Pikudei - Accounting for the Unaccounted Jews

2:41 The one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five missing schkalim are in those hooks. Now Moshe Rabenu is able to make a full accounting. We have two questions on this medrash. The first question Which is the more obvious question Since when does a religious leader need to answer for every lex that comes around and makes an accusation? Very often, if you're in a position of leadership and somebody just says something ridiculous, they go, 'Oh, well, you do this, so you take money from this person.' Sometimes, by answering them, you're actually giving them credence. Sometimes, the best way to actually avoid any problems is to just go, 'This pasuk is not true.' And I'm not thinking about you, and I'm not responding to you. These late zaneh adar, these scoffers of this generation. It's so ridiculous what they're saying that Moshe Rabbeinu was a thief. We would have assumed that Moshe Rabbeinu would have just said that's ridiculous.

3:52 This parsha is Moshe Rabbeinu making an accounting of all of the materials used in the Mishkan so that Moshe Rabbeinu could prove to these latezanim that he didn't steal any money. Why does Moshe Rabbeinu do that? Just go, I didn't steal any money. That's it. Maybe you don't even have to say that. Maybe just say nothing. When you respond to people, they tend to respond back. You get into these defensive battles. Don't do that. Just let it go. Moshe Rabenu for some reason needs to respond. That's our first question. Not every accusation requires a response. The second question is if you look at what the late Saney Hadar was saying, they said it in such a strange way. The strange way that they said it was Moshe Rabenu stealing the money. And he's using the money to buy expensive food and expensive drink. What should they have said? Meisher Abenu has a fat stomach.

4:50 They say no. I see Meisher Abenu. He's getting a fat neck. That's a very strange thing to say. We don't think of it as you get a fat neck. We think of it as you get a fat stomach. You have what I'm saying. And it's also strange. He's getting fat thighs. These are like the body parts that you wouldn't have necessarily expected for them to say. My Shabenu is drinking too much. He's eating too much. Must be he's stealing our money. He has a fat neck. He has fat thighs. So what is the imagery that Chazal is trying to use over here? In order to explain this, we have to understand the fundamental nature of the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash. There's something called Shamayim. And there's something called Aretz. There's a spiritual world and there's a physical world. Our job in this world is to bridge the gap between the spiritual world and the physical world, to make our world into a place where spirituality is materialized.

5:55 So that the spiritual world will be real and tangible down here in this earth. That's our job. There is a meeting point. There is a space. Try to get this idea. There is a space between Shamayim and aretz. It's the point where Shamayim and aretz meet. And that is called the mishkan. That's the beis hamikdash. The mishkan and the beis hamikdash is the space where Shamayim and aretz meets. Think of the mishkan as a bridge between Shamayim and aretz. That's the nature of the mishkan. That's why we see, for example That Yaakov Avinu, when he's standing in the Makamah Mikdash, what does he dream of? He dreams of a ladder, and what's happening on that ladder? Angels are going up and down. That's a bridge. That's what a ladder is. It's a bridge between two places. In the Makamah Mikdash, we have a bridge between Shamayim and Arutz.

6:56 Every single part of our body has a A certain symbolism. Where is the bridge in our body? The bridge in our body is called the neck. The Mishkan, the Beis Hamikdash. If you look in Kabbalah, if you look in Medrash Echazal Whenever you hear a body part associated with the Mishkan or the Beis Hamikdash, it's the neck. Why? Because the neck is the bridge between Shamayim, our intellect, the Aretz, and our hearts. That's why Chalal Yisrael is described sometimes. If we do an avera, what are we described as? A stiff-necked nation, meaning the thoughts did not penetrate down into the hearts. The neck is the bridge between Shamayim and hearts. What happened? Yosef HaTzaddik went down to Mitzrayim and he separated from his family for 22 years. He finally reunites with his brother Binyamin. And he cries. What does the pasuk say? They cry on each other's necks. Rashi says, what are they crying about?

8:10 Rashi says they're crying about the destruction of the Mishkan and the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, which are in their respective territories. Rashi always gives the simplest explanation for a pasuk. What would have been the simplest explanation of that pasuk? Why are they crying, Yosef and Binyamin? They must have been crying. They were reunited. That's the simple explanation. If you haven't seen your sibling for all those years and now you're reunited, you cry because you're reunited. Why does Rashi say they must have been crying over the Beis Hamikdash in the Mishkan? You know what the answer is. Because when the pasuk said they were crying on each other's necks, what does that mean? It means it's a reference to the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash. Fine. Now we can start to understand something very deep. Again, this tower is going to take us a little bit of time to unfold. But if you were paying careful attention You just heard something unbelievable.

9:14 When they came along, these Leitzanei Adar And they said Moshe Rabbeinu stole the money that was meant to be used for the Mishkan. Who cares? Why is that important? Why does Moshe Rabbeinu have to respond to that? You know what Moshe Rabbeinu is saying. They're saying to Moshe Rabbeinu because you stole the money for the Mishkan. The Mishkan is not going to be a bridge where Shamayim and Arutz meet. If you want to have Shamayim and Arutz meet, if the spiritual world and the material world are going to unite And you were an emesdic. You didn't have integrity when you were building it. This is not a good bridge. Meisher Abenu, you have a fat neck. You understand? You have a fat neck because you stole the money for your own material pleasures. This cannot be something that will turn into a bridge between Shamayim and Arutz. They didn't accuse him of having a fat stomach. They said you have a fat neck, meaning you ruined the neck. You ruined the bridge between Shamayim and Aretz. You have to listen. What else did they say? Fat thighs.

10:30 Because the thighs, the legs, represent the material part of our world. You who used the money for yourself, for your own gluttonous purposes, to buy expensive food and drink. Because of that, there is a chisaron in the bridge. And now there's a chesaron in the material world. Now we understand very well why Moshe Rabbeinu feels the need to respond to these people. Because if Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't respond, what's going to happen? Is Klali Yisrael going to come to the Mishkan? Of course not. Because they're going to say that Mishkan was built on corrupt money, and a Mishkan, a bridge between Shamayim and Arutz, a place where Hashem's presence is clearly manifest in the world, cannot happen without integrity. So Moshe Rabenu says now, I got to make an accounting. And if six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty schulam were donated, he can account for six hundred thousand of them.

11:40 But we're going to see in a moment. Why 1,775 schkalim were missing, and what's the significance of the fact that Moshe Rabenu couldn't find 1,775 schkalim? Because if Moshe Rabenu can't find these 1,775 schkalim, understand that the entire mishkan is in jeopardy. If we're off by even a little bit, if Moshe Rabenu stole even a little bit, then the mishkan cannot be a mishkan. So this is a very big deal. Moshe Rabbeinu goes through all the materials of the Mishkan. He can account for everything, but he's missing one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five schkalim, and he's in big trouble, so to speak. I don't mean to speak that way about Moshe Rabbeinu. Obviously, Moshe Rabbeinu never stole the money because he's fine. But we, as a project building the Mishkan, we're in big trouble. What happened to these one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five schkalim? And Hashem Himself Which is very strange. Hashem Himself comes and says, Moshe Rabenu, I'm going to show you where the missing money is. It was in the hooks that are on the pillars.

12:48 Baruch Hashem. But now we're left with more questions because Moshe Rabenu couldn't figure that out by himself. If girls, I think Moshe Rabenu was Jewish. Moshe Rabenu was probably a good accountant. If you go to any of these places, you go to Ernst and Young, you go to PwC, they're all. Of course, he works there. You know why? Because that's where Jews work. We're good with money. We're good with numbers. So Moshe Rabbeinu does an accounting of the entire Mishkan. And he can't find 1,775 schalim. That's crazy. And it's so girls, there's such a thing called a forensic accountant. You know what a forensic accountant means? Means they go through and they comb through. There's not that many materials. They were in the desert. He can't find this, and it's such a mystery. Which you have to understand why it's such a mystery that the only one that could solve the mystery is the greatest forensic accountant of all. Hashem Himself comes and says, Moshe, you forgot about the hooks.

13:55 I should have figured that out. Is that what happened? Is that what Chazal are trying to communicate to us? That Moshe Rabbeinu looked and he saw the hooks and he just ignored them. It's not possible if Moshe Rabbeinu was doing an accounting, it means he must have seen the hooks. So then, why couldn't he understand that the 1,775 schkollen that we're missing were in the hooks? What's the big mystery over here? Does this make sense? The girls have the problem. A moment ago I'm standing just so that everybody knows that I can see them. I can see you when I'm sitting, but I want you to know I can see you when I'm standing. You chop the mussel. Good. There's a rabbi I know who always says you got to spell it out. You think they get it? They don't get it. You think I stand up? I think they see I'm standing up. They see I'm looking. Maybe they get it. You got to spell it out.

14:48 Spelled out? Clear? Fine. A moment ago I told you that the mishkan, the beis hamikdash Is embodied in a part of the body, and we said that's the neck. There's also a letter. There's a letter that represents the Beis Hamikdash. And it won't be shocking to you what that letter is. That letter is the letter vav. Because just like the neck connects the head and the heart The vav, if you have a vav in a sentence, what does it do? It connects two words. It connects two concepts, two ideas. That's what a vav does. So Moshe Rabbeinu He's building a giant letter vav. That's what he's doing. The Mishkan is a giant letter vav. It literally looks like a bridge. That's what a vav looks like—a ladder between Shamayim and Arutz. And now Moshe Rabbeinu is being told, "Listen to this: the 1,775 schulam that are missing—I'll tell you where they are."

15:55 They're in the vaveh ha'amudim. They're in the hooks. That's what a vav is. They're in the hooks. The vav ha'amudim. We have a marker here. Yeah. Depends on the day. It's a good point. If the base of mikdash is a vav, if the mishkan is a vav Then these hooks These hooks that hold the curtains. These are the curtains. As represented by the giant C that I put on top of it. These hooks are the vav ha'amudim. Got it? So the 1,775 shekel are found in the vav. That's the mishkan. The vav of the vav. These are the vav ha'amudim, and the mishkan itself is a vav. Again, it's not a hard concept. You just got to lock it. How much money is Moshe Rabbeinu missing? 1775. Good. He can't find that money. Hashem says they're in these things called the vave. What are vave? The hooks, ha'amudim of the pillars.

17:07 They hold up the curtains. These are the curtains. This is the pillar. This is the hook. Got it? One second. 1,775 shekel is where in the vave ha'amudim. But on a kabbalistic level, what is the mishkan called? In a letter A vav. In the body, it's called the neck. In a letter, it's called the vav. And the missing money for this letter vav that's being built is found where? In something called the vavay ha'amudim, the hooks on the pillars. What does vavay sound like? Vav. Vav. So we have a vav. Of a vav. The Mishkan itself is a vav, as we'll see in a moment. Actually, there's gonna be three vavs. The Mishkan itself is a vav. The missing money is found where? In the vav of the vav. And another deeper way of thinking about it is: What is an amud? What does an amud look like? What does a pillar look like?

18:10 A vav. So we have a Mishkan which is called a letter. We have an amud which is the vav. Of the vav, and on that vav of the vav, what do we find? Vav ehamud. So the missing money. If you think about it in three dimensions, was it tucked up inside? Just I don't want to. I don't want to get off track. If you think about it in concentric circles, maybe this is a clear way of thinking about it. We have the outer circle. That's the first vav. Then we have the Amudim Which is also what Avav. Where was the missing money? In the inner circle, the inner point, the innermost Vav. So now it's starting to become a little clearer to us that there's something mystical. There's something mystical that's going on here. The vav has a vav. That vav has a vav. In the innermost point of the vav of the mishkan, we find the missing one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekel.

19:28 So Baruch Hashem Moshe Rabbeinu found the money, and now he can go to the people and say, "I was able to account for all of the money." End of she'er. Of course not, end of the year, because we're very bothered by something. If you're thinking, it's a good thing to do to think as often as possible. If you're thinking, then you should be bothered. Where was the money? How did it get through the net? We explained why. It's my fault. It's my fault. Because when I open it up like that, and then seven girls ask questions, it's my fault. This is called classroom management. So I will do a better job. It's my fault. I take responsibility for what just happened. Let's try this again. The neck we already explained because we had to explain why the late soni hadar accused Moshe Abino of having a fat neck. Now I'm Minuten Bitzer, as they say in German.

20:32 Now that we know that they were attacking what? And they were saying, Moshe Rabbeinu, because you stole the money, this cannot be a bridge between Shamayim and Aretz. We now need to explain the significance of why the money was found within the vaveh hamudim. So we started, but did not finish explaining. That the giant, the mishkan itself is a giant letter vav. Within the mishkan itself, there are amudim. We're going to explain the significance of the amudim soon. But the amudim are a vav. A vav within a vav. And on that vav of the amudim, what do we have? The vav e ha amudim. So now we see that Moshe Rabbeinu was told by Hashem that in the innermost point of the vav of the vav is where the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shkalim are. That's what we've said so far, but any intelligent person should still have a very obvious question: If Moshe Rabbeinu was able to understand how every single facet of the Mishkan was used to bridge Shamayim ve'Aretz, he was able to make an accounting of them.

21:40 So he would come and he would say, "This money went to the Amudim. This money went to this." Why couldn't Moshe Rabbeinu get it? We understand there's something deep going on over here, but Moshe Rabbeinu understood every single facet of the Mishkan. Why was this more? Again, we get that it's the inside of the inside. We get that it's the innermost point of the Vav Why couldn't Moshe Rabbeinu get it? Where's Moshe Rabbeinu we're talking about? So let's. Why couldn't he have that? The 1,775 shekel were here. Meaning he made an accounting of everything. He was able to account for everything. He was missing 1,775. Hashem comes and says it's in the vav of the vav. It's in the innermost point of the vav. Good. Now he has an answer. But why couldn't Moshe Rabbeinu catch that? So now let's do a little bit of math.

22:36 Calm down. It's going to be okay. I just saw that was amazing. I said the word math, and about seven of you just liked this without even saying what you should. I'm with you. I understand the trauma. I personally stink at math. That's why I married my wife. She's excellent at math. I am terrible at math. It's okay. Just married someone who balances you out. 600. Let's do it. It's easy math. Everyone could do this math. I promise you. You ready? 600. Some of you already lost me. It's going to be.600. 3, 000. Five hundred and fifty. I know it's a big number. We have to turn off our brains because it was a big number. Six. Wow Beautiful. Thank you so much for saying that. That's how many people are in Bnei Yisrael. Very good. So six hundred, three thousand, five hundred and fifty half schulim were donated to the Mishkan.

23:43 I took responsibility for the first time. This Torma Devora moment has been brought to you by your ADHD. I feel like I need a riddling hose to spray you down. Stay with me. Six hundred, three thousand, five hundred and fifty half schulim were donated to the Mishkan to build the Mishkan. This is going to be very easy math. Half of six hundred thousand is three hundred thousand. So if six hundred thousand half schkolem were donated, how many full schkolem were donated? Three hundred thousand. Excellent. You see how good you are at math. Your excellent basic level of education has brought you to this moment. Relax. I'll explain it again. Six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty half schkolem were donated. If we ignore The 3,550. Why? I will explain. Why would you ignore the 3,550? I know. It's gonna be okay. I promise. The trauma will pass.

24:57 This math trauma that you are experiencing. Me too. #MeToo. I'm with you on this. But we can just get through it together. Half of six hundred thousand. If we ignore the three thousand five hundred fifty, that means the whole shkolem were three hundred thousand. That's three million. Three hundred thousand. I put the comma in the wrong place and got it right the first time. Three hundred thousand. Not it right again. That is close. I was thinking thirty thousand. I don't want to do three hundred thirty thousand. It was thirty thousand. Good. Thirty three hundred thousand. That's three million. Three hundred thousand. One more zero, three million. You guys with me still? That was very hard. Three hundred one thousand seven hundred seventy-five. I know. We're gonna get to the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five in one minute. I'm explaining to you now how we arrived at the 1,775.

26:12 Tremendous Delicious. Girls, I promise you, this worth. 600,000 becomes 300,000. 300,000 is the equivalent of what Rashi explained, and we said in the very beginning of the pasuk, in the beginning of the shir, Vahaya me'as kikar kesef. There were 100 talents of silver. Rashi says three hundred thousand schkalim is the equivalent of one hundred talents of silver. This is the money that Moshe Rabbeinu was able to account for. When the pasuk says, "Remember, the pasuk started, it was one hundred talents of silver, and this is what it was used for." That means Moshe Rabbeinu was able to account for three hundred thousand schkalim. If he's not able to account now for three thousand five hundred fifty half schkalim, because that's what we still have left over. How many full schkalim is three thousand five hundred and fifty equivalent to? The answer is it is equivalent to one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five schkalim, which means Which means that Moshe Rabbeinu was able to understand six hundred thousand people in Klal Yisrael.

27:26 Six hundred thousand people, because remember, every single person donated half a shekel. He was able to understand 300,000 of the full schalom. He was able to understand these people, but we're missing 1,775 schalom, which means how many people was Moshe Rabbeinu not able to understand? 3,550. Now we see an even deeper problem, something we haven't yet expressed, which is why the math was important. Every single person that donated said, "This is my chalak in the mishkan. This is how I bring shamayim down to aretz." Six hundred thousand people. Moshe Rabbeinu looked at them and he said, "I get it." I get what you do. I get what you bring to the table. I see how your presence in this mishkan makes the world a more godly place. But now Moshe Rabbeinu's got a serious problem. Because these late zanehador, they're coming to him and they're saying, "You stole this money. It's not a good neck. It's not a good vav."

28:40 Moshe Rabbeinu says, 'I can make an accounting,' and he looks at every single shekel and he says, 'I'll show you how every single half shekel that was donated makes the mishkan a place that brings Shamayim down to aretz.' It wasn't the pshat. Moshe Rabbeinu couldn't find the missing 1,775 schalim. Moshe Rabbeinu was a good forensic accountant. He was very Jewish. Maybe the most Jewish. He had a bigger problem. There's 3,550 Jews that when he looked at them, he said, "I don't get how you make this world into a more godly place." That is a real problem. That's a Moshe Rabbeinu level problem. So now we have to understand what Moshe Rabbeinu was being taught by Hashem about these three thousand five hundred and fifty Jews. Six hundred thousand Jews. Moshe Rabbeinu said, 'I get them.' I can make an accounting for them. I know where they fit in the system. There's three thousand five hundred fifty Jews.

29:53 I can't account for them. They're Michutz Lamachen. When I look at the Mishkan, I don't see their role. And what does Hashem say? This starts to take on different dimensions. Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu They're not just in the Vav. They're not just in the Vav of the Vav. What are they in? The Vav of the Vav. Which means that in some ways, these three thousand five hundred fifty Jews are at the exact point. Where Shamayim and Aretz meet. Wow That's a wow. That's quite an answer that Hashem gives. It needs to be understood. Do you see how we got here? These three thousand five hundred and fifty Jews—they are not in the outer vav. They are not in the amudin. They are the inner essence of the entire mishkan. Who are these three thousand five hundred and fifty Jews? You're wrong. Not the Jews that didn't. I will explain.

31:00 The amud of the mishkan The amudim. Remember, we erased it, but we'll do it over here. The amud of the mishkan represents what's called the kav. When the world was created, there was a kav of light, a straight line of light that came down into this world. In the Mishkan The amudim represent the shamayim coming down into the world. Off of the amud, there is the curtain. There's the vav, there's the hook. But what's off of the curtain? What's off of the vav rather? What's off of the vav and amudim? What's off of the hooks? The curtains. What does the curtain represent? The concealment of Hashem in this world. So we have, watch. Remember the Mishkan itself is above. What does the Amud represent? Shamayim. What does the curtain represent? The Aretz that hides Hashem in this world. What are these Jews? They're the point, literally the point where creation from Shamayim ends and Aretz begins.

32:16 You understand this? These are very deep Jews. These Jews that we're talking about, they're not just the essence of the essence. They're the exact point where creation occurs. Shamayim has ended, Aretz begins, but there's a little point in between. Shamayim, this amud is Shamayim. This curtain is Aretz. Curtain is Aretz. This right here, the vaveh hamudim, is the actual point. Of creation Who are these Jews? The answer is They're the missing Jews. There are Jews that are easily accountable. You look at them. You know these Jews. They're the ones that you look at and you go, I get it. They daven every day. They learn every day. They're part of the community. They keep Shabbos, they keep kosher, they give tzedakah. You look at a Jew like that and you go, I get it. I can account for that Jew. I could see the role they play.

33:36 Six hundred thousand Jews in Klal Yisrael, Moshe Rabbeinu looked at them and said, those are Mishkan Jews. But what do we do with the three thousand five hundred and fifty Jews that aren't Shomer Shabbos? What do we do with the 3,550 teenagers that aren't keeping Shabbos, that aren't keeping kosher, that don't seem to have any role in our community? They're just draining the resources of our community. All they do is make their parents cry. How come they're not frum? Moshe Rabbeinu wants to know: How do these kids in that state? How do they contribute? To the building of the Mishkan, how do they make the world a more godly place if everything they're doing seems to be against godliness? That's a question that Moshe Rabbeinu himself couldn't answer And Hashem comes and He says Those kids that are quote-unquote off the derech, which is a terrible terminology, we're going to use it because it's the only way right now that we'll all be on the same page. But those kids that are off the derech, That are not as observant as we would hope Hashem says you should know all of creation hinges on them.

34:51 That's a huge thing to say Because you look at the girl. That's a good girl. She went to the right schools. She has the right seminary. She has the perfect shidduch resume. On a date, if somebody asks her what was your journey, she says typical. She gets the gift of being typical. She gets to say, "I did it exactly right, and now I'm going to get exactly right. I'm going to get the typical accounted for journey." And we look at that other girl. We don't, we don't get it. We don't get how she is contributing to the world. How is she making it a more godly place? Hashem says you should know those are the most godly people. Those are the most godly people? Aren't the most godly people? They don't daven, they don't learn, they don't give tzedakah, they don't give sadaqa. Those are not the most godly people.

35:38 Hashem says yes, they are. What's the chiluk? Why couldn't Moshe Rabbeinu understand it? What was Hashem teaching him? So I have to explain to you one more concept. It's called oros and kelim. Light and vessels. I'll explain to you what that means. There's something called light. For the purposes of this conversation, we're going to call light passion, energy, enthusiasm, an idea. An idea. Let's say I'm going to start a business. Some guy comes along and he says, "I have an idea for a startup." I'm going to make it so that whether you have Zelle or you don't have Zelle, whether you have QuickPay or you don't have QuickPay, whether you have Venmo or you don't have Venmo, a guy comes along and he says, 'I'm going to make a universal thing. You can send from my app to any other app.' Brilliant idea, this startup.

36:30 That's R. But you know what he's missing at this stage of the process? He's missing Calum. The light is enormous. He has all the passion, all the energy, all the enthusiasm for the idea. But nothing ever comes of the idea. You know why? Because he has no vessels. He doesn't have an office. He doesn't have employees. He doesn't have a business plan. He just has an idea. So what do you need if you want to make a business be successful? You need two things. You need ore. You need to have the idea, the energy, the passion, the enthusiasm, and then you need to bring it into the world of reality and contain that light within a vessel. I'll give you an example of a light in a vessel. This is a light in a vessel. There's tremendous electricity in this light. Do you know that? We can have it in this room because it's contained within a light bulb. That's the vessel.

37:17 The same thing is true on a human level. There are some people that are all Or. There are some people that are all Kalen. Imagine a business where the guy comes in. You walk into his office and you go, "Wow, this is impressive. The guy has the latest computers." The highest speed Wi-Fi. He's got a million secretaries. The office space is stunning. He's got company cars. And you say to the guy, "What do you do?" He goes, "Nothing yet." But when we figure it out, it's going to be amazing. You just invested two million dollars in something you don't even have an idea for. The idea will come. I want the infrastructure. How can you have the infrastructure without knowing the idea? You understand? That's vessels without light. Some people come along and say, 'I have the most amazing idea in the world.' You ever see guys talk about? Guys do this a lot. 'I have the most amazing idea in the world.' This idea is revolutionary. That's awesome. What do you do with it? Right now, it's just in its infancy. I'm just still thinking about it. That's a lot of light.

38:18 Very little vessels. There are some people who have both. These are very successful people. They have amazing ideas and know how to make them actionable. That's success. If you want to know, let's take Torah Devora as an example. Rabbi Fix and Rabbi Rosenstein had an idea. Let's start a seminary for exactly this type of girl with this type of mission statement. And then we're here in Yerushalayim in a beis medrash. There's svarim, there's tables, there's chairs. Those are kelim. Some people are or people. Some people are kelim people. Successful people are both. When we look at kids. Who are not observant The words that come out of their mouths are: "I do not want to keep Shabbos. Shabbos is boring." I do not want to learn Gemara. It's irrelevant to my life. I don't want to daven. I feel like it's just saying words. People make a huge mistake And they say this kid has awesome kelim.

39:28 But he has very little art. That's what they think. They look at a kid. Let's say his name is Ruven. Ruven is brilliant. Ruven on his SATs had come out with a perfect score. Ruven when he wants to, he's diligent. He's focused. He can show up to the test and really space himself out and get an awesome mark. You look at this kid when it comes to Gemara. He says I hate Gemara. So you know what they say? Ruven is so smart. He has an awesome vessel. But what's he lacking in? He's lacking in the desire. He has no light. That's what people think. But really, that's only because they're not paying attention. If you paid careful attention to what Ruven was saying a moment ago, listen to the words that Ruven said. Ruven said "I don't want to daven. They're just words. I don't want to learn Gemara. It's irrelevant to my life. I don't want to keep Shabbos."

40:28 It's boring. You know what Ruvain is saying? Ruvain is saying I have the passion. I have the drive. I have the desire. This vessel is not a vessel to hold my light. I want to keep Shabbos. But the Shabbos that you're showing me is not Shabbos. You're just giving me a boring Shabbos where I can't go on my phone. Show me a Shabbos that's inspired. A kid says, 'I don't like Gemara; it's irrelevant to my life.' You know what he's saying? I'm bright. But I want my Yiddishkeit to be relevant to my life. There's no vessel in learning about a Baya or Rava that's relevant to my life. The light is there; the kid feels like the vessel isn't there. A kid says, "I don't want to daven. It's just words. You know what he's saying? He's saying I would like to daven." But not like this.

41:25 And you, the goody two shoes, the one who gets up every morning and shakes like they're having a seizure and says all the right words You figured out. Good for you. You figured out how to get your light into that vessel, but my light is way too big to fit into that vessel. When I daven, I want it to be a real davening, and when I learn, I want it to change my life, and when I keep Shabbos, I want there to be a connection with the Eibushter. And you haven't provided that for me. This is not a vessel that can contain the enormity of my life. The genius of understanding it this way, and this is the way that tzaddikim teach us that these non-observant Jews are not observant because they're bad kids. They're not observant because the light is so great. That the vessel has to be equally great to contain the light. If there's massive amounts of electricity flowing through this, and you don't have a light bulb that can contain that light, the light bulb will shatter.

42:26 It's not the pshat that the light was no good. The vessel was no good. These kids are saying, "Show me real shabbos. Show me real gemara." Show me real prayer. Show me real tefillah. Their light is so huge. Their light is so big that it's blinding. The light is so big that sometimes, even though you're looking right at them, it's blinding and you can't understand them. Because you're looking at it and you're going like the words coming out of the kid's mouth. Or I'm not keeping Shabbos anymore. But that's because the light is so great. The kid's not dark; he's light. And parents go around. They go, "I don't understand it. He's so bright." He's bright. But his just because he's intelligent doesn't mean he's going to like Gemara if it's not relevant to his life. And it has to be really relevant to his life, not just relevant in the sense like some rebbe is going to show him how if you know how one ox scores another ox, then that's kind of like if a car hits another car.

43:35 These kids, their light is so great that they're not satisfied with those answers. Because they're like If my car hits another car, I'm calling insurance. You have to show me the inner meaning of all things. You have to teach me how to really daven. You have to teach me what Shabbos really looks like. And then I'll have a vessel that can contain my light. The light was so beautiful and so bright. The light of these 3,550 people. These 3,550 people are at the pinnacle of creation. They're the whole, they're the hook. All of creation is on these people. Because their light is enormous. These are awesome kids. Their light is enormous. We're all hanging on these kids. We have to give them appropriate vessels. The light was so blinding that Moshe Rabbeinu couldn't see it. That's how great the light was. Only Hashem Himself could come and say to Moshe Rabenu that you can't find a place for them.

44:37 They are the place. The only reason you can't see it is because the light is so big that it's blinding even the greatest of men. And that's what's happening. That's what's happening in the world right now. We have these kids, and people are paying attention to the words that are coming out of their mouths. They're saying, "This kid just doesn't care." You missed it. He doesn't care about your vessel. Just because he doesn't care about your vessel doesn't mean he doesn't care. He has amazing amounts of light. He just doesn't want his light to be too big for your vessel. So you're happy with a Shabbos where you come and they go. Shabbos is such a beautiful time of community. And you know what this kid says? Gaiim can have communities too. And you go, but isn't it such a beautiful time to disconnect from your phone? And the kid goes.

45:30 It's not the only movement in the world. Judaism is not the only movement in the world where people will shut off their phones. And what was Shabbos before cell phones? And you're happy reading the words of the seder. You're more than happy with that. Baruch Atah. You're good with it. Magen Avraham. You're good for you. But I'm not satisfied with that. I want to be able to actually talk to Hashem. I want to actually be able to feel it. I want my davening to have meaning. And you'll say to the kid, go. But don't you want to have a place to go and ask for your needs, and the kid goes No, I don't want my relationship with Hashem to be selfish, where I'm just like, 'Give me this and give me that.' Because quite frankly, it seems to me that sometimes I get what I want and sometimes I don't, and it has nothing to do with davening. And that's a good question. It's an or question. It's not a vessels question. It's an or question. He's saying, 'I've got this or. I want my davening to be here. Don't show me a sinner.'

46:21 You got to teach me how to use the sinner. Those are amazing Jews. And when we meet these Jews, our responsibility is to tell them your questions are good questions. That's why you're the vaveh ha'amudim. Because you have these questions, because you're unsatisfied. You make us all of Klal Yisrael. You make us better. In some ways, the six hundred thousand are relying on the three thousand five hundred fifty because they're the ones that are advancing the conversation. They're the ones that are forcing us to write svarim on tefila so that we can make tefila more meaningful. They're the ones that are forcing us to rethink Shabbos so that Shabbos could be more meaningful. These are the ones that are bringing Mashiach because they're saying you got to do better. You got to teach me the essence of the essence. I'm not going to be satisfied with the chitonius. I'm not satisfied with the vav. I want the vav that's within the vav. I want the connection of the connection.

47:19 It's good for you, man. You figured it out. You have a good relationship with Hashem. It works for you, but it doesn't work for me. But they're the ones advancing the conversation. And if we today can go over to the shelves of Talmud Torah and open up Sfarim and say, wow, I never heard of that concept in Shabbos before. What a great way of thinking about Shabbos! I never thought of tefillah that way. I never thought of learning Torah that way. That's an idea that really speaks to my soul. We had to write those svarim for the three thousand five hundred and fifty. And Hashem Himself tells Moshe Rabbeinu, 'These are the ones. These are the vavay amudim, and we have to act like Hashem and like Moshe Rabbeinu.' Like Moshe Rabbeinu, we have to say. This whole thing doesn't work unless every single Jew is accounted for. Otherwise, it's not a good vav, it's not a good neck.

48:10 And like Hashem, we have to be willing to look at those Jews that seem not to have a place And we have to say, we're going to find a place for you. We're going to see, we're going to learn where your space is. We're not going to make a space for you. We're going to learn about your space because in some ways they're our teachers. By asking the hard question, they make us into better rabbis. A selecharav, a Talmud has a responsibility to turn his rebbe into a rebbe. When a Talmud asks a hard question, good. Now you're a rebbe. When a rebbe goes, I don't know. I never thought of it that way. That's a good question. That makes the rebbe a better rebbe. I could tell you. Chazal say harbe lamariti merabosa yosai mechaverim etalmita yosmi kula. I learned a lot from my rebbeim. I learned more from my friends. I learned the most from my students. You know why? Rebbeim teach you information.

49:01 Friends. There could be friction. You learn from that. But nobody challenges you like a student. And when the student challenges you, the rebbe becomes a rebbe. We have to be makhtov to these kids. It's so ridiculous how much money we spend on these organizations trying to keep these kids within the fold. These organizations that are working with these kids—Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brisk, Panovitch, Mir. These are the best institutions in the world. They're raising the next generation. It's not an accident. It's not an accident when those kids figure it out. When they build vessels that are strong enough and large enough to contain that electricity, that light, it's no wonder that those kids end up becoming the leaders of Klal Yisroel. There's a Rav in this neighborhood, and I'll finish with this. And I'm obviously not going to say his name. There's a Rav in this neighborhood. And I won't give you any details, but I will tell you that he's among the most respected rabbanim in this entire neighborhood.

50:05 And I knew him in high school. And he was by far By far the most mashug and akid in my class. Not even close. And you looked at him and you said he's brilliant. Everybody knew he was smart. He was really smart. And everybody knew he was talented. Good-looking guy, charismatic, dynamic, great ball player—he had it all. Just wasn't from. And he went to yeshiva. I won't tell you which yeshiva, and I won't give you any of the details of how he ended up there, but it wasn't Mir Panovitcher. One of those types of places. He went to that yeshiva. And in that yeshiva, he met a rebbe. And that rebbe showed him how to build a vessel that was appropriate for his light. I don't think it's shocking that guy today is one of the leaders of this entire community. His light was always greater than ours. He just needed the appropriate vessels, and that's our responsibility. We have to remind these kids and remind ourselves: they're the ones that are going to be the future leaders of Klal Yisrael. We just have to help them build the vessels that are going to be appropriate for their lights.