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My mother told me a story this morning that she heard from Rabbi Rosner in Beit Shemesh this Shabbos. And when she told me the story, I got such goosebumps and had tears in my eyes. I said, I don't know if it really ties into what I'm going to say or not, but it has to be shared. The story has to be shared. This is a true story that happened here in Beit Shemesh. You know, often you hear these. You know these tzaddik stories, and you wonder if they're actually true. If it's possible that they could be true, this story is true. People in the neighborhood that know this story to be true. Rabbanim in the neighborhood that know this story to be true. They here in Osharad. We have an Osharad right here in the neighborhood. So there was a man who was going shopping for his wife, a businessman. He wasn't so used to going shopping for his wife. I think I once told you girls the story of the first time I ever went shopping. The first time I ever went shopping when I was newly married. I was going up the aisles of Gourmet Glad in the Five Towns. And the very choshev a rav. I won't say his name. You'll see why in a second. The very choshev a rav was behind me.
And all of a sudden he says, "Mess it up. " I said, "What was that? " He goes, "Mess it up." So I said, "What are you talking about? " He goes, "If you get this shopping list right, You're going to go shopping for the rest of your marriage. If you blow it right now, You're off the hook for the rest of your marriage. " All of a sudden, his wife turns the corner. She goes, "What did you say? " I said, "Suffice it to say, I got it right, And I do go shopping. Baruch Hashem, I'm a member of my family, Full-fledged member of the family." So this guy is going shopping for his wife, and it's a very long shopping list. He's standing online in Osharad with his big cart, and in front of him there's three people. There's a guy, then another guy, then a woman, and then him. So the first guy, I guess we can't get away from the phones. Is the phone by you?
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It's okay. So the first guy says he finishes shopping, And then it's the second person's turn, And he finishes checking out, And he says, "Oh, I just forgot one thing. " And he goes and he runs around the store, And he comes back with the one thing, And they put it through, And he goes, "I just forgot another thing. So the second thing, the businessman's already starting to get annoyed. You're online. We're all waiting. I have a big thing of stuff. I want to get home. They check out the second thing. I forgot a third thing. He runs a third thing. Says I'm so sorry. I forgot a fourth thing. He runs. He gets the fourth thing. As soon as he gets back, he realizes I forgot a fifth thing. At this point, the businessman blows up, loses his temper and starts to scream at the guy. What do you think? We're not all sitting here and waiting. This isn't right. How could you do this? And he's miserably screaming at the guy. And everyone, it's like one of those awkward moments where everyone gets silent and everybody's like paying attention. And he's just—he lost it. He lost it. Finally, the woman that was in front of him turns around and she says, "Enough already." He got the point.
And the guy realized, "I can't believe I did that. I can't believe that I— I just embarrassed this guy in front of all of Osharad." It's preemptive shopping. I can't believe I did that. And he's so embarrassed. He says, "Please, let me make it up to you. Let me make it up to you, but you have to be meichel me for real. You have to be meichel me, all the way." Says, what can I do for you? Guy doesn't say anything. Says, I'll tell you what. How much is your bill? How much is your bill right now in Oshrat? So it came out to like two thousand shekel. It was a big shopping. It was a pretty amount of shopping. So he says he takes out a check and he says, I'm covering your bill. Please be meichel me. The guy says, I'm meichel you. Believe Shalom, no problem. They check out. He pays his entire bill. If we stopped the story right now, it would already be an unbelievable thing that somebody was sensitive enough that even though this person was doing the wrong thing, they lost their temper and that they wanted Davka to do that. So it's already an unbelievable story. If we stopped here, it would be amazing.
But the story continues. The woman checks out, He checks out, And he's going to the elevators in Osharad to take his cart back to his car, And. He gets there and he sees in the corner the man is sitting on the phone and he's crying. He's just crying. So he goes over to him and he says, "I thought you were meichel me. That was our deal. I thought you were meichel me. " This guy goes, "I'm meichel you, Believe Shalom. You don't understand. I lost my job. We don't have any money. I did not know how I was paying for this shopping. My wife said, 'Go shopping.' I got to the end of the checkout line. I didn't know what to do. I called my wife. She said, 'Go get something else. Just keep shopping.' I went and I got one thing. I called her back. Go get something else. I'm still in the middle saying to him. Finally, on the fifth time, you blew up at me and paid for my entire bill.
Paid for my entire bill. So he says to him, "What are you going to do for the rest of the year?" So he wrote him twelve checks for two thousand shekels each, so he should be able to at least have food for the remainder of the year. It's an unbelievable story. It's an incredibly powerful story on so many levels. This woman's emuna that she said somehow I know will work out. The husband's doing it even though he has no idea how it's going to work out. This person who lost his temper and somehow came back and did tshuva in that moment. The sensitivity of a yid. This is an incredible story. It's also, in one fundamental way, a very strange story. Because we would not do that for a stranger. If I was in Key Food, somewhere in America, and somebody was online and they're taking, just keep going back and forth, I for sure would blow up at them. I for sure would do that. There's no question in my mind. It's true. If somebody gave me that mussar, fine. Maybe I would even say you're right and I'm sorry. I don't think I would pay for a guy's bill. I don't think I would do it, and it's not because I'm a bad person. But it's different when it's Eid. It's different when it's family.
Family is family. But here are two yidden that have never met each other before. So where does that come from? So that we know, everyone knows the four lashonos of geula. Vehitzeitzi, vehitzarti, Vehgalti, v'la'kachti. There was. A musug in Yishtiyat Mitzrayim of becoming a nation. There's a musug of becoming a nation. It's a big deal. The question is, why is it such a big deal? This was the formation of Klal Yisrael as a nation. Up until then, we were a family, we were a tribe, then we became a nation. But if you look in Yiddishkeit, it's, I am going to say it in a direct way. It's a little exaggerated. Yisheis Mitzrayim is a little exaggerated. There is nothing that we have that's not Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. You open up the Torah, how many times does it say Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim? Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. Kiddush is Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. Shabbos is Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. Tefillin is Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. Kriyosma is Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. Everything is Zeichel Yisheis Mitzrayim. What's the big deal? I understand it was the formation of us as a nation.
But what is the big deal? That every single thing that we do comes down to a se'is mitzrayim. It has to be something a little bit more. So I saw a very, very deep idea. I want to take this idea and try to push it a little bit further. Let me first express the first part of the idea. There's different types of nisin. There's what's called a nes chad paami, And then there's something called a nisin nimshach. Let's first look at a nes chad pame. A nes chad pame means it's a one-time nes. An example of a one-time nes is when Moshe Rabbeinu comes, He takes, he has to give a sign to Klal Yisrael that he is going to be the mashiach of Klal Yisrael. What does he do? He takes his hand, he sticks it inside his beged, And when it comes out, What's on his hand? Taras. Everyone knows the story. Then what does he do? He puts his hand back inside his beged
He takes it out, and once again, He's pure, he's tar, And he has no taras. That's a nes chad pame. He puts it in, Comes out. He takes it out. What's an example of a nes nimshach? An example of a nes nimshach, A nes that has a continuation to it, Is Kriyas Yam Suf. We know that how long did it take for Klal Yisrael to get across Kriyas Yam Suf? It took the entire night. And again, without going into all the different midrashim and all the different mamari chazal, I'll be pasted. What happened is Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent a wind. The wind blew open the entire sea. We walked through. And then, at the end of the night, when the Mitzrim were in the Yam Suf and we were out of the Yam Suf, the wind stopped. The waves crashed upon the Mitzrim, and it destroyed the Egyptian army. We were able to escape Mitzrayim. That's the simple understanding of what a Nase Nimshach is. Why is that a Nase Nimshach? Because the entire time is one Nase. Now listen very deeply here. What's the difference between a Nase Chad Paami and a Nase Nimshach?
The difference is, do you require a second nase to undo the first nase? If it's a nase chad pame, You take your hand, You put it in the beged, You take it out, and there's zaras. The nase is now over. Now we have zaras on Moshe Rabbeinu's hand. In order to take that zaras off, What do you need to do now? You need a whole new nase that he should put his hand back inside the beged, Take it out, and then we're clean. When it comes to a nase nimshach. Like Kryas Yamsov, The wind is blowing the entire night. Do you need another nase to stop that original nase? No. All you need is to stop the original nase, and everything returns to the way it was. In other words, fundamentally, the water was still water. Except there was this water, there was this wind blowing through that split the sea, so we were able to walk through. Once the wind stops, once again, the water reverts to its natural state.
If the pshat, now we're going a little deeper. If the pshat in Yishtiyat Mitzrayim is a neis chad paami, then it's not such a big deal. If it's a neis chad paami that Hakadosh Baruch Hu took us out of Yishtiyat Mitzrayim, then one could very easily compare it to every single time Hakadosh Baruch Hu saved us. There would be no difference between Purim and Pesach. Purim, right? Hakadosh Baruch Hu saves us from Haman. Hakadosh Baruch Hu saves us from Achashverosh. We were also on the brink of destruction. Pesach, we were also on the brink of destruction. One more minute. Had we been in, We understand when we say one minute, We really mean one minute. If had we been in Mitzrayim one more minute, Show's over. We would have been dead. We would have been lost forever. It would have been the bechina of tchias hamesim. In order for us to rejuvenate as as a tzibur, As as a klal, So it's if it's just the neis chad pame, Then it's the same thing.
The Talmud says Yitzchias Mitzrayim is not a neis chad paami; it's a neis nimshach that started at the moment that we left Mitzrayim and continues until this very moment, right here, right now, in Beit Shemesh. What does that mean to us? It means that Yitzchias Mitzrayim was such a neis, just like the wind blowing through the Yam Suf. That our entire existence since then is bederach neis. Which is why so many people ask the question, "How did Klal Yisrael survive?" What is the secret of the immortality of the Jews? By the way, I don't like that question so much. You should know because it's Yiddishkeit born out of destruction. Yiddishkeit is not born out of destruction. That's like Holocaust Judaism. It's like you have to be an observant Jew because six million people died. Now you have to be an observant Jew, But we'll see in a minute why. Because you're an observant Jew, Not because of the brokenness of Klal Yisrael. So I don't really like the question. But anyway, people ask the question: What's the secret of the immortality of the Jews? The secret is very simple. Since the moment of Yisias Mitzrayim
Every single thing about Klal Yisrael is a ace. Coming out of Yisias Mitzrayim was not the pshat. Now we were slaves, And now we're free, Like every other nation. Now there is something miraculous. Not one time miraculous that happened back then. Now they're selling miraculous from here on out, That makes Klal Yisrael distinct and different from all other nations. Ata bechartanu mikol ha'amen. We were, we're going to see what this means in a minute. We are chosen. What does it mean to be miraculous? What's the nature of this name Nes Nimschach? I heard from my Rebbe a very, Very deep shot, and it's it's stunning in its depth and its beauty, really. Said like this. I'll make it a little more exaggerated than he made it, And I'll it's I'll say it in a funny way. I don't mean it in this way, but I'll say it in a funny way. Imagine, Let's say were in a let's say were secular. We're in a regular public school, Coed public school. Everybody's together, guys and girls. We'll make it a scene out of a movie. In the movie, there's that one girl that maybe she's not so cool, Maybe she's not so put together, But she has that crush on that really good-looking guy. You've seen the movie; it's every movie,
Okay, let's see. So the movie is about a girl who wants to go to the prom with her crush. But he's never noticed her. He's with the cool kids, right? He's the captain of the football team. He's the captain of the basketball team. He's the king of the prom. In a million years, he's never looked at her. But imagine, And imagine the feeling that she has—that all that she wants is to be connected to him. But she, she has no shayches. She's in a very broken, Low place. In the climax of that movie, What happens? Something happens that all of a sudden he notices her. And let's say let's again they never play this part out in the movie, But let's say that was actually the beginning of the relationship that would last them for the rest of their life. The way that she would feel for the rest of her life is, Do you remember the day that you chose me? It's the single most unbelievable moment of her life. It was the moment that defined every other moment that came since then, And. It was such again. Obviously, it's a silly thing to be chosen by somebody who's cool. It's very high school. It's very babyish.
But let's say it was deep. Let's say it was something meaningful. I was chosen by something that's indescribably big, infinitely big. That's the way that Klal Yisrael felt in Mitzrayim. We were the lowest of the low. Not one slave had ever escaped Mitzrayim. Why? Because the stronghold that Mitzrayim had on Yidden was so strong that nobody—it wasn't shyach to escape. It was such a brokenness, a psychological brokenness that there's no avenue to escape from there. The nase that we left is part of the nase. There's another component to the nase: why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu do that? Since then, every single thing about our relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu da'ino. Every single mitzvah that comes since Yisrael in some way relates back to that initial moment where Hakadosh Baruch Hu remembered us, whatever that means. We'll see soon. Hakadosh Baruch Hu remembered us and said, 'You, I want you.' And the response that we had was, 'It can't be.' So many people did not believe Moshe Avinu. That's why Moshe Avinu needed to come with a nase, because the nature of the beast was that even though we had a mesayra from Avram Avinu.
That we were going to go down to Yisrael and even though they would chazar that mitzrayim every single Shabbos and they would read from the mitzvah that they had that there was ultimately going to be a gula when Moshe Rabbeinu finally came. What was their response? It can't be. Why would Hakadosh Baruch Hu want me? What does Hakadosh Baruch Hu want to do with me? It's not shayech. And there were people you should know that could not get out of that brokenness. Lameisa, most of Klal Yisrael was left behind in mitzrayim. Those that escaped were the ones that had that emuna, that retained that spark. That they were able to hold on to in those dark moments to get out. In other words, what I'm saying is, those that were able to leave were able to achieve some level of worthiness that they believed themselves capable of leaving Mitzrayim.
So sometimes it could be, if you play that scene out from that movie. Again, it's a silly example. But if you play the scene out, imagine if that guy comes over and asks her to the prom. What's her response in the stupidest way would be to not even be able to say yes. It would be like that stuttering. And the answer is of course, and he'll say something cute in the movie, great, I'll pick you up at eight. And it'll be some suave line that's just like how amazing he is because he has good hair. But here it's it's much it's much more meaningful than that. Here there were those that stammered and stuttered and did not believe themselves worthy of leaving. And then there were those that said, "Yes, I've been waiting for this my entire life, And I'm ready to live in that way. I'm ready to I'm ready to live b'derech nes. I'm ready to live in a way that I never thought was shayach for me to live.
" My wife's uncle Avram lives in Ezra's Tower in Jerusalem. He said he had a chaver that made yuridah that had been living in Eretz Yisrael for like twenty five years, And they made yuridah, And he couldn't live in Eretz Yisrael anymore. And, And he said to him, "Why are you leaving? " He said, "I'm not making it here. " So he says, "What do you mean you're not making it? You've made it for 25 years. You're not. You're 25 years. You're alive. You're fed. You have. You have a roof over your head. With me, you're not making it. " So he said to him, "He goes,'No. I'm making it, but every month is an ace. I can't live b'derech nisim anymore. It's just too draining. Every month, the guy didn't know how he was going to pay the bills at the end of that month. By the way, this is how many people in Eretz Yisrael live. " I don't know where the money is coming from. Punk, that came out of nowhere, And it worked out in a miraculous fashion. And there are people that are capable of living that way, And there are people that are not capable of living that way. There's such a thing as living bederchneis. To us with whole hearts, To us with open hearts
To live bederchneis means that this is going to work out because the Rebbeinu Sholom chose me. And I'm capable of living with that relationship, even though there are times that it's very frightening. I don't feel like I'm worthy, and I don't feel like I'm there. But Zeichel Itzius Mitzrayim, there's this nice nimshak. It's not that I don't know how to say it. It's just... it's hard to explain. So, if you're looking for a more formal version of the text, I can help with that. Which is why, in many ways, the calendar for a yid starts now. It starts in Nissan. This is the beginning of the calendar. Why? Because this is the moment for us. This is the anniversary, so to speak, of when Hakadosh Baruch Hu first introduced himself to us. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu introduced himself to Avram Avinu. That was B'tayrus, my family. That's like. He. I know, Al Kadosh Baruch Hu. We had a relationship with my grandfather. That's like imagine if you're me. I'm sure this has happened to you sometime in your life.
Maybe here in Eretz Yisrael, That you run into somebody and they go, "Oh, you're you're Goldberg, Is your father? I went to yeshiva with him back then. We were chavrusas. That's the way it was until you see Eretz Yisrael. It was I know you. I was I'm Elke Avram, Elke Yitzchak, Elke Yaakov. But I'm already an Einikl. I'm already five generations later, Six generations later. Why are you hugging me about Avram Avinu? It's. We had a relationship once. Then Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes and he goes, "No, you don't understand. That which I promised to Avram Avinu, It wasn't about him. It was about you. I've been waiting for you this whole time. That's really what it means, Zecher. What does it mean that Hakadosh Baruch Hu remembered us? That's a silly thing to say, Right? Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't forget. When we were kids, sometimes we read the Torah and what happens? We're listening to it and it sounds like this." We were enslaved for so long, And Hakadosh Baruch Hu heard our cries, And then He remembered. Oh, Oops, I forgot. I was busy. I was busy being mezavik zivugim. I was. I was.
There was a lot of things going on in Shomayim. The malachim, I can't stand them. They're driving me crazy. They're like little kids. I almost forgot about Klai. So I'm so sorry. It's like the little kid that you forgot in school. Like that kid that gets left in school. I'm sorry. I had a million things. I was shopping. I forgot. I'm sorry. I'll come. I'll take you out. I feel so bad. You want to tire? I'll give you anything. Please, just. It's not that way. B'cholad. That's not the way it works. The way it works is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was telling us when he said Zeich. When he said he remembered, means this was about you. That which I said to him. That memory of what I said to him. Now it plays itself out. It wasn't about Avram Avinu. It's about you. That's why we can call on Elke Avram, Elke Yitzchok, and Elke Yaakov to be to be a Melech Yosheh for us in Shamayim. We can call upon Scharosavus because that relationship that the Kodesh Baruch Hu had with them it was all about us. And I don't mean this. I want to be clear. I don't mean this in the narcissistic way. Let me explain. We didn't go from one slavery to a freedom.
It's not the trap we went from working really hard and now we're on Chofesh. Baruch Hashem, we worked for two hundred some odd years in Mitzrayim, and now we're off. That's not what happened at all. We worked for two hundred some odd years in Mitzrayim for one master, and then we were makabel on ourselves another master. We're makabel ol Malchus Shamayim. It's a very powerful word, and it's also a very it changes the way we're supposed to see our Yiddishkeit. Yiddishkeit is an ol, and ol is a burden. Just because something is a burden doesn't mean it's bad. My very good friend is in diamonds. He one time bought a diamond in a box, Which is a multi-million dollar diamond. It's a rock. It's a giant rock. And then he brought it from England to Eretz Yisrael to have little diamonds taken out of this giant rock. Now a rock of diamond is very heavy, So he's walking through Heathrow Airport, with this giant box that he's bringing to Eretz Yisrael. So I said to him. I said it was heavy
And he goes, 'Yeah, but you don't feel it. All you're thinking about is I'm holding a multi-million-dollar rock in my hand.' Kabbalah's 'all machus shamayim' means it's heavy. It's heavy. It's an all. It's a burden. Yiddishkeit is a burden, but a burden doesn't have to be heavy. Sometimes a burden is something that when you're holding it, you go, 'Whoa, this is amazing.' Like, for example, a family is a burden. A family is not always the most geshmack thing. Sometimes you have to wake up in the middle of the night with your kids. Sometimes you have to sit there with your kids when they're complaining and whining about each other and driving you crazy. It's a burden, But the responsibility is exciting. Nobody, I can't imagine. Again, I know people maybe are nervous, Maybe they have anxiety, but I can't imagine anybody, having their first kid and saying, "It is just too much. I can't do it. " You have your kid, And you say to yourself, "Wow, the Rebbeinu Sholom entrusted me with this human being. Now I'm going to spend the next 20 years of my life breaking this thing.
But the right, it's good jokes. Chas v'shalom, chas v'shalom. And as my wife peeks in from the other room. We went from serving Paro to serving the Rebbeinu Shem, But going from serving Paro to serving the Rebbeinu Shem means I'm going from doing something that's bechelal, Not meaningful, To something that is infinitely meaningful. Let's spell it out a little clearer. Why is it that the Torah tells us that Pito and Ramses Chazal tell us that Pito and Ramses were basically places of quicksand, And that anything that Klal Yisrael would build was destroyed? So we all know it's to teach us how cruel Paro was. That anything that we built, we didn't even have the satisfaction of seeing it built. Or maybe there's another message. Maybe there's a deeper lesson, Which is working for Paro is like working on quicksand. It's not something that's lasting. When you work for the Rebbeinu Shalom, Because now you're working for the realm of the infinite. By definition, it's lasting. So in Mitzrayim they build very big pyramids. People come Arayomazet to see the pyramids. It's an unbelievable feat of engineering.
But in Yiddishkeit we're working for Hashem Baruch Hu. And it's very hard work. You have to wake up every morning. You have to daven. You have to speak to your children benachas. You have to speak to your husband benachas when you don't want to. You have to be part of a family where your whole avoda in life is to build another generation of klal yisrael. That's an unbelievable thing. It's very hard work. But it's also very inspiring because our job is to teach our children. Like your parents have taught you, Like I'm teaching you, like you'll teach your kids, And maybe your talmidot. The idea is you were chosen. I want to tell you something. This makes every Jew feel uncomfortable. I go around. I speak places. I speak about this concept. You're chosen. People say, "How do you know? This is what Jews say to me. How do you know we were chosen? What makes us so special? What makes us so different?
I speak to Ga'ym. You know what they say? And Jews, you're the chosen nation. We know it's written in the Bible. Ga'ym don't have a problem with us being chosen. They get it. It's written in the Bible. It's pashut. Jews go, "Yeah, but." Isn't it a little self-serving that the Torah would tell us that we were the ones that were chosen? Relax. What are you so nervous about being chosen? Why am I special? What do you mean? Why are you special? Nobody's telling you you're special. You're chosen. Chosen means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu designed you and chose you to be the one to fulfill His will in this world. So to bring it back to the story in the very beginning. Why is it that when we see another Jew that doesn't know how to pay his bills, somebody will take out his checkbook and write twelve checks for a perfect stranger? Because we're sitting in the trenches together. It's a very inspiring mission. And my mission is, let's be very clear about what the mission is. The Rebbeinu Sholom said, "Be a builder." Paro knew that too, by the way. Paro said, "Jews are great builders because that's what we were designed for." So he said, "Go build Mitzrayim."
Go build culture." Go build art, Greece said to us, "Go build philosophy. " We're amazing builders. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to us, "I don't want you to just build a little here and a little there. I want you to build the entire world. U'maleh us arutz v'kashua. I want you to fill up the world. I want you to conquer it, And I want you to reveal Me in every one of those places. " So a yid says when a yid goes out to work, And let's say they're working in technology, There's kedusha there. Not just in the other yiddin that I'll meet, But in the etzem work that I'm doing Things have an essence. That's the way Jews see things. Things have an essence. Is this essence bringing people closer or farther to their banisham? I want to tell you an unbelievable thing. I just read about Steve Jobs, who passed away. There's a thing that in the iStore, Apple Store, there are things. I just think everything has an i. So on the iPhone, the iPod, the iPad, whatever, all the i-things. So in the Apple Store, he has rules about what you can and cannot put there.
For example, no app can be put in the Apple Store that defames other people. So that's that's their rules. That's Apple's rules. Google doesn't have those rules. Do whatever you want. There's rules about what type of images, Inappropriate images, Cannot be put on. You cannot have a you cannot have an app that's geared towards the you know proliferating inappropriate images. That's something in a certain way that there's kedusha to that. In other words, technology is a very powerful tool and it needs to be very carefully handled to reveal the true essence of the thing. Same thing with a house. A house is not just a place of stone and floors and chairs and tables. A home is something that should have kedusha to it. What will your home look like? That's what we're trying to achieve here. What's the mila of all this? Once you're chosen, you cannot be unchosen.
So Yidden expect miracles. Yidden expect miracles. And even when we're in a place where it's not shyach for us to continue to behave like Yidden, you should know that we do it. So I'll tell you two stories. One I just saw this week. The other is an old story. I saw this week an article was published of a handwritten paper. I don't have the nusach in front of me, But it was in the concentration camps, And I think it was in Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. You saw that, That they had a nusach for how they would eat chametz on Pesach, And say Yiratzon. This is the basis, just of it. Yiratzon Avinu Shabashamayim. You know that all that we want is to do Your will. Unfortunately, the position that we're in right now, We're not capable of doing it, And we long for the time where we're going to be able to do exactly what you want us to do in the matzah.
So please bring us to that state of gula where we won't be living in this concentration camp, a broken place where we can't do your mitzvah. That's how they would eat chametz on Pesach. Where does the yid get that strength from? How can you live in the confines of a concentration camp and still have the strength to stand up and say no, and then also say yes, but not as much. So I think the answer to that story is really a second story. There's a famous psychologist named Victor Frankel. You've also heard of Victor Frankel. Victor Frankel was a psychologist. He lived in Austria, In Vienna, Before World War II, And he was already a fairly well known psychologist. And he had his doctoral dissertation that he was working on. And Nazis came to power, And they took over, And Victor Frankel was. Put in a car and hurt it off to a concentration camp.
He held very, very tightly. What was the one thing he wanted to take with him into the concentration camp? He wanted to take these papers. This was his life's work up until that point. So he goes, and the Nazi said to him, "Give me those papers. You're not allowed to bring anything in. " So he starts pleading with him. He says, "Please, This is brilliant work. So psychology. This could change the world. Please let me keep this. " And the Nazi starts to. Think about it, Maybe Eppes, and then all of a sudden the Nazi says, "No, give him to me. " And he takes him from, and he has nothing, And he has to go shower, And you know they shave their heads, And they dilouse them, and the whole nine yards, And they give them the prisoners' clothing to wear. Which clothing did you get? You didn't get brand new clothing. Somebody who had just been murdered, who had just been in the crematorium, those were the clothing that you got. So he gets this clothing and he wears this clothing. You can imagine what he's like. He just gave up his life's work. Everything that he had done in his entire life is now gone. And he's sitting there, and he's—it's a brach on a human being.
And he's wearing somebody else's clothing who's just been murdered. He reaches into his pocket and feels there's a piece of paper. He pulls out the piece of paper, and on the piece of paper it says Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Viktor Frankl, when he told over this story, said, "I thought my life was over. It turns out my life had just begun." " And he started to observe people in the Holocaust, People in those concentration camps, And he watched them. And he saw that there were those people that they lived for something. When they lived for something that was bigger than the concentration camp, It didn't matter what the Nazis would throw at them. They had a spirit that was able to conquer the Nazis. The Nazi could beat you, but you weren't there. You were somewhere else. You were in a place that was bigger than that. You had a different mission that you were living on, A different level of mission. Lamasha, like the Kleisenberger Rebbe, When he when the concentration camps were broken, When the Americans came and freed the concentration camps, They set up these DP camps, And the Kleisenberger Rebbe was just going around being mechazek yidun. He was going around, and this one girl wasn't dressed in a tzanuah way. He took off his own socks, And he said to her, "Here, wear my socks. " We know this story because when the Kleisenberger Rebbe passed away
This woman, who at that time was a bubby herself and raised the Baruch Hashem and Erlecha family, Came back with those socks and said, "These are the socks that the Rebbe gave to me in the DP camps, So I should be dressed tzanuah. " There were people like the Kleisenberger Rebbe; they weren't in the concentration camps. They were living much, much bigger than the concentration camps. All those stories of those yidden then. Managed to figure out how to light the menorah in the concentration camps. The story of Myrash Shiva. We should have R'fu Shalema who told us that he was living in the concentration camps and the Nazis didn't know about him because he was a kid. He was hiding in the he was hiding in the latrines. He was hiding in the toilets, So the Nazis didn't know. He's very sure. His children were over six feet tall. He wasn't even five feet tall. There were people that were living in a way that they did superhuman things. How were they capable of doing these superhuman things? Because they weren't confined. By the borders of Auschwitz, Of Bergen-Belsen, Of those names that we grew up with, That are those names of destruction. They weren't living there. He called this logo therapy. His whole therapy was to find a cause, To find a meaning, To find something bigger than the place that you are.
For a Yid who knows that he's chosen or she's chosen, It doesn't matter where you are. You're so much bigger than that because wherever I am, It's exactly where the Rebbeinu Shalom put me. So in that matziv where there's no reason for me to have any kaiach, A yid can dig so deep into himself or herself and find something that they, They didn't even know it existed. Simple people. I'm talking about simple. I'm talking. I'm not talking about only the tzaddikim. I'm talking about yids that they never knew that they had those things inside of them. All of a sudden they can find that spark of elokus. That spark of elokus is the revelation. It was always there since the moment of creation. Other marishan also had that spark of elokus. But it wasn't revealed. It wasn't from the bechin of at the bechar tanu until that moment of Yeshiyas Mitzrayim. That's the nes nimshak. That's every single moment. So let's say Yedchas Hashem finds themselves in a situation where there's no way that they can overcome. How could I possibly continue on in this matzav? It's so broken.
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Rebbeinu Hashem put me exactly right here, Right now, in this moment. I have no idea why, But it means I have the strength to continue. There's a point where a person wants to give up And I've seen it over the years with the talmidim, With the talmidot. I can't anymore. I can't. I want to be miyayish. So Rabbi Nachman says It's also to be miyayish. How could you give up hope? Why? Because if you're here, it means you were meant to be. Who are you to give up hope? I was at a levaya last week. There was this story of a person who had terrible, terrible tsaros in their life. Always with a smile, though. Every time I would see him or her, I think it's important to remember that even in the most difficult circumstances, people can find ways to maintain their dignity and positivity. Every time I would run into him in the neighborhood, he couldn't walk. He was crippled. Every time he would have to use a special scooter. Even on Shabbos, he had a special Shabbos deck scooter that he would go around on. Always with a smile.
Unbelievable mensh. So, unfortunately, He passed away last week. So at the levaya, his children spoke, and a cousin spoke. Cousin who's a very chash, no, very chashav erav spoke, and he told over the following story. The story is about a man whose name was Rav Yaakov Golinski. He was a big tzaddik here in Eretz Yisrael. And there was a Russian Jew who had come over from Eretz Yisrael. He was in Siberia, and he lost his entire family in the Holocaust. And he came over, and he was come out off the derech. He had grown up in yeshiva, but he had come out off the derech. I can't do it anymore. And Rav Yaakov Golinski said to him, "Come to the Chazon Ish." And he schlepped him to the Chazon Ish. And the Chazon Ish said, "I want to tell you a story." And this is the story that he told him. He said there was a woman who was very, very poor.
There was a woman who was very, very poor and she would go around collecting for her family. And she went around and she had amassed a certain amount of money. And she came to a certain town and she went from place to place. And at some point, she turned around and she realized that her purse was gone. So all the money that she had collected is missing. Now the halacha is, when you're in a town that's mostly goyim, the halacha is that you gave up hope. You gave up hope because mistama a goy is going to find it. Mistama they're not going to return it to you, so you're not going to get it back. So you give up hope, and if a Jew would find it, it would belong to them because you already gave up hope. And beetsim she gave up hope. Somebody found out. Somebody found the purse.
She said, "That's my purse." So they went to the Rav of the town. The Rav of the town said, 'The man said he goes. I'm happy to give it back to her if that's the halacha. But if the halacha is that it's mine, I'll tell you honestly, I could also use this money.' The halacha is she was miyayish. So the Chazanish stops the story and he asks this guy and he says to him, "Knew what's the halacha? " So he says. This guy says, "Listen, as bad as I feel for this woman, The halacha is that it belongs to the man. " So the Chazanis smiled and he said, "That's what the Rav of the town thought also. " But they wrote a letter to Rav Yischak Chachan Inspector, Who was the Peisach Adori, Was the Guttal Adori. They wrote a letter to Rav Yischak Chachan Inspector asking him what to do. Rav Yischak Chachan Inspector paskened; he has to give that the money to the girl, And not just lifnim mishures adin, But that's the din.
The money belongs to her be'etzem. Baker Adin, Baker Adin, it belongs to her. Why? Because we know the halacha is "Mashakan Eisha Kanabayla. " Whatever belongs to a woman belongs to her husband. Really, this money that she had, It didn't belong to her. It belonged to the husband. So she gave up. So what? He didn't give up. Since the husband didn't give up, The halacha is that this man has to give back the money to the woman because the money really belongs to the husband. He never gave up. And then the Chazanish looked at this young man. He goes, "And the same thing applies to you. You've had a terrible life. You lost all of your family. You yourself suffered so much. But this is not a translation task. The text should be polished but retain its original structure and meaning.
So what right do you have to give up? You could give up from today till tomorrow. You give up, but he's not giving up on you. That's the Nes Nimschach. The Nes Nimschach is that every single moment the Rebbeinu Shalom says, 'I choose you. Don't give up because I've chosen you.'" you feel like you want to give up. You feel like it's so hard. You feel like I'm in that ma'atzar. That's what ma'atzarim is—that ma'atzar, That restricted place of a scarcity mentality. I don't know how I'm going to go weiter in life. Don't give up. Don't give up. That's how Yidden held on, Even through hundreds of years of slavery. That's how Yidden have held on all throughout history. We held on because we were able to say, "Don't give up." So all those times throughout history when different movements came up and they said, "Let's figure out how to assimilate. Let's figure out how to be a little less Jewish. We're a little embarrassed of our Judaism."
They were trying to do something that wasn't going to work. The only thing that a yid can do is get closer to the rabbinical. This comes out as a fragment, so it's removed. All right, let me try to rephrase this. I think the problem here is that we're trying to be too much like the non-Jewish world. This comes out a funny thing. All those enlightened yidden from those hundreds of years of Haskalah. What's the result today, girls? It's come out of seventy percent assimilation right now. The latest polls show, especially in places on the west coast, we're holding Kamat by a seventy percent assimilation rate. Those Yidden, in a certain way, they gave up. Let's be a little bit more like the Ga'ym.
And that's exactly what happened. They were matsliach. Those Yidden that, with incredible courage, said we're not going to give up. America is nisht anderish. America is not different than Europe, and the Yiddishkeit of Europe will be the Yiddishkeit in America. Those people like Rivard and Cutler who said we're starting Lakewood. It doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter if the whole world says I'm crazy. I'm starting Lakewood, and look today what Lakewood is. Look today at all the yeshivas all across America at Torah Vidas. People like Roshagal Feivel Mendelovitch who said, "I don't care. I'm not giving up." There's the Rebbeinu Shalom. The Rebbeinu Shalom wants me to serve him in America the same way he wants me to serve him in Europe. That those people are living with that Nes Nimschach of being chosen. They're not embarrassed. Girls, we have to break them. We have to break that in a very serious way. I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed to be a yid. Like those people that go to the Yankee game, and they're wearing a Yankee hat, and their white shirt and their black pants, and somebody comes over and then goes, Mincha, and he goes, How do you know I was Jewish? Stop being embarrassed to be a yid. You walk in the street. We should raise our children in a way that our children look like yid.
And we should be proud that our children should look like yid. And if somebody will say something to them, you're a yid, beautiful. And you should stand proudly and tall. We have something to share with the world. It's a very broken mentality of years and years—I mean, Generations—of us not being able to contribute because we were looked down upon. The Rebbeinu Shlom has given us a gevuldega opportunity to not feel like that broken person, And we have to take advantage. The advantage is not to say "Koichivaytzim Yadi" and look at me because now I have tanks. The advantage is to say "Am Yid " I'm not going to give up hope. The world was meant to be conquered by me, And I'm going to participate in that. So he wrote so that this Pesach should be the freedom of Pesach. There should be the freedom of our mouths to be able to open up and say what's true and what's deep and what's real to us, And to be able to
In that way, to remove the chometz of the brokenness of our life, And to be able to embrace the fact that we were chosen, And to be able to look back and say, it was the most romantic thing that ever happened. Rabbi Shlom looked at a bunch of slaves and he said, "Those are the special ones. Those are the ones that are mine. Not because they're not because they're they're better, But because they're mine. There's something familiar about them. That's what it means when somebody loves something else. There's something about that there's deep, Deep, deep attraction. That's what Pesach is. It's the beginning of our relationship, which is the beginning of the whole world. That's why the calendar for us starts in Nissan. It's the beginning of the whole world for us. Everything comes back to that one moment. Zeichels, p'turim. So we have to live with that. With that zikaron. Zikaron doesn't mean I remember sitting and daydreaming, and I remembered at the becharton. Zikaron means that I'm living with the memory, not the history. I'm living with the memory of. This is my opportunity to have an unbelievable relationship with the Rebbe. Thank you so much for helping out. I really, Amish, unbelievable chesed elyon for me and my family.
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