Parshas Vaeschanan - Hearing the Voice of God, Not the Echo

3:09 I don't want to spend my mornings sitting and learning Gemara. Memorizing what Abayah said, what Rava said, what Rashi said, what Taisu said, all in an effort to pass some test that I'm only really interested in getting enough information to pass so that I can move on. But to say that this is Kihem Chayenu Vaerech Amenu. I don't really feel that way. What do we respond to these young men because they have a fair taina? It's hard to show up passionate about something that's just the echo of what we heard thousands of years ago. How can we possibly respond to it? I think that a meaningful response to these people is to say as follows. Zekeili vaanvehu elokavi vaaromemenu. What does that mean? This is my God, and I will glorify Him. He is the God of my forefathers, and I will exalt Him. So the first thing we would say to such a person is: There is value in being part of a tradition.

4:21 Elokei avi vaaromemenu. God is exalted, God on high, because He is the God of your forefathers. There's something to that. But zekeli v'anehu. If you want it to be anvehu, if you want to glorify God And anvehu is really anivahu, if you want to have a personal relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if you want to say yes, God, it's me and it's you. Then it needs to be zekeli And it's not enough to say Elokei Avi. Elokei Avi means the God of my forefathers. V'aromemenu. That means God is exalted. God is on high. And we may be standing in awe of the majesty of God from that perspective. But to say that you have a personal relationship with God, it needs to be zekeli. If you want it to be anivahu, if you want to have an intimate relationship with God Then it needs to be personalized. It cannot just be the echo of what you heard from your parents and your grandparents and your great grandparents.

5:24 And how does one go about establishing? A personal relationship with God Because after all, I wasn't at Har Sinai. How do I make it real to me? How do I get that zakele feeling? For those that were there, I spoke a little bit about this on Tisha B'av, but I want to make it a little bit clearer now. You know, there is different types of shiurim. Different types of shirum in your life. You'll learn, God willing, by great Rasha Yeshiva And you'll see that there are different types of shirum. There's one type of shir Which is a rage shir. For those of you that don't know what that means It means that there are certain tiras that are out there in the world that everybody knows Like famous p'tais, a famous piece from Rav Chanan. Rivchayim by Ada Echad. Everybody has their shtickle tire that everybody knows. It's sort of like in the yeshiva world. That's what's given over. That's called a rage shear.

6:36 When you show up to a rage shear, it's amazing. You could come to a gemara and literally walk back hundreds and thousands of years through the messiah. Machlokes Rashi, Taisus, a Rambam and a Rashba. You could see a Chasam Seiver. You could see a tshuva from Rivkiva Eger. A ketsayas a nesiva sir of Chaim Maybe a recent piece from one of the Russian yeshivas that exists today So you could walk through thousands of years of history. Very special. That's begeder elokei Aviv aromemenu. That's your forefathers' Torah. It's exalted. There is another type of shear. Today, this shiur is much more rare. But we have lost something because this shiur is much more rare. We need more and more people that are teaching these types of shirim. It's the type of shir that my rebbe gave. For those of you that don't know, I had the unbelievable schuz in my life to be able to sit by Hagoi and Rav Yehuda Parnas Shlitah, who's now just turned 93 years old.

7:40 He was one of the great Rashi yeshiva of the last generation One of the foremost hamidim of Rassalavetsik, and Rav Gurelick and Rav Moshe Bik. Nel mio rebbe's shir. He rarely said over the regular, common, known Torah. I'll tell you what my Rebbe Sheir was like. First of all, it was merciless. Was merciless. You've heard those old stories from Rvsalavichik how he would roast people, like people would be shaking coming into Sheir. That's what it was like. My Rebbe would sit at his desk And then he would have half circles around the desk. So there was the first row, then the second row, the third row, the fourth row. And literally Depending on what you said My Rebbe would move you backwards or forwards in the Sheer. You understand how embarrassing it is to be told you need to move back a row. That's like today we would call that abuse.

8:38 Back then we called it chinuch. It's a different world. So my Rebbe would come to Sheer. I'll never forget this first day ever. That I went to my rebbe's sheir. There was a guy in the sheir. I can't say his name because he's pretty well known, and I'm sure that at least some of you know who this person is. He's very chashev harav today. He was the top guy in Sheir when I came. I was just a young pup. When you're young in the sheer, you're not really supposed to say anything. You have to know your place. This guy was a top guy. It's my first day ever. It's right after the summer. So my rebbe said, "Okay." Who wants to say over the machlokas between Rashi and the Rambam, whatever it was? Somebody said, "Rashi says this; the Rambam says this." In my year, we barely read the Gemara. My Rebbe used to joke around. Somebody had to read the Gemara quickly without translating it to be yotze the mitzvah of kriyah. That's what my Rebbe would say because he was only interested in the lamedus.

9:37 And then Rav Parnas would say, "Who wants to be mazber the machlokas? Who wants to analyze the machlokas? Who wants to give us the underpinnings of the machlokas?" So this guy raised his hand. It's my first day ever in Sheer, waiting to see how it goes. And he offered a suggestion. And I remember my Rebbe looked at him with—I wouldn't call it disgust. It was definitely high-level disappointment. And he looked at him. The guy was sitting right here. And he looks at him and he says, "I'm not going to say his first name." He goes, "I make up his first name, Shimon." Where were you this summer? What happened to you? What did you have—a lumdasha relapse? You forgot how to learn in the summer. You didn't spend any time learning in the summer, and he's just going after him. And I'm sitting in the back of the shir, going, "I am never going to open my mouth in this shir."

10:30 But this is awesome to watch. It's great entertainment. Over time I realized why my rebbe did that. Why Roshalavitchik did it. They weren't just repeating Torah. That was of very little interest to them. An intelligent person can pick up a sefer, read a sefer, and repeat. Today there is a sefer called Mesivta. Guys, are you familiar with this book? It's the book that a lot of rabbayim hide in the front seat of their car, that the talmidim shouldn't see it. It tells you everything. Tells you everything that's out there. It tells you everything that's out there and you know what the loss is. Where is the innovation in Tyra? Where is your where's your idea? What's your hezbara machlokas? I could look in a book to see what Rav Chanon said. I could look and see the creativity of Rav Chaim; it is astounding and amazing.

11:35 But you have a head on your shoulders. Where's your chiddush? Part of the reason we are lacking today in the zekeli. It's because we are so reticent to say what we have in the depth of our soul to contribute to this mesyira, as opposed to just being passive listeners. And it's not just in learning; it's in davening also. How many guys say, and rightfully, how many guys say, Rabbi, what do you want me to do? I want me to open up the words of the. You want to open up the siddur and just read the same words that everybody else is reading, the same words every day, day after day. You're right. You're right. If you have that complaint, you're right. It doesn't mean we throw out the sitter. There's value to loke aviv eromemenu. But if you're davening the same words day after day, and you're only saying your parents' words and your grandparents' words and your great grandparents' words But you're not looking inside yourself to find where your words are, then you're not davening.

12:36 You're just saying the words of a sitter. You know how you know who's. I shouldn't admit this. I shouldn't admit this. So I'm about to admit it. My favorite actor is Morgan Freeman. First of all How cool is Morgan Freeman's voice? How badly is Ways blowing it? Everybody in the world would use Ways if directions were given by Morgan Freeman instead of having whatever lady you know make a right. I want to hear Morgan Freeman like Shawshank Redemption. Morgan Freeman going make a right after the left. This is what I want. See, understand? I, Kol. I have very simple requests. Bring NCSY Kol into Israel, and Morgan Freeman on ways. Those are my two things. You know what's great? You know what's great about great actors. You don't feel like they're acting. Somebody else wrote the words, right? It's somebody else's script. Morgan Freeman doesn't write his own lines.

13:39 But when he says them, they belong to him. He's living the part. They have this in marriage therapy. That they sometimes need to teach couples how to communicate in a very basic way. So you know what they do? They give the couple a card. They give index cards, little cards, and they say, "Read from these cards." This is what it sounds like. It makes me feel fill in the blank. When you fill in the blank Now, when you're doing these exercises in couples counseling. It sounds very stilted at first. It makes me feel sad when you diminish my very existence with the painful words that you express. But over time, the point is that the cards are supposed to become ways of teaching you how to look inside yourself to find the truth you have and express it. This sitter is a great script. Written by some of the greatest prophets ever Passed down for generations and generations.

14:46 But if it's just a script, and you're reading that script and you're not accessing the point inside of yourself, then you're a terrible actor. Now that takes time, patience, commitment. It's a lot of work. Ian Tefila is a real thing. But don't turn around and say, "I feel so distant from Hakadosh Baruch Hu." If you're not investing in the Aniva Hu How could you say it's Zechalei? If you're not taking the time to find your own voice within this thing, it's just an echo. And it makes sense that when it's just an echo, it's not going to be particularly vibrant or meaningful. That's one dimension. No echo meant. Judaism has to become yours Not yours in the sense that you do what you want and you don't do whatever you don't want. It belongs to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the sense that there's a set of rules. You can't just do whatever you want.

15:48 But it has to be yours. It has to be with your creativity. I once heard a great vort. It was back in the early 2000s. It was one of these ridiculous sports debates where they always ask who's the greatest player ever. It's a ridiculous debate because you're talking about different generations and different styles. Michael Jordan was getting beaten up every time he went into the paint. If Kobe Bryant sneezed in the wrong direction, they called the foul on the team. The other team—you're talking about a whole different universe. But I want to turn a great thought. You know why Kobe Bryant wasn't as great as Michael Jordan? Because Kobe was trying to become Michael And Michael was playing against himself. There was innovation. Nobody played the game that way until Michael Jordan played the game that way. And Kobe played it like Michael. If you're just repeating the same Torah as your parents and your grandparents and great grandparents, you could be a great player that way, but you'll never be the greatest of all time.

16:45 There's a second part that goes along with this. It's the part of the Lebavitcher Rebbe's Echitzal Kavracha. The Rebbe said as follows. When you move into a brand new house Especially here in Eretz Yisrael, where the houses are made from poured concrete. Right before you move in You go and take a little tour of the house. It's very exciting. And so I remember when we moved to Eretz Yisrael, they were building my house House an apartment And Baruch Hashem we're zaychad to three floors in Eretz Yisrael And you walk in. And you can be in the kitchen on one side of the house, and your wife, who's on the third floor in one of the bedrooms, can hear you clearly. Why? Because there's no furniture in the house. You know when you have an echo When you have nothing to absorb the sound. The Lubavitcher Rebbe says as follows: You know why there was no echo by Har Sinai?

17:48 Because when Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke, the sound was absorbed by every single Jew that was there. It wasn't academic; it was taken into the soul. It's possible to be a professor of Rashi. It's possible to be a professor of the Rambam. Indeed, there are people like that. And they know massive amounts of Torah. You try to get into a fight with these people sometimes. It's very, very difficult to win. They know a tremendous amount of Torah. But it's easy to tell sometimes that it has not been absorbed into the core of their being. They know a tremendous amount. But ein yiras elakim ba'makam azeh. You find such things when you go out into the world. I remember once there was a certain very controversial rabbi And I'm not going to say his name, and it doesn't really matter. And I once asked one of my very, very close rebbeim about this rabbi And he said, "The challenge of this particular rabbi?"

18:58 He's a genius who knows massive amounts of Torah. That's the problem. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge is a very dangerous thing. The gedolei and klal yisro were not people that studied Torah. That's not what it was about. I'll bring you the proof. If you study Torah So you do it a couple of hours a day. If you absorb Torah Then you become a masmid. Rav El Yashiv's Zeichut Zadik Levracha was the Pesach Ador not that long ago. Passed away a couple of years ago. Rav El Yashiv's Hasmoda was otherworldly And when he was well over a hundred years old, he would sit in the bais medrash every single day for hours and hours without stop. For hours without stop. There's a video. You could see it on YouTube. You could check it up. Rav Yashiv, after his regular six hours seder, he went to get up.

20:02 He went to get up to leave the bais medrash. So he tried to push himself up. He didn't have the kaiach to do it. He was an elderly man. He tried to push himself up again. He couldn't do it. He saw he just didn't have it in him. So he continued learning for several more hours. These are people that lived in our generation. Because it wasn't an academic exercise. Every single spare moment that he had, he was learning Torah. So we had, and Akiva made it famous. We had an hour beis medrash. This is not a gadol story in the sense of some random story from a thousand years ago. This happened last week, Thursday night. Go see the video. Kiva will share the video if you haven't already seen it. And it went viral when Kiva posted it on social media because everyone was like, 'That's amazing.' A couple weeks ago when you guys were first coming, there was a picture that I think is Kiva here, Ackerman here.

21:03 He sniped a picture of Rav Shechter. I think it was Kiva, maybe it was somebody else. He sniped a picture of Rav Shechter sitting and learning. The entire flight. Because he doesn't stop learning. Lots of people don't stop learning on flights. Not me, but lots of people. But the beis medrash was rocking, singing all your NCSY Kol Nigunim. One more day till Shabbos. Shabbos and Beit Meir. Whatever you guys love to sing. Roshechter was sitting in the corner. As if nothing was happening. That's crazy. That's mashuga. What is it? As if nothing was happening. How do you get there? How do you arrive at that point, Rabbi Yisai? I'll tell you how you arrive at that point Because the same Rav Shechter that's sitting in the corner learning and he doesn't take a moment off Is the Rav Shechter that cries by Havdalah Because it's not an academic experience.

21:58 It's not something you memorize for a test. It's something that's absorbed into your very being. And Chavra, we know this, and I'll bring you proof that we know this. Because we get so upset, and rightfully so When we see what appeared to be yeshiva guys behaving inappropriately We get so upset by that. Why do we get so upset? It bothers us. How many guys have come to me? I was walking in this particular community, and I saw they're not nice to people. Whatever communities you're thinking about, or like, what's the value of sitting and learning all day if you're pushing and shoving to get on a bus? First of all, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. You shouldn't push and shove to get on a bus, but let's think for a moment, a little bit more deeply about what you're saying. You're saying, "Where's the absorption of Torah? Where's the kihem chayenu?" If you're just learning as an academic experience, then I understand why you push to get on a bus. But if you're really taking in the word of God, then shouldn't that impact the way that we treat each other?

22:59 You understand? It's sensitivities, Rabbi Slad. It's sensitivities. A person who learns Torah. It becomes a part of his being. It becomes a part of the way that he speaks. The way that he acts, the way that he thinks. That's what a gadol b'taira is. A gadol b'taira is somebody that you can go to for etzah, and they could say to you, "Let's think about it this way" or "Let's think about it that way," because they've absorbed the word of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so they see the world differently. They're very, very smart. When you speak to a real gadol b'taira, they have penetrating insight. It's not the same thing as speaking to a regular rebbe. They've absorbed Taira. They've become something else. The reality is This might sound a little bit harsh. The reality is that if you want to have a taira with no echo If you want to absorb Taira Have to ask yourself what else is being absorbed by your sponge.

23:58 Because a sponge can only take in so much. You have an area where you're trying to sponge, right? In Eretz Yisrael, we sponge. In America, you vacuum. So at some point, you're just moving water around because the sponge cloth is so full of water that you're not doing anything at that point. You have to get a new sponge cloth. So ask yourself: I want to have a relationship with Rabbi Nachman. I want it to be a nivehu. I want it to be zekeli. I want it to be personal. What else am I taking in? Because my eyes, what I see, matters. So the black gemara may not be as meaningful to you if the thing you were just looking at is far from the black gemara. And when I am hearing the words of my Rebbe Sheir, but somehow they're not penetrating my soul, ask yourself what I was listening to right before that?

24:56 Because what you take in through your ears makes a big difference. We could argue We could argue some types of music from the gay world, appropriate or inappropriate. You want to go back to the '80s? You want to sit there and we could go through certain songs from Chicago or Billy Joel. We can argue the value of those songs. But let's again, I'm not going to quote any of them. But I want to know I want to know What's lil wayne, what's lil wayne Singing about? Things that a bent taira should put in his ears. What's Drake talking about? These are things of value. And I know there's much more. I know that there's much more. I'm not even talking about the lives that these people lead. I'm just talking about pasuk. If that's what goes in our ears, how can we turn around and go? I don't know why taira doesn't make a difference to me because how much can your sponge absorb?

25:54 And what's primarily being absorbed? If you're watching a show, I mentioned this to some of the chaver at night later. If you're watching a show that has, and you all know which show I'm referring to, if you're watching a show that has Shvichas Dummim, Gili Arayas, and Avod Hazara every single episode And on Saturday Night Live they're trying to figure it out, they're making fun of it because there's like a person whose job is just to put more undressed people into the episode. This is what we're talking about. So then don't be mystified when you open up the words of the Gemara. I don't know why it's just not that meaningful. Rabbi says you can't have your cake and eat it too. You know I think there is something very special about living here in Israel. There is something exceptionally special about it. Chazal said it. Avirah de Eretz Yisrael machkim. The atmosphere here makes you a little bit smarter.

26:52 I'll tell you what I think it means. I think it means that in Eretz Yisrael you're just a little bit closer to home. The echo is not as profound as it is in Chutz La'aretz. There's something about going to Yerushalayim Ir Akidas this Shabbos. About davening by the Kotel together. There's something about the old city when you walk its streets. The cobblestone streets. There's something different. You're not walking down Central Avenue. You're not walking down Cedar Lane. You're not walking down Pico. It's different. It's in the air. You can't explain it. There's something a little bit more real More profound when you come to Israel. I don't think it's the same. People like you could go anywhere to learn Torah. I think even if you closed yourself off in LA and found a place where there's nobody and just sat and learned there for a year, I don't think it's the same as if you came to one of the yeshivas in Eretz Yisrael.

27:48 And I don't think it's the same when you come to NTSY Kolol versus another program where they have even more learning in America. There's something special. What's going on here? But I do want to say this: If you come to Eretz Yisrael, if you come to NCSY Kollel And at the end of the summer you haven't been makabul on yourself, the mission is I'm not going to be satisfied with a bland, boring Judaism. I'm not going to be okay with only elokay aviv aro mimenu. Then we were successful. If you come here at the end of the summer and you say I'm on a mission of zekeli vanevu. Then we were successful. Will it happen in six weeks? Absolutely not. Somebody comes here, and at the end of six weeks, they're able to say 'zegele van vehu,' which means they're lying to themselves. Something fierce. Don't fall for that.

28:38 But if you now take the next fifty years of your life, not just two, three, not just till you get to Eretz Yisrael, or not just till you get to the next place after Eretz Yisrael, or what community you're going to live in after that, I'm talking about a commitment for the next fifty years of your life. To own your relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu Then we were matsliach And it is happening. It really is happening. It's amazing to see. Rabbi said, "What time of night is it?" Then we have a what time? It's ten fifty-four at night. Why are we in the beis medrash at nearly eleven o'clock at night, Rabbi Yisai? I'll tell you why we're here. Because we are a group of people, and Baruch Hashem, not a small amount. Do you remember a couple of years ago? This year, we fit like a little bit over here.

29:29 We're expanding. The Bei's Hamidrash is expanding. We're expanding. Why are you here? You know why you're here? Because you're not satisfied with your Yiddishkeit. Because you've been waiting for somebody to come to you and say, "Okay, how do I get it to be mine?" Because I don't want to be the guy in the morning that just gets dressed and tizis don't matter. I don't want to be the guy that goes to davening and just. I remember in yeshiva a couple years ago. There was a big tzaddik who was a rebbe in our yeshiva. And there was a guy in yeshiva who made a bracha And he had a glass of water, and he said a shachal. So he said, he made a quick bracha like bracha d'ashen shachal nevuro. This rebbe was a very, very big tzaddik and very sensitive. He walked by as the guy was making the bracha, so he went like this guy. So we all fell off the chairs laughing. It was funny. This guy's a very humble, very tzaddik. He was trying to send a message to the boys. You don't make a bracha. Say concentrate on what you are saying.

30:28 Chaver, you know this yourself. You ever find yourself in the middle of Shemayn Asrei and realize Where was I? You have to make a tefillah a derech. You journeyed for a very long time. The Rav of my shul always says this. The first time you have kavanah during davening by the Shira Shal Yom, because you have to think about what day it is again today. And you know it must be Tuesday because it went a little faster today, right? It's hard. But you got to make the investment. You got to make the investment if you want it to be personal. If you want it to be meaningful, Then you have to absorb Taira. You have to contribute your voice to Taira. That's what we're doing here in Anshei Shvaykel. So you got to take it with you. You got to work on it, Beis R' Hashem. I'm looking forward to being with you this Shabbos. You got to really do your best to not just say, "I'm a good guy. I show up. I'm a rule follower." That's good, but it's not great. Greatness is when it's yours. Rabbi. Have a wonderful Shabbos.