're not sitting there and going, "No, I'm in this shiur." They're not looking down their noses. They're not looking and they're not holding their arms tight with each other. I don't want to let anyone into my shear because I want the most attention from the Rebbe.

30:09 If you're a real Mevz guy, you go, 'Yeah, the shiur is big. It's going to be tough.' I want to open my arms and invite people into my teva because it's a beautiful place to be, and I want you to be part of my chevr. And I want you to have this rabbi because it's so special to have this rabbi. But we lock arms real tight and we say no, like we're those guys and they're those guys, and divide everybody up into your neat little boxes. Lo haya nechshav l'klum. Congratulations You're not a medz guy. You're a guy who just happens to be in our base. A mez guy looks at somebody else who's struggling, and they don't look at them with any judgment whatsoever. He must be going through something I don't know anything about. And I wonder if there's a way that I can help him Because I had a rebbe inside of me that told me that I was great, and I want to find out if that guy knows about his own greatness.

31:06 And Baruch Hashem, for the most part, I don't hear it in yeshiva. For the most part. I hear people who are embracing and helping other people. But then I also know that there are guys in the yeshiva that are still struggling, and it's the end of October, and there are guys that are in the yeshiva and they feel like it's a shuk. There are guys that are in the yeshiva and they're walking down Merkaz, or they're walking down Chas, there, they're walking down Me Mamakim, or they're walking down the halls of the Beit Midrash, and they're like I'll never have anything to do with that guy because he's in that shit. One day I want to do an exercise in the yeshiva on Shabbos. One day I'm going to have the courage to do this. Everyone's going to sit down in their place, and I'm going to say, "Rabbi, say, everyone stand up." And I'm going to say, 'You're not allowed to sit next to the people that were at your table.'

31:52 Go discombobulate yourselves. Everyone, go find a new seat. And on the day that I do that, it's going to be an amazing day because you're going to find out that the people that you're not sitting next to are unbelievable, awesome people. That you just didn't have the opportunity to meet because you stood there so judgmental, going, 'No, I'm that guy.' And some of you are looking down your noses and going, 'No, I'm a top shear guy,' and he's not in the top shear. And others are doing the same exact thing, but they're going, 'No, I'm a bottom shear guy. I'm a lo ha yechel l'klum. I could never be with those guys.' There's a boy in this yeshiva, and I'm not going to say his name, but you should know. I really want to. But I would have had to ask Rishos, and I'm confident he wouldn't have given me Rishos. Is a guy in this yeshiva that his reputation His reputation, and it's true His reputation is that to him Top shear, middle shear, bottom shear, struggling, not struggling, he's just a guy. And even though he himself is considered a guy, he's steigen, he's in the base, he's learning, he's doing everything. He's a malmidos, he's like the complete package. They say that he's godless. It's not that he's any of those things.

33:01 But when he's with a guy who's different than him, it doesn't even occur to him that the guy is different than him. When I grow up one day, I want to be like that guy, and I'm telling you, I'm dying to say his name. But there's no way he would have given me rishus And probably some of you can guess who it is. I aspire to be like that guy. I want to be grown up like him. And you know, I'm so. I'm so. Like looking forward to meeting the woman that he marries, and I'm looking forward to seeing the children that he has Because those kids are going to be raised in a home of a person who looks at other Jews and says But he's my brother. He's my brother. I'm going to tell you a secret. I know this guy's parents. And I know his grandparents.

33:50 And it's not surprising to me that he's this way at all. Because his grandparents are like that and his parents are like that, it's a family that just sees good in other people. That's his family. It's not shocking to me that he came to yeshiva like that. And for those of you that are walking around being derish lagnay, I want you to know my heart goes out to you. I'm sorry that you don't have that voice inside of you to raise other people up. That you're looking for that one extra word to say something not so nice. I know you're in pain. I know you're in pain. My heart goes out to you. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. You didn't have those special people, and I bless you that you find them. But I also want to bless our community, that we should be the agents of change that we seek to see in this world.

34:44 That we stop dividing ourselves up. Just yidden, and this yid is in this yeshiva, and that yid is in that yeshiva, and Baruch Hashem that they have a yeshiva that's good for them. And Baruch Hashem that they have a yeshiva that's designed to service them in the best way that they could come close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So if we want to change the system, Rabbi say, let's look at the stories we're telling ourselves And let's take it upon ourselves within this yeshiva to become the beginning of that change. That if you see a guy who is not waking up for shachris. Just say that's my brother, and he's not waking up for shacharis, and I wonder if he needs help. And if you see a guy that's struggling in seder That's your brother that's struggling in seder. And if you see a guy that's struggling with lashon hara, that's your brother that's struggling with lashon hara. And if you see a guy that's doing awesome, celebrate it. Look how awesome my brother is doing.

35:40 My brother chose to stay in for mishmar on a Thursday night. My brother chose to make it to shacharis. My brother chose to learn an hour of no batala. That's your brother. That's a Mevs guy. Mevs is not chicken and waffles. It's not Mevs burgers. That's just a thing that we say to allow ourselves to be real, because we know that in a space like this, you can be whoever you want to be. Knowing that nobody is behind you looking askance at you. And blessed Hashem, if we start telling these stories, we're going to be the ones that bring Mashiach, because Mashiach is waiting for a generation that sees the nikkudatayve in people. Mashiach is waiting for the generation that, no matter what's going on, no matter what mabul is coming down into the world. He's looking and he's saying, "Yeah, but that guy is unbelievable."

36:32 That's what Mashiach is. Mashiach is somebody who sees the positive in every single Jew. That's what Aaron Akayin was. Aaron Akayin saw the positive in every single Jew, and that's how he created change. Look at the Rambam in Perkei Avos, he describes at length the process of Aranakay. That when he saw a yid behaving local kach tov He said, "You should know, you're a tremendous person." The person started acting differently because he had a rebbe that saw him that way. That's our responsibility as rebbeim, and it's your responsibility to your friends. Bez Hashem Bez Hashem, the world is moving in this direction of people that are just looking for goodness in other people. But we have to pour gasoline on that fire. And if we do, it's going to be a very, very special thing. It's going to be a very special year for us. But the danger is also that there are people that are darsham asolagnai, and we have to be aware of that too.

37:24 And if you're a person who's looking at the world in a negative way If you think that cynicism is truth Then I bless you that you have the opportunity to come to a rebbe in this yeshiva. I need some work because lohaye nechshav l'klum. I feel about myself like I'm a nothing, and I don't want to live that way anymore. Bez Hashem, we're going to do good. We're going to do more than good. We're going to do unbelievable. We're going to see ourselves for the good, and we're going to see everybody else for the good.