Parshas Beshalach - Do you dwell on the land or live in the sea?

2:35 If you look around at the human race All people that live on the land are trying to deny the fact that they are sustained by the land. If you think about it, for example When we go shopping, we don't think of the fruits that we're taking from the stand as anything that grew in the ground. Isn't that correct? We don't think of it like that. When we go into our buildings, when we go into our homes, you go into a building, you go up an elevator. The land is not what sustains you. I built this. Personally, I don't know if you know me that well. I'm a carnivore. It means I eat meat. I eat a tremendous amount of meat. But I'm excited by a burger that I have not yet tasted, but I hope to taste very soon. It's called the Impossible Burger. Have you heard of the Impossible Burger? The Impossible Burger—they've spent over a billion dollars developing. What did they do? It just sounds delicious. What did they do? They took every single molecule that exists in meat and they separated them. This molecule is this, and they tried to identify what is the molecule that gives meat its meaty taste.

4:07 Turns out the molecule that gives meat a meaty taste is called heme, H-E-M-E, Like hemoglobin, heme. And they've now reverse engineered a burger that's totally made not from a cow. It's made of different chemicals and different plants, And they've made a vegetarian burger that supposedly tastes exactly like a regular burger. And it's amazing because obviously it's going to be much easier to produce, And you don't have to kill all those cows, Which means you don't have to breed all those cows. I'm really excited for this. Could you imagine? I can eat burgers as much as I want and they'll be healthy for me. I don't have to worry about any of it. But what it really is, if you think deeply about it, is it's detached. The land gives me sustenance. I can develop the sustenance in a lab. You think I'm bound by gravity? No, I mean, like, I guess that's not the point. Yeah, but I think the whole idea is that we're going to go to the moon. We're going to send a probe to Mars. Trump is making a space force, right? Everything about human existence on land is about leaving the land.

5:11 You've ever noticed that? I'll give you another one. This is a simple one. Clothing. Clothing. Why do we wear clothing? It's to protect us from the elements of the world. The elements of the world cannot dominate us. We dominate the elements of the world. Do you understand? Everyone today is talking about global warming. Do you believe in global warming? You should believe in global warming because it's a scientific fact. You shouldn't; it's just a hoax by different companies. Why are we discussing it so much? Because we don't want to be bound by this world. It's very different than the life of a fish. It's very different than the life of a fish. Why? Because a fish is subsumed. You know what subsumed means? It's totally submerged within water. A fish, the last thing it wants to do is leave. What does the fish intuitively know? As soon as I leave, I'm dead. The water isn't just this thing I'm trying to escape from. The water is my life. I know that when I leave the water, that's when I'm dead. So the job of the fish is to stay in the water.

6:23 Very different than us. All we're trying to do is leave our environment. What is a fish trying to do? A fish is trying to stay within its environment. I'm going to tell you a fascinating halacha. Something that we lose very often in Yiddishkeit because we weren't taught it as children is that all halacha reflects the reality of the Torah. So I'll tell you a halacha. Girls, the halacha is if you go to mikvah, you're not allowed to have any chatzitza. Any separation on your body. You have to be totally submerged within the water. So even like extra skin. You wipe off the extra skin. We're very careful. If a person goes to mikvah, there can be no chazitzah. What's the halacha if you went to mikvah and you found a fish skin on you? Is that considered a chazitzah? It's not considered a chazitzah. Why? Because the fish is not just subsumed, submerged within the water. The water is its life, and because the fish understands that the water is its life. We don't halachically categorize the fish as separate from the water.

7:28 So you could go to mikvah. If you go to mikvah and you have some extra skin on you, it could be you weren't yotzei. If you go to mikvah and you have a fish skin on you, you're totally yotzei. Why? Because the fish is identified with the water. There's a concept in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I don't know if any of you girls are familiar with the 12 steps. There's a concept in the 12 steps called "I am insane." It's a concept in the 12 steps. An addict is an insane person, and they have to talk about their insanity. Why? Because if you think about it, what an addict does is insane. Let's chart out the course of an addict. Addict starts off when they're young.

8:15 Having a couple of drinks because it makes them feel good. They don't have to worry about the pain. They get older. They're married with children. The pressures of a job. What starts to happen? They learned when they were younger. What takes the edge off? Just a couple of shots. So what do they start doing? Just a couple of shots at the end of the week. Just a couple of shots on Shabbos. Just a couple of shots in the morning so that I can get through the day. I had a bad meeting with my boss. I had an argument with my wife. One of my kids is driving me crazy. And what keeps happening? The alcohol starts to increase. Maybe you know this story. It goes something like this. Now the guy he joins the Kiddush club in shul. So during the Rav's drasha, he goes out and he gets hammered. And with his wife and his kids in shul on Shabbos, what does he do? He stumbles in a drunken stupor into the middle of the main sanctuary where everyone's davening quietly in the middle of the musaf. And he starts to yell and scream in his drunken rage. You guys don't have respect for me, and he starts acting like an animal. His kids, his wife

9:18 Their reaction is mortified. The rabbi, everyone in the shul is upset for him. A friend comes, puts his arm around his shoulder, And takes him out. His wife insists that they go to therapy. I can't deal with you. You've become an alcoholic. Alcoholic. I could stop any time I want. What are you talking about? I had one bad episode. Have you ever seen me be like that before? I've never been like that before. What are you talking about? Alcoholic. Don't you start labeling me. And do you understand the pressures that I live with? And he starts listing off all the pressures that he lives with. But He is an alcoholic. He's crossed over. He's not just abusing alcohol anymore. He's become a full-fledged alcoholic and he denies that he's bringing his family pain. Big deal. It was just one time. The drinking continues. The drinking continues, and now all of a sudden he starts getting drunk at night and he doesn't wake up to go to work in the morning. So his wife doesn't want to lose her house, so she starts calling in sick. She starts calling in sick because they don't want to lose their house. If she doesn't call in sick and he doesn't show up, his boss is going to fire him. But after a certain amount of time, the boss catches on. He calls him in and he says, "Listen, you're past your sick days."

10:19 You're past your vacation days. If you don't start coming, you're going to be fired. "I'm so sorry. I got it together. Don't worry about it." His boss says to him, "What? You're an alcoholic. You got to get some help." "I'm not an alcoholic. You're going to see. I'm going to do better." And for two weeks he does. But then what happens? One of his kids says something they shouldn't say. He goes on a bender. He doesn't come to work for three days. His boss calls him up, leaves a message. He wakes up barely conscious on the couch, hearing his boss leave a message on the phone saying, "You're fired. Just don't bother coming into work anymore." We'll send the stuff home to your house. Now he's lost his job. His wife says to him, 'You're an alcoholic. You lost your job.' Those people—they never appreciated me. I gave them everything. He's this whole thing, but it's not his fault. I'm not an alcoholic. These people never appreciated me. Now he's home. His kids walk by him in the morning in disgust. There's Abba, there's Tati. There's Daddy in a drunken stupor on the couch. Disgusted by him. It's embarrassing. They go to school and when they get on the bus, they already have this feeling of being judged, of being looked down upon. This is a very common problem in many cases.

11:21 Ugh. And how's he treating his wife? She can't stand watching him drink. She can't stand it. And at night he's never home. He's going out to the bar. He's doing inappropriate things. His wife finds out about it. Finally, she picks up and leaves. We're going to my mother's house. I want a divorce. I'm out. What does he say? She never appreciated me. She never cared about me. She never loved me. Do you know how much I did? Do you know how much I sacrificed for those kids? Ingrates, ungrateful. I don't have a problem. I drank because I had to. I couldn't deal with them, Right? I couldn't deal with them. Now he's alone in his apartment. His wife's left. He has no kids. He has no job. He has no shul. It's uncomfortable for him to be in public. At some point, the mortgage starts coming due. The rent starts coming due. He's evicted from his house. He starts living in his car.

12:08 Eventually, he has to sell his car because he can't afford to buy booze anymore. And eventually, he finds himself. This is a common story, girls. There's over 70,000 alcohol deaths a year. Eventually, he finds himself living under a bridge, covered in newspapers, huddled in whatever rags he has left for warmth. This is a man who one time had it all together. Why? Until he admits that he is insane, he will never be able to recover. Why? Because when you're insane, this is what you do: you do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. The alcoholic is not capable of looking at himself and saying, "I am the problem." It's nobody else. It's not the rav of my shul. It's not my job. It's not my wife. It's not my kids. I am the problem. Until you're capable of saying, "I am insane."

13:05 The way that I behave is insane, and I am not capable of making healthy and appropriate decisions because my brain tells me ridiculous things because I'm an addict, can't get better. A fundamental step in recognizing that you're an alcoholic is recognizing you're insane. Recognizing your insanity is a critical step in the program. I have a question: Is there anybody in this room that thinks that they're sane? Anybody in this room that thinks that they're sane? I think I'm sane. Anybody else think you're sane? How many people believe? Just again, think about it. I know it's going to sound crazy at first. How many people are thinking about the fact that without God they're dead? Without God they're dead. How many of us are thinking that? On a constant basis, the fish in water always knows it's in water. If it leaves the water, it's going to die. How many of us do averes? Maybe even often.

14:08 Isn't that a crazy thing? Isn't that an insane thing? Do you realize how insane it is to do an avera? By the way, I think it's normal. I'm just saying it's insane. It's normal we all do it, But it's insane if you think about it, right? Hakadosh Baruch Hu puts you in this world. He gives you life. He tells you this is your mission for today. What's our attitude? What's our world view? God's not sustaining me. I do whatever I want. I could do whatever I want, and that's why Chazal say Ein Adam Chote Ela Mke Nifnas Baruah Shdos. The only reason you do an avera is if an insanity came into your head. You realize Chazal talk about avera. Chazal don't talk about avera as immoral. They say it's insane to do an avera. Why is it insane? Because there is a God. Your whole existence is dependent on him. And what do we do? Whatever we want. Now think about it. Anybody here think that they're sane?

14:59 Nobody thinks they're sane. It's not possible to think you're sane. You never did an avera. Isn't an avera insane? Why would we ever do an avera? Is it logical to? Let's say again. If you don't believe in God, then fine. But if you believe in God, Tell me why you would ever do an avera. I would love to hear a good reason. It felt good. You know what a fish would never do? A fish would never go. Feels really good for me not to be in water. You know why? Because a fish is smart enough to know that my life is being submerged within this water. We are insane. Being a land dweller is insane. Do you realize that?

15:38 Everything we do. Guys, question: Why do we go to Mars? Why are we trying to go to Mars? Anybody have any idea why we're trying to go to Mars? You know we're trying to go to Mars. Do you know we're trying to go to Mars? Do you know how many billions of dollars are being poured into the space program? You could argue that it's good to have the space program because it's good to have technological advancement and things like Velcro and the microwave were invented in the 19th century. Yeah, but I think the main point is that, you know, there's a lot of people who don't even know we're trying to go to Mars. You could argue that, but does anybody here have any clue why we're trying to go to Mars? Yeah? Okay. So I love this one. This is my favorite one. We're going to Mars because one day maybe we need to colonize it. It might be a better use of our resources. Maybe, just maybe, if you took those billions of dollars into making sure we don't destroy what we have. Maybe. Is that just me? Is that crazy? I don't think it's so crazy. Anybody else want to tell me why we're going to Mars?

16:36 Yeah. I love that one. This world is overpopulated. I went to the Negev. There's like nobody there. There's plenty of room. The truth of the matter is, it's fine. So we're going to Mars because we're going to overpopulate the world. We have to figure out another place to go. Does Mars seem again? I don't know if you know much science. Does it seem like a good place? No sun. Doesn't seem like a great place. Maybe we could figure out technologically how to get it there. Anybody else want to tell me why we're going to Mars? I'll give you a better one. Tell me why we went to the moon. Make it easier. Just to see what's there. Just to see. I love that. That is like the most male answer in the world. Like women would never do that. Women be like, I don't really need to see what's going on there. Men like, no, I got to see. I got to check it out, and I'm gonna bring my car so I could drive around. If you think about it, It's the most masculine thing in the world. I'm gonna spend billions of dollars, Strap these huge rocket boosters onto a machine, And shoot myself into space. Why? So that I could step on it

17:42 Plant a flag, I win, beat Russia up there. It was like a thing in the 60s. If you went and you got there first, you were the more dominant nation. It used to be. I always thought about it. Whoever had more nuclear weapons won. We won the space race. Why were we going to the moon? Man's insatiable desire. Right? You ever notice they never call it woman. It's man's insatiable desire. It's not woman's insatiable desire to conquer the world. They don't say that because women are smart enough to know this is really stupid. It's man's insatiable desire to conquer. What are you trying to conquer? It's insane. It's insane. There's really not a reason for it. It's really not a reason, and it's certainly not worth billions of dollars. By the way, that's why politicians. And I'm not saying this is the right argument either. But that's why politicians like to go.

18:31 Why are we pouring billions of dollars into NASA? Why not pour those billions of dollars into education? Why is that? Why do politicians love to say that? Because most parents are smart enough. If you're asking what I want, I want my kids to have a better public school education. I want them to have more Friday Night Light football. I want to have more Homecoming queens. Whatever they want out there. And they want those billions of dollars going to their children. They're not interested in sending their children up to the moon. It doesn't make any sense. I'll give you another one. How many millions of billions of dollars are spent on military spending by America? What is going to happen at this point? Do you realize how powerful America is? Take a year off. Don't develop new military technology for a year. Let's see if we could just not kill anybody for a year. And even if we need to kill somebody, let's just assume that our technology is good enough. How many billions of dollars could you put back into making America a better place? But we have this attitude. The world. I protect myself. Who are you protecting yourself from? I understand Trump thinks that there's a whole chevra coming from Mexico.

19:53 Those banditos that are going to take over America. America is lying. Lying. I'm really concerned about illegal immigrants. They all work for our families, Right? I'm saying, I come from the Five Towns. I've met these people before, right? They're waiting at the train stop. That's exactly right. That's why I used to walk by every day. See, Senor, it's insane. It's insane. We're so busy doing insane things, but yet, whenever we talk to people, 'Are you insane?' They go, 'No, I'm not insane. I'm totally normal.' I'll make this a little bit more subtle and a little bit more sophisticated. I hope none of you get offended by what I'm about to say. But if I do offend you, let me know so I can do it again. How many girls here have ever done something, not once, not twice, not ten times, not a hundred times, but probably thousands of times in their life, and they go, "I think it's important to keep the original language and structure." I'll give you an example. If you've ever dieted, you are an insane person. You know how I know? Because how many times have you dieted? Do you know how many times I dieted? I don't dieting. People say dieting is a fad. Dieting is not a fad. Dieting is a lifestyle for me. I see how thin I could get.

21:10 And then I see how fat I could get, And then I see how thin I could get, and I see how fat I could get. Do you realize how insane that is? Somebody comes to me and they say, "Listen, You're going to die of heart disease. You're not. You're going to die of heart disease if you keep behaving the way you're behaving. If you don't exercise and you keep eating cake. " Right, and if you believe—and I don't know how many of you believe this—but I believe this. But I'm recognizing I'm insane. But I believe this. I believe nine by thirteen is a serving size. I know. I'm looking at you. I know right now. Some of you girls are going, it is a serving size. If you believe that pizza is meant to be eaten by the pie, if you believe that chips Ahoy are meant to be eaten by the sleeve.

21:57 Do you know when I was in high school? In high school I used to exercise a lot, so I wasn't fat in high school. And I became a yeshiva guy, and all of a sudden I was like, 'Oh, you mean if I just sit all day, it'll all just pile on, right?' Insane. Do you know when I was in high school? You can ask. Echanam Baka was one of my closest friends in high school. Every day in the summer, I went to camp, walked across the street to the bodega, and I bought a box of Entenmann donuts. That was breakfast. That's insane. If you put a box of Entenmann's donuts inside of you every single day, What's going to happen? You're you're going to get sick. You're going to get sick, and yet people do it all the time. How many people have heard of people who get these gastro surgeries, Right? And then they're told you're not allowed to drink, You're not allowed to smoke, You're not allowed to eat meat. You, and what do you see them doing? So I'm like, I've like lowered my meat. I'm only smoking a little. I only drink on weekends. You crazy! You just had a major surgery.

22:53 People are nuts. We don't live with the reality. It's a very interesting thing. What was Moshe Abenu's Jewish name? Tovia. Moshe Abenu's name was Tovia. His mother named him Tovia. Moshe Rabbeinu is not called Tovia. Nowhere in the Torah we call him Moshe. Why? What does the pasuk say? Ki minhamayim mi shisihu. He was drawn from where, From the water. What does that tell you about the consciousness of Moshe Rabbeinu? What makes Moshe Rabbeinu different than every person in this room? We're all insane. We all run around in our lives thinking that we are in control. We are in control of nothing. God is in control of everything. But how many things do people do in their life because they say, "No, what do you mean? I gotta control it. Here's my favorite word." This is my favorite word in all of Judaism. Ready for this? Everybody in this room knows this word. Here we go. Ready for it? Here comes. But I have to do my hishdablos. We are all so frum when it comes to hishdablos.

23:58 It's like when guys complain, I don't believe in derabbanans, except for Purim. But I don't believe in derabbanans. Everybody knows. I have to do my hishdablos. Tell me why you have to do your hishdablos. I think you do. I agree with you. I'm not saying you don't. But tell me why. Why are we so big? Here's what it sounds like. You ready? Here's what it sounds like. I know that on Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur, Hashem gives me everything that I'm going to have for the entire year. But you know, I still have to do my hestadlus. Why? Do you know the only reason you have to do hestadlus? The only reason you have to do hestadlus is because God says I need to be hidden in this world. I'm asking you to do hestadlus so I could remain hidden in this world. Most people, including myself, I'm not better than anybody here. Most people, why do they have to do their hestalas? Because otherwise, I'm going to starve. God will not provide for me. In fact, here's what we really believe: God is not capable of providing for me. How do I know? Because I spend all my time anxious about how He's going to provide for me.

24:58 But He said. Why but? And he set the world up that if you don't do your hestalas, you do starve. Yes and no. He set the world up in such a way that we have to do our shdalos because he's asked us to do our shdalos, and therefore we should be careful to do what he wants. But the anxiety that my family is going to starve—that God won't be able to provide—it's insane. Remember that God asked me to provide the kli. If I'm doing my best to create that kli, God, be'ezr Hashem, is going to help. And if he doesn't, I'm probably also not going to starve. It'll be okay. And yet, when you look at the world, People have this like hold, Like it's not going to be. It's not going to be. It's not going to be. What's going to happen? I lost my job. My whole life is going to fall apart. It's not. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I'm not saying it's going to be pleasant. But how many Jews do you know are starving? None. Why? Because lemaisa. What was that? Because why?

25:59 Because they're dead. How many do you know that before they died, died of starvation? I look around at seminaries all over the country. It doesn't seem to me anybody's dying of starvation. That's not a nice line. Why did I say that? I don't know. We get nervous because we are not water. We are not aquatic people. So we spend our life like land dwellers, trying to detach ourselves from our source, saying, "I am not reliant on anybody. I'm not reliant on anybody." You'll forgive me for saying what I'm about to say, but I need you to hear it at least once in your life. The most common conversation I'm having with girls today is, "I'm nervous. I'm not going to find the shirach." Why are you nervous? You're not going to find the shirach. How many people do you know that never get married?

26:55 Like a couple. But out of the thousands of people that you've seen in your life, in camps, in shuls, in schools. How many people do you know that just never got married? It's very rare. Chazal say before you were born, a baskal came out and said Ploni will marry Plonis. You have a bashert, you have a zivug. Hakadosh Baruch Hu came along and he said, I took care of it. I'm not saying it's going to be an easy process. I'm not saying it's going to be a pleasant process. I'm not saying there's not going to be pain because there's vulnerability. There's going to be pain. But what's with all the anxiety? What does the anxiety tell you, girls? If I don't find someone, it's never going to happen. It's not true. It will happen. Put yourself out there, but it will happen. The anxiety is a lack of emuna. Which is insane because God already said, "I've set it up for you." If somebody came along to you right now, I'm going to give you an easy one. If somebody came along to you right now and said, "This is the date that you are going to get married. This is the date"

27:56 September 8th, 2022. Would you have anxiety about marriage? You'd be fine. And if you were dating somebody and it didn't work out, you would go, "All right, doesn't matter, because I know I'm getting married on September 8 of 2022." Now, if it's August 8 of 2022, you know what you're going to be saying? This is going to be the coolest story ever. This is going to be, "I met him and I married him a week later." And you know it's going to be that way. Why? Because God Himself came down from the mountain and said to you. September 8, 2022. Girls, do you realize that Hakadosh Baruch Hu did that already? He just didn't tell us the date. But do you realize he did that already? All of this anxiety is really what? It's really just I need to control everything because I'm a land dweller. I'm a land dweller. By the way, you know we did that once. A couple of chaverim. A guy. This is a true story. A guy was about tshuva. His parents couldn't really afford anything.

28:53 The girl he dated and got engaged to was a geiras. She didn't really have anything to do with her family. How's he gonna get married? We made his wedding. Guys were the waiters. Guys, people chipped in, bought the food. We had the wedding in yeshiva. We got a chuppah from a gemach. We had the chasenstitch in one of the classrooms. All the guys from yeshiva came. It was awesome. I think there were guys that were like, we're good with cameras. They took pictures. And you know what? You can get married like that. You don't know. By the way, I'll tell you a true story. It's about me. There's a Gemara that says that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is making zivugim, making shaduchim, is kasha k'kriyas yamsof. My Rebbe Shlita, Riv Parnas, was giving shir and he quoted this Gemara. So I always used to bother my Rebbe whenever any agadah came up. I would say, Rebbe, what does that mean? Tell us the depth of it. My rabbi says, I don't understand, Mordechai. You don't understand the Gemara. You don't understand that a shiduch is a miracle. You don't understand. And I was already married in color at the time. He goes, You don't understand that your marriage is a miracle.

30:08 That was the rip. He was like, You don't understand that the fact that somebody who married you is miraculous. I was like, I'm never going to talk again. But you know, it already it's already set in motion. But we're insane. Why is Moshe Rabbeinu different than all of us? Because Moshe Rabenu, He understands how Kadosh Baruch Hu is the source, and he lives like that. The Zohar says that when Moshe Rabenu spoke, the Shechina was medaberes mitoch grono. What does that mean? It means the Shechina came out of his essence. It means when he spoke, God's voice came out. The words that he said were, by definition, God's words. Why? Because his whole essence, his whole being, was tied up in godliness. Do you know what your life would look like? If your life was totally tied up in godliness, if you were aquatic, you know what your life would look like. I'll give you a couple examples. Things that I've heard from girls from Sharfman's this year.

31:06 But how do I know who I am? How many people have said that before in their life? I just don't know if I know who I am. We don't know who we are because we're detached from our source. If we were aquatic, we would know exactly who we were. How do I know what decision to make? I have two choices in front of me. How would I know? It's because we're land dwellers that we're cut off from an intuition of what's the right decision. I want to teach you something. This is a very big thing. Do you know that there's actually a really easy way of making decisions in your life? It's really easy. It goes like this. Make the decision and see how it feels. You ever have that? You ever have a decision where you're like, I got two things in front of me. I decided I'm going A and then you're like, I am really unhappy about this decision. And then you go, maybe I should switch to B and all of a sudden, all the anxiety goes away. You ever have that? What do you do in that situation? Intuition is a teacher. But why don't we? People say, I just don't know what to do.

32:12 I just don't know what to do. Why do we have that anxiety? It's because we're cut off from our source. Be open to your, be open to godliness in your life. You will hear that voice, that godly intuition, come up within you, like the shchina medaberes mitalkrano. Your choices will be natural and obvious, and all of that anxiety floats away. I'll tell you one last one. How many times have we done something that the next day we really regretted? You ever have that? You do something and you wake up the next day and you're like, I'm gonna pay for that. I'm really gonna pay for that. And then the bad thing comes, because you know it's coming. I did that thing. I didn't want that person to find out. I know for sure she's gonna find out. The next day I woke up to WhatsApp. She'd found out.

33:04 Ugh. You have to deal with that. What are we really saying? Why did you make that decision to begin with? It's because we were cut off. It's because we weren't aquatic. Do you realize that if you were in a state of connection, you could not make bad choices. You couldn't do it. It wouldn't be possible. Just like a fish is not capable of drowning itself. It's not capable of drowning itself because it lives with life. Since it lives with life, it lives. When does it die? When it's done. When does a person die? When they're texting while they're driving. Because that's the dumbest, insane thing to do. Do you know? It's a true story. A kid, Jewish kid, was driving 60 miles an hour and he was texting. And he didn't realize there was a car at a red light. Killed the elderly lady that was in the car. Terrible tragedy.

34:02 And yet, everybody in this room will hear that story, and 95% of you will still text while you drive. Remember in Driver's Ed, do they still do that thing in Driver's Ed where they show you that video designed to make you never drive again? I remember watching that video. Just car crash after decapitated person, broken legs, blood everywhere. Then they're like, 'Okay, Driver's Ed, let's start.' I'm like, 'This is gonna be awesome.' It's crazy. You just saw a video of people dying. What do you do? I'm gonna check out how fast this car goes. That's crazy. Girls, you're all awesome. Do not put on makeup while you drive. It's one of my favorite things in the world when I'm driving and I see a woman who's got the visor down and doing this while she drives. That cannot be smart. Again, I've never done it. I've never tried it. Maybe I'll try it on the way home tonight. I won't actually put on makeup.

35:01 But you look crazy. You look crazy. You know you look crazy. That's an insane thing to do. Because we're cut off, only a person who lives outside of the life source that they come from would do something that could endanger their life or the life of another. It doesn't make any sense. Moshe Rabbeinu says, every word that came out of his mouth was calculated, precise, and perfect. You understand? So why was his name Moshe and not Tovia? Tovia was a very Jewish name. Moshe captured his essence. He was aquatic in his nature. Menasha and Ephraim get a bracha, Hamalach Hagadol, right? Ve'yidgu l'arov bekerev haaretz. What does Ve'yidgu l'arov bekerev haaretz mean? She called it. You called that I was going to say. That's pretty good. You knew this word from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, or you're just that smart. Now you don't know what to say.

36:06 I'm humble. You're humble. That's what Moshe Abinu said. He said, 'He's one of mekoladim.' That's what I say too. I'm the most humble. More humble than him. What does it mean, the yidgul arov, to swim like a fish? Multiply like fish, Beker of ha'aretz in the midst of the land. That's a strange bracha. You ever think we all did? People, girls, you know how many times you've sang that song, like in a kumsit, the yidgul arov, Beker of ha'aretz, and you had no idea what you were saying. I'll tell you a story. This is a true story. 22 years ago. A young man in a yeshiva. He was the tish rebbe in his yeshiva. He was a young boy. He was eighteen years old. And every Thursday night in his yeshiva

36:48 They would have a tish, and this, and they would appoint somebody to be the rebbe, and he would be the rebbe, and he would lead them in songs. So this guy was like a star guy who was in yeshiva. He wanted to prove a point, so he got up in front of the whole yeshiva and said, "Chevra, I want to teach you a new niggun tonight, new words." Ya des ketana chazi mechal Ya des gedayla mechamale Oh Ya des ketana chazi mechal Ya des gedayla mechamale And all the guys in yeshiva said this song is awesome and the whole yeshiva together Oh Ya des ketana chazi mechal Guys are like crying and shouting Ya des gedayla mechamale And then he got up and he goes guys Do you know what the words of the song mean I want to tell you because they're so beautiful The small handle is half a flush.

37:34 And the big handle is a full flush. Because in toilets all around Israel You see yadis ketana chatsi mechal yadis kedoyla mechal male. Say it, all these Yeshiva guys. A Yadis Ketana Chatsi Mechal. It's a true story. You can't make this stuff up. So we've been singing our whole lives, "V'yidgul arayv" With the passion of the people and with such feeling. And see, that's why Havdalah, "V'yidgul arayv bekeref ha'aretz." Whatever niggin you're using to multiply like fish in the midst of the land, Not so inspiring now. What in the world does that mean? So now I want to spend the last 15 minutes teaching you something very deep. L'maisa we live on the land. But there is an avoda. Okay, let's see. The avoda in the text is as follows. It's not so bad that we live on the land, and I want to tell you why. Because even though I'm telling you that to live on the land and to be a land dweller is insane, it's also really important, and I'll explain why.

38:52 Le'maisa, every one of us is different. It's important that we be distinct. See, it's not okay to detach. But it is important to be distinct. It's important to be different. It's important to be you. Being on the land means you're you. You have a distinct personality. The problem is that because we have a distinct personality, what do we do? We say, 'I have a distinct personality. Nobody controls me. I control everything.' That's where we make the mistake. What do we want to be? We want to be like fish. We need to be aquatic. But we don't want to lose our individual personality. We don't want to lose our ego in a healthy way. The problem is when our ego, when we only live on the land, our ego is out of control. I control everything. But when we go back to the sea, we lose our ego, and that's not okay either. It's not okay to forget that you are distinct, special, that there's something unique about you. And people sometimes who are totally aquatic, if they don't have that land element, they lose themselves.

39:57 And it's very unhealthy. I ever tell you about the time that my shkiach caught me trying to be a tzaddik? The one when you were walking in the window? When you're too aquatic, when you don't have an element of dry land, what happens to you? You lose yourself. Girls. Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not make junk, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not make copies. There is nobody in the world that could do what you are designed and destined to do, except for you. And it's insane to think anything else. When you wake up every single morning, what do we say? Moad ani lefanecha, Melechay v'kayem shechazartam in eshmasi b'chemla, Raba emunosacha. Great is God's faith in us. Today I created you, and I have faith in you. Even though yesterday you may have messed up. I have faith in you that today is going to be the best day of your life. That today you're going to lead a life that specifically fits my godly mission that I created you for. Isn't that an incredible thing to say every morning? And what do we do after we say Modani? But Hestadlus. I got to go out and do Hestadlus. Which is not to say that you don't, but it shouldn't be coming from this anxiety. You are special, unique. You're designed. Don't lose that.

41:22 But it has to be within the context of God. I'll tell you why. 1996. I know that seems like forever ago. 1996. Were you even born in 1996? No. That's amazing. 1996. Chris Farley was big. Life was good in the nineties. 1996. I was 16 years old. And Skechers and Vans had just come out. Girls, know what Skechers and Vans are? Today, everyone wears them. But back then, it meant well, not everybody. Vans are Nazi. Bizarre there. Back then, if you wore Skechers and Vans to school, it meant you were a stoner. It was like Seattle culture. It was that grunge popular culture. I remember being 16 years old and debating with myself whether I was cool enough to pull it off because I wasn't a stoner but I wanted people to think I was. You know what I'm saying? You know those people. I wanted, I really wanted that I should. So I never actually went ahead and bought Skechers or Vans but I wore. I'm embarrassed to say this.

42:35 It's embarrassing because we looked so stupid. Have you ever seen pictures of people in the 90s where the jeans, there were these monster jeans. Today everything is like painted on a person, but it used to be that there was like the jeans were huge. So I had those huge jeans, and I remember even how I used to have hair. In the words of George Costanza, these are the remnants of a once great nation of hair. I used to have hair, and the coolest thing at the time was to part your hair in the middle, and pull your yarmulke like this, and all the hair would be sticking out the back. And you had these fangs coming off the side of your head. I just recently saw a picture of myself from high school. I was like, oh my god, I was an idiot. But at the time, I thought I was so cool. Here's the thing: every other person was doing the same exact thing because we weren't unique. We kept saying, "No, I'm expressing my individual individuality." We were expressing our individuality the same exact way as every other person was expressing their individuality. Do you realize how stupid that is? It's like when people say, and I love this: "Shouldn't have uniforms because children should be allowed to express their individuality."

43:42 I agree. But if your individuality is being expressed through clothing, there's something off. By the way, it doesn't matter if you wear black and white either, Because you know Yeshiva guys—they're going to figure out anyway. My belt buckle is what makes me an individual. The belt buckle on my shoe is what makes me an individual. My ties, my sweaters—by the way, Pretty good, What's the pshat? Your clothing is not what makes you an individual. You are an individual. And by the way, we should learn to respect people's individuality. We should learn to respect the creativity of every one of ourselves. And when do we try to fit in with everybody else? When we're not living with a connection to God. Here's the thing: when you live with a connection to God, then you realize I have a talent that I'm supposed to give to the world. How do I know? Because God gave me that talent.

44:31 So the bracha to Ephraim and Menashe is an amazing bracha. The Yidgul Arav, I want you to be like fish, deeply connected to their source. But bekeret va'aret. I want you to use the talents that make you distinct, an individual, unique, designed for something great in your life. Girls, do you hear this? It's an unbelievable art. When you're singing it, you can actually sing it with passion and really understand what you're saying. Is the ultimate gift to be connected and to be unique at the same time. Where do you say be connected? Be like a fish connected to a source. But be unique and distinct because that's exactly what God gave you. Last thing. Like this shiur that I'm giving you right now. Everything I'm teaching you comes from the Labavitcher Rebbe. But I'm pretty sure if the Labavitcher Rebbe was sitting right here, which he can't because he's dead, I just want to have that on record.

45:27 But if he were sitting and giving the shiur right now, would he say it like me? If you go online and go on YouTube and type in Labavitcher Rebbe, you'll see how the Rebbe would have said it. Now I could sit here and pretend to be some tzaddik that I'm not. Don't you see the beauty of being? But I wouldn't be me, right? If I don't tell you that I was trying to be cool in the '90s, it's not going to be me. What gives a person the courage to be able to say their ideas, their foolishness, to be able to say it in their own way? It's because they believe God gave them a talent, and I'm meant to use that talent to give you this sheer here right now. What is being connected to source N?

46:05 See, if I wasn't connected to the source, if I wasn't connected to God—and by the way, I'm not. I'm just pretending to be for the purpose of this conversation. If I wasn't connected to my source, then I'd be much more worried with what you thought about me, and the sheir wouldn't be necessarily authentic. It wouldn't even be what's right for you. It would just be the way I want everybody in this room to think about me right now. So it wouldn't be my unique Torah. It would be whatever's going to get you to say, 'Oh, Berg is awesome.' You understand? Have the courage to put yourself out there, and some people are going to say that really sucks. Probably some people think that right now. I can tell. There are some girls that have their heads down. There are some girls that are talking. There are some girls that are not on their phones. We don't have phones. We put them all away before the class. Everybody knows that. I'm not saying. I'm just saying. If you know what I'm saying. The why unnecessary. But I know who likes it. I know who doesn't. I know who afterwards stays and talks and asks questions. If I'm sitting and trying to impress somebody, then I walk out of here and I go, 'All right, maybe like 70% of the girls cared what I had to say.'

47:07 So I got to figure out how to do better. I got to figure out how to get to 90%. Or maybe I don't have to figure out how to do better. Maybe I have to present what I think is the most authentic thing. And if not everybody likes it, that has to be okay also. Hear the difference? It has more authenticity. Put yourself out there. Be vulnerable. Be courageous. Be you, because God gave you a talent. And if people don't love that, find people that do. Make sense? So we'll finish up. It says, 'As Yasher.' What does 'As Yasher' mean? We're going to sing in the future. What does Rashi say? When? Tchiyas Amesim. We'll sing by Tchiyas Amesim. Why is there a reference to Tchiyas Amesim now? Because the Gemara in Sanhedrin says, and I'm quoting now: In the times of Mashiach, the land will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the water covers the sea. The land will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the water covers the sea, just like the fish in water. It is totally submerged and it knows that its life force is water. We're going to live on the land in the times of Mashiach, but the knowledge of God is going to be covering the world like water.

48:13 So what was Yitzias Mitzrayim? What's the great value of Yitzias Mitzrayim? Why do we say Az Yasher every day? That's a big deal. You say something every single day in davening. It means Chazal really wanted you to know it. Why do we say Az Yasher? Because Az Yasher is the following message. There was a time in our lives. There was a time in our history. When we went onto the land, but where were we? In the water. Go back to the original pasuk. What it says: We entered within the sea, Betochayam, by Abasha. Where were we? We were on dry land. So why do we need to talk about the sea? We weren't in the sea. We were on dry land.

48:44 What's the answer? We were living in Mashiach times. That's why it was tchiasa mesin. We were living in a time period. For that moment, as we were going through the mikvah, we had just been in mitrayim. Girls, what's the halach in the mikvah? If you have the skin on you, if they have the fish skin on you. Is there a chazitza there? No. Why? Because if you're submerged within water, you understand your life force. There, it's not a hefsek. There is no barrier. So when you're leaving Mitzrayim, what do you need to do? You need to walk through the mikvah. What was the mikvah? The mikvah was Kriyas Yam Suf. But it has to be the ultimate mikvah. You have to be submerged within the water. But what? You have to be walking on dry land. It's that combination of knowing you're unique because you're connected to God. People say all the time, 'I don't understand God's mitzvah. I'm doing the same mitzvah just like she's doing the mitzvah. I gave tzedakah, she gave tzedakah. It's not true. She gave tzedakah, you gave tzedakah, but you're giving tzedakah in totally unique ways because the way you give tzedakah is different than the way somebody else gives tzedakah.' Know that in order to be your unique self, in order to be your true self, in order to let go of your insanity, you have to be connected to the truth. You have to be connected to the source.